Blog Journal #2

 I have a very rocky relationship with MS Word as a student. One time, when writing a final paper for an English class, my MS Word got hacked and started deleting my words as I was writing. Additionally, I find downloading and uploading MS Word documents difficult. Personally, I prefer using Google Docs since it was a tool that I grew up in school using. Most middle and high schools do not offer Microsoft tools for free, so switching from that to only using MS tools can be a difficult and confusing transition.

When looking at the ITE Standards for Educators, the "Citizen" standard is the one that I personally find  meaningful to me. I like how it emphasizes helping students navigate the internet in a safe way, and how it guides them to think about their online presence in a meaningful way. For example, this standard addresses the issues of cyberbullying and misinformation. The citizen standard is not just about teaching rules, but also about demonstrating ethical behavior that students will use in their futures as citizens. One lingering question I have is how educators can balance promoting their students to think and speak freely while keeping a safe and respectful online environment. 

I have mixed feelings for the label "digital native" for today's youth. To be a digital native, it usually means that you were brought up with technology, and are comfortable with using technology from an early age. While I agree that most of today's youth experiences more technology on a day to day basis as compared to the past decades, I do know of some scenarios where parents do not want their children around technology at all. Additionally, I do not think that simple exposure to technology guarantees children to have an understanding of technology or how it works. However, I have definitely noticed a difference between myself and teachers who fall under the "digital immigrant" category, meaning that they learned how to navigate about technology later in life. For example, in high school, I had an older English teacher who insisted on grading hand-written essays as opposed to typed essays, since they were a "digital immigrant" and did not using technology in the class at all, since they were unfamiliar with it. This impacted my learning experience by not allowing me to become familiar with writing tools to better suit my teacher's needs. Looking ahead at my future students, I am expecting there to be a gap. Some students might be very familiar with using technology, while others will not. I hope that I will be able to find a way to accommodate every child's experience in the future.