For my podcast I interviewed two students and one first grade teacher at my school. I asked them what types of technology they used at home and about how long they would say they used that type of technology. I also asked the students how much technology they were exposed to at school and how long they were able use those types of technology as resources during school. When interviewing a first grade teacher at our school, I first asked her how much technology she used throughout the day herself. I then asked how much technology she used within her classroom and what types of things she would like to incorporate with her first graders in regards to technology. I chose to interview a classroom teacher because being a physical education teacher I don’t use as much technology as I should right now so I thought it would be more beneficial to see how the classroom teachers within my building were incorporating technology into their curriculum.
The students I interviewed seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about technology both at home and in the classroom. According to McHale, "They've had digital technology surrounding them from the time they were infants," he says. "That digital world affords them many things that the previous world didn't." In his article, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants," Prensky describes these students as wanting their information extremely fast and being experts at multitasking and networking. Yet he sees schools lagging behind, still tied to an antiquated system that rewards staying on task and on pace with others above more individualized education plans. I believe this is found to be true. The second grade girl student I interviewed said she did not use a lot of technology or hardly ever at school but she did use it quite a bit at home. I believe this could be because of the student’s age. They are not that exposed to many types of technology at the primary levels. However, the teachers at our school all have smart boards for each class so those primary students are introduced to technology in that aspect.
After conducting my interviews I realized that schools are still behind in terms of what the students are doing with technology at home. Also the amount of hours they are using technology at home compared to school is a lot. This was not surprising to me because of what our teachers are trying to do. They are still trying to make sure they follow their units and curriculum the way they always have. However, I think we are doing a better job each and every year and our technology in schools is slowly progressing.
References:
McHale, T. (2005). Portrait of a digital native. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4572
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