Welcome to the new school year! I'm glad you found my blog. One of my goals for this school year is to use technology more and become more proficient and prolific with my use of technology. In other words, I want to do more things and do better things with technology.
Many people are concerned that students "these days" are losing important skills because they spend too much time with technology. It is true that students have lost some skills that used to be profoundly important. Handwriting is the one that leaps to my mind. School used to teach penmanship and spend a great deal of time helping students perfect their writing. Now, many students can neither read nor write in cursive. Is that a bad thing, though?
I'm not sure, to tell the truth, but I do know that my students rarely use handwriting. We turn in at least 75% of our work online. I used to know a student's paper by their handwriting; now, they don't even need to put their names on things that get turned in through Google Classroom. The need to write in cursive has decreased. Sure, you still need to give your signature for many things, but there may come a time when a thumbprint on an electronic keypad will serve just as well. Whether my generation and previous generations are bothered by that idea doesn't really matter; the fact is, things are always changing. I'm sure many generations ago, some teachers were horrified by the idea of projectors in the classroom--movies in class!
I guess my point is this: technology will always be changing the way we do things. We use a lot of technology in the classroom and students will be using technology the rest of their lives. We need to teach them to master that technology, not be mastered by it. Try to get involved with your student's use of academic technologies. Get familiar with the virtual classrooms in which they are participating. It's different than the way you were educated, but different doesn't have to mean bad. There are a lot of advantages to the digital age (no lost homework, for one!). AND, once you've learned a bit about that world, it's okay to tell your student to turn off the screen, go outside, and play.
That, I hope, will never change.
