Optimistically A Future Digital Native
I am a Digital Immigrant as my children would tell you. I hope to become more knowledgeable in the internet world because it is where the future is. I have learned to navigate around the web and often use Google and other search engines for school research or to plan trips. I do not know anything about creating web pages. I love using the web as a tool to keep in touch with family members whether they live here in town or far away. It lets us all know what is going on in each other’s lives. I do find myself asking my three teenage children to interrupt the language that is used in the internet world.
I loved reading the articles by Prensky. I have been saying for years that the school curriculum needs to change with the times. The kids are just board in school. The teachers need to keep up with the time just like people in other work environments as Prensky points out in his first mythology “Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students. This doesn’t mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills. But it does mean going faster, less step-by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things” (Prensky 1.4). These ideas by Prensky will keep the kids more interested and wanting to learn.
The kids now a day’s need to be involved more to stay interested in what is happening in school. Prensky talks about how the kids are not really interacting “(one study showed that students in class get to ask a question every 10 hours) So it generally isn’t that Digital Natives can’t pay attention, it’s that they choose not to” (Prensky 2.4). We need to get them more involved with hands on work. The idea of putting learning into a game is a great idea. Unfortunately changes in these areas take a long time.
I have been in the work field for many years and have been on a lot of different computer systems. Most of the systems that I have worked on have been where the server was housed on site. At my present job we are converting to a system that will be houses off site. This will give us the benefit to access our system from any computer whether it is from work, home or a McDonalds with wireless internet.
In my home I have a desktop computer that has a cable modem and I also have a wireless laptop. I plan to login into the course on my lunch hour at work and also in the evening from my home. All of my files are always backed up on hard drive.