Teaching, Technology, and Head Spinning Statistics

Technology has certainly changed our world. The technology I have seen in my own lifetime is pretty phenomenal.

In kindergarten, we had computers.  The screen were black.  The font was green.

In elementary, we had better computers.  We had Windows, you just had to load that from the DOS screen. Do you remember that? I spent many hours loading my various print shop programs and The Oregon Trail from DOS.  All printing was (naturally) black and white.

By middle school, things were getting fancier. Windows loaded all my itself.

High school was the age of AOL instant messenger and ICQ. Also...pagers were awesome and made you look cool. Napster, anyone?

Suddenly, cell phones started to take over.  Remember, your Nokia? Pagers were out.

The iPod came out while I was in college.  It was a heavy bulky piece of equipment compared to today's standards. Then, everyone had a Razr.  Hooray for a colored screens and a camera! Facebook began and you were only eligible if you had a college email address. Those were the days.

Since college, I've seen smart phones and everything associated with smart phones (email, apps, texts, etc) take over. The Kindle and other eReaders have changed the way people by books.  Forget about buying cds; stores don't sell them. There have been multiple generations of iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Twitter. Computers are touch screen and everything is wireless.  It is a different world.

So, what does that mean for our students?  With an ever changing world and increasing amounts of technology, how do we teach students who will live in a world that we cannot currently imagine?!?

Check out this video for some interesting and surprising statistics.

I certainly don't have the answers, but it is something to ponder.  My school isn't a technology hub or anything, okay...truthfully...it's not even close.  I don't have a lot of technology to work with, but I sure need use what is available.   I think the first step is getting technology in the hands of my students as often as possible. My new goal for the school year is to never miss my computer lab time.  That's step one.  I will build from there.

Anyone else out there limited with technology at school?  How do you incorporate technology into your day? How are you preparing your students for a world surrounded by technology? I'd love your thoughts on the video.  What stood out to you?  What surprised you?  Comment below. :)

Speaking of technology - Stay tuned for a great app recommendation from my fabulous guest blogger tomorrow: Corrina Allen from Mrs. Allen's 5th Grade Files.  She is my first guest blogger (super excited!) and you won't want to miss her post.