Even though computers and technology were fairly new when I was growing up, I remember always having a computer in the house. My dad was a computer programmer or data base administrator, so we needed one for when he was on call for work, but mainly we used the computers for computer games. Given, our internet was using Dial-Up back then, so connections and downloads were slow, not to mention this was a time where households only had landlines and with Dial-Up, you could either be on the internet OR on the phone, but not both at the same time. The funny thing is that while I am older than Google, Youtube, Tiktok, Snapchat, Facebook, etc, I do not remember much of what it was like without these social media applications. There was one assignment when I was in first or second grade, and I had to look up definitions for vocabulary words we were learning. I remember using a dictionary my dad kept on his desk, whereas now, one just needs to go to Google or Dictionary.com to look up a word. In addition, for most of my group projects, we use Google Docs so the group members can access the information and complete their portion when they have the time to do so as long as it is completed by the deadline provided. Google docs enables cooperation between group members without having to find time to meet in person. If someone has a question, they can post a comment or write the question in the document and then someone else will be able to answer the question in a timely manner, or if there are two people accessing the document at once, the updates are live. It is truly amazing and terrifying at how far technology has come.
I never used Myspace, which was the same concept as Facebook, but I am always on Facebook and another app called Discord. As a gamer, I tend to come across a lot of friends online from all over the world, and Discord allows us to text, voice, or video call without giving and real information. However, Facebook is nice to stay in contact with family and friends that do not live nearby and messenger is a lot faster than sending a handwritten letter. Facebook is also beneficial to me personally as my brother is in the Army National Guard and he sometimes has access to social media when he is deployed.
Jenkins (2006) "Executive Sumamry, Needed Skills & Participation" (pgs. 3-11), Haddix & Sealey-Ruiz (2012) "Digital Literacies for Urban Youth," and DeJaynes & Curmil-Hall (2019) "Critical Inquiry & Civic Engagement" touch on how technology and digital media have been affecting students and teachers in general. With technology never going away, many teachers are faced with how do they keep up with technology, without leaving students behind? Many English teachers require papers to be either turned in online, or printed out and turned in. This is an issue as not all students can afford access to the internet if research is required, or the student may not have access to a computer at all. Another issue that arises with the use of technology is that the teacher cannot control what website(s) the student goes to. This was an issue that occurred during the shutdown with Covid and I saw it first hand with my niece (now 9) and nephew (now 8). There were times when they would have to attend zoom meetings and they would be on a different tab playing a game or closing the video. My best friend could only do so much to make them pay attention. With the class being online, the teacher did not have much authority and there was little she could do.
While technology can be a double edge sword, it is convenient: https://www.waldenu.edu/programs/education/resource/top-five-benefits-of-technology-in-the-classroom is an article that explains why technology is important to integrate into the classrooms. Technology can be used to access materials, incorporates different learning styles, and prepares children for the future. Technology is never going away and is constantly improving.
