Week 2 Readings Blog

While I have not used all of the new R/W tools, I have heard of them. I think that these tools are very useful to incorporate in the classroom with the Net Generation. These kids already use most of these tools. In my opinion, using them as part of the classroom will only increase their willingness to learn. Google docs is a program similar to Microsoft Word, except that it can be accessed from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. I have not used Google docs yet but there are several apps for the iPhone that allow the user to view, edit, and share docs, so I may check this out in the near future.

Chapter 5 in the textbook was again an article that I would disagree with. This could be because it is a few years old. I am a Gen X adult. I use technology as much as the Net Geners. It annoys me when a company doesn’t have a website or doesn’t have live chat help. The only time I use my iPhone as a phone is to talk to my parents. I think that generations before the Net Geners have a choice to follow the technology advances or be left in the dust. I choose to follow. I cannot speak about the entire Net Generation; I can only speak about my cousins, who are 12-20. All of these kids are self-centered. They only care about things that will benefit them. Several had to do community service in their Florida high school and they said that they felt like they were being punished. They did not like being forced to do this. I say all of this because like these particular kids are not like the description in this chapter, not all older generations are against the advances in technology and the benefits of using it.

In chapter 6, they described Gen X as having the penchant, “Get to the point” and “move on with it”. That is so me. Otherwise, Chapter 6 continued on the information that we have already read. One difference I did notice is that the author pointed out that Gen X prefers working independently. I am this way, mainly because I want my performance to be solely dependent on me, not someone else who may not have the same motivation as me.

Overall, what has remained constant throughout all of our readings is that, as a future teacher, I must create new methods then what has previously been used in my learning classroom. Bob Dylan wrote “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. This was true in the 60’s when he wrote it. It still is true, maybe ever more so now. If we as educators (current and future) do not adapt to this, we may lose this generation and future ones to come.