Times are changing....I guess I should too.

I am a child of the 1980’s.  I learned to type on a typewriter; an actual real typewriter.  We pounded out the keys of each row, then patterns on the row, then multiple rows of the QWERTY typewriter to the beat of  “love me tender” by Elvis Presley.  I loved that class and the learning process. 

As the 80’s progressed, my family invested in a computer.  Times were crazy!  These little images of bars and balls going across the screen, programming and trying to remember how to change colors of the font and background, then, we had to turn in typed papers.  You hope you saved often because the computer would occasionally shut down and if you hadn’t saved, the work finished is GONE.  When I went to college, I took a word processor.  Problem #1: It would only hold some many “words” in the memory.  Problem #2: all of my work had to be more than the word allotment. 

My next fours years of college were spent trekking to and from computer labs all over campus.  I carried 3.5 disks around in my backpack.  Again, memory was limited compared to today’s standards, but I could fit a class worth of papers for a semester.  Life was good. 

Now, students leave for college with laptops and pads that have more memory on them that I could have ever imagined.  Students are blogging, making videos, playing games, music lists, and messaging friends all from one device.  We carry in our pockets and bags phones that make few phone calls, but can also send texts, take pictures and videos and send them around the world to friends and family in the blink of an eye. 

The point for all of this…..to rephrase what my dad always said, Times, they are a changing.  As technology shifts, so must we; the teachers, professors and parents of the next generation. Sometimes I argue, we want students to be more self-sufficient.  They should keep a calendar or an agenda.  Then I talk to a friend who checks her schedule on her phone that is linked to her husband’s phone and I am amazed at technology.  My next thought is, “we don’t let students use phones in class”.  If they could, would they use it for an agenda or calendar? A few teachers on campus “tweet” class homework everyday.  Isn’t that doing their work for them? Or, is it just the same as when I was in eighth grade and I had to check the board for that night’s homework?  Really, the goals and ideas are the same.  The tools are changing.  Updating myself to use these tools is my next goal.