This week really focused on the concept of digital natives and their abilities with technology. Overall, my takeaway is that instructors, educators, and teachers must make space to teach digital natives how to effectively use technology. Many kids of today do not grow up with computers- they are expensive and not accessible to all families. I think it is similar to how not all kids grow up being read to- everyone has a different experience in their home and educators, especially at the elementary and secondary level, cannot make assumptions that their students will already know how to use a laptop or Chromebook. However, I do think it is important to acknowledge that many members of younger generations do engage in produsage through their phones. They create TikToks and social media posts on a daily basis, they just have to be taught the skills needed to translate these produsage skills through more technological mediums. It is up to the instructor, no matter what level they are teaching at, to meet their students where they are at, and instruct them on how to be successful in using technology.
How do middle school students see technology as affecting their education and lives? This week I decided to sit down and have some conversations with my students before releasing them for the summer. I asked them specifically how they felt technology had influenced their education and social lives. These were some of the responses I got, paraphrased from the general Gen Z vernacular: "I think that technology can be cool, but it can also be repetitive. Some teachers do the same things over and over, which gets old." 'I wish I could only be on my Chromebook all the time. It's more fun than anything else in class." "I don't want technology to take over my life. I think the 90s were cool, people talked to each other more." "Okay, but I talk to people all the time, just on my phone." "My chromebook helps me learn, I don't like doing book work because it is boring," "I like book work, I can understand it better." ...
The gulf between a TikTok and a spreadsheet can be huge, eh?
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