Thank-You. I believe you have hit the nail on the head. Just because
"kids" spend time playing games on the computer does not mean they know
how to use it productively. I, for one, am tired of people telling that
because I am over 50 that I am a "digital imigrant" and not a "digital
native" and that I can't "learn to be comfortable with technology" and
that because someone was born after 1989 they just know technology. That
is a stack of Balony Sandwiches. First, I was using a computer before most
of these "digital natives" were born. My first computer (1980) was a
Texas Instrument that had to be plugged into a TV and to get it to do
anything had to be programmed in DOS. My second was a PC JR. I had
reached Nirvana. It had a hard drive and programs and 128 mg memory.
It reminds me of the day a 15 year old in the library turned to me and
said, Mrs. V don't you know how to write in XHTML? He was so surprised
that I didn't and ask why. So I responded with a question: What do you do
when you get home? He told me that he sat at the computer and played
games, looked a the new stuff, etc. My response, I have three kids, I go
home fix them supper, help do homework, laundry, clean kitchen, I prepare
for the next day and when I sit down at 11:00 pm at night learning more
computer stuff isn't a high priority.
My point is that it is not age, it is time spent doing. And kids with no
responsibility have alot more time than adults with responsibilities. It
takes time to learn anything new. All of that aside, many of them don't
know how to use the computer as a tool for productive work. It is still a
toy to them. We do them a great disservice assuming that they can use the
computer or any of the newer technologies to find solid informtion and
disseminate that information in a meaningful way. Knowing how to text
message gossip 24/7 is much different than texting a message to the work
team about a current market trend. In education we have not come to terms
with how to teach these new technologies so that they are brought out of
the toy/entertainment catagory and into the world of competivite work.
But at 11:00 pm I am just to tucker'd out to solve that and create a new
wiki for english teachers reading list, new podcast book reviews, update
the library wepage and read the latest YA fiction.
Becky Vasilakis
District Library Media Specialist
Amanda Clearcreek SD
328 E. Main St.
Amanda OH 43102
1-740-969-7480
becky_vasilakis@amanda.k12.oh.us
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