Blog Post 2

 Using MS Word has always been an eventful experience. In elementary school and middle school, I would have to use it a lot because that's what my family had on our shared computer. Once I was introduced to Google docs, however, I never turned back; it’s way more user friendly and you can access your documents on any laptop or computer you have. This sounds like it would be in an advertising commercial, but the switch to Google Docs in ninth grade was so easy that I never want to go back to using Word.

The ISTE Standards for Educators is meant to encourage teachers to integrate new technology in the classroom and inspire students to learn technology literacy. The standard that is most meaningful to me is being a leader in education technology, specifically one sub branch that states teachers should promote equal access to technology for diverse student populations, which is a real problem today. Many lower income schools cannot afford new, fast-developing education technology; they can barely afford to keep their schools in shape in the first place. Students in poorer neighborhoods should be able to access the technology that other public schools receive, and the government should provide them with the money to do so instead of trapping them in the pedagogy of poverty.

I definitely agree with the label of “digital native” for this generation. Generation Z has been raised alongside the growth of technology, and therefore have been learning it since birth. We are “natives” to it because we’ve known it our entire lives and haven’t “immigrated” to it, having to learn a whole culture later in life like how older generations have to do. I have definitely noticed the difference in how the “digital native” students navigate technology compared to the “digital immigrant” teachers. One of my teachers was so bad with technology that she always had students open the school news video on her computer, and when it came to zoom classes she could never figure out how to screen share. Honestly, it has made students become more tech savvy as a result, so I am thankful in that way. With the rate that technology is developing, there will probably be a vastly more advanced form of education technology then we have in classrooms today, and my students will be equally annoyed at me for not knowing how to work it like I was at my teachers.