Standards

From the NCATE standards that I have just perused through, I agree with what I have read. I feel that technology is imperative towards the furthering of our education and personal growth. Just think, if not for technology we would still be listening to long play records and actually handwriting papers. When I was in seventh grade, we had the Apple IIE's in our computer lab and I was it was the bee's knees (Apple IIE's, you know, the computers the size of small refridgerators and were a sickly yellow color?). Playing Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail was the highlight of my day. As I progressed through the annals of public education, the computer's upgraded and eventually I was blessed with my own computer. When I look back, I can't even begin to fathom how I used to be able to go through my day without checking Facebook, Myspace, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, ESPN, Yahoo! every half an hour (and if you think I'm joking...).

I feel that the integration of new technologies into the classroom is absolutely essential for the progression of thought and higher-level thinking. Can you access all the information you can shake a stick at whenever you want through a textbook? Do biology professors have time to record 300 CD's for a lecture when they are out sick? The technology we have today has revolutionized our classroom without much fanfare. It has been slowly building like a swarm of cicadas and it has finally taken over.

Yet as much as it may seem that I leave my words devoid of joy, I still praise technology. I feel like a baby boomer sometimes (no offense meant) when it comes to new things. I find it mind boggling that a bunch of wires and silicone can have such a sacred, profound and all-encompassing part of my life.

In the future, as I have progressed from Walkman to Discman to iPod(man), hopefully my students will experience the same genesis of new technologies. As scared as I am of having my house and my car talk to me, if I am lucky, it will at least be full of good conversation.