The speed of technological advancements seems normal to me until I start looking at the dates. I mentioned in an earlier post that my family was one of the last to get a home computer in my area, this fact seems to have influenced my life more than I had previously realized. Growing up, I was always the last one to get on the technology train. As the last one of my peers to get a computer(and a cellphone, laptop, etc.) I quickly became used to being media illiterate. As such I've always taken any new technology in stride and never realized just how new and cutting edge some things were. I always assumed I was hearing old news just like I always had.
With help from my classes I've become a bit more media literate recently, so I'm starting to understand how fast technology changes. As mentioned earlier, the dates have really put things into perspective for me. The world's first computer is three years older than my dad. In my dad's lifetime we've essentially gone from no computers to multiple computers per family. I now understand why my elementary teacher were so excited to go from one computer lab to two and why changing from floppy disks one year to flash drives the next was such a big deal.
In middle school we got a couple of movable SMART Boards that the teachers could borrow for occasional use. By the time I graduated high school, on average, half of my class rooms had mounted SMART Boards for use each day. From what I've heard when I go back home, that number has continued to increase. Just that little bit of fast placed growth has taken place in my life time. This make me realize that as a teacher I can not precisely measure the level of technological skill my students will need. I can see where technology is going in the next five years, but not necessarily what it will look like in the next twenty years. I must teach my students to be flexible and adaptable. My lesson plans need to challenge and motivate my students to use technology, to stay on top of technology.
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