Blog Post #2

     I have very little experience using MS Word. I have used it to create a document only a few times, so the majority of the times I used it I was just reading a document. I have almost always stuck to Google Docs for my school assignments and personal work. I prefer Google Docs because I am most familiar with it, along with other Google platforms like Slides and Sheets. I find them much easier to navigate.

    The ISTE Standard that is most meaningful to me is being a "Learner." This means that educators adapt to new technologies and improve their classroom by learning from others. I learned that this can be done by setting professional goals, such as applying a certain technology in class. Another way is by staying current on education research. My only question would be how to keep up with that. Where can one learn about new research that improves the learning environment?

    I completely agree that the term "digital native" is accurate to today's youth. This is because most American youth and even young adults grew up with easy access to technology. We had internet access as children and grew up with televisions, laptops, and cellphones in our homes. I think the difference in technological experience is very evident in the classroom. There have been many times where teachers of mine, who did not grow up in a digital native generation, have had to ask students how to navigate a certain website or perform a specific task online. I think this has only really impacted my learning experience by causing teachers, especially older ones, to use technology less in the classroom or only use simple, easy-to-navigate platforms. In the future, I think classrooms will have more technology in them because the teachers will all be digital natives. I don't think that the scales will be completely even, though. New technology is always being developed, and future students are growing up familiar with that. Their digital nativity will be even stronger than that of the educators. My future students will probably understand the new technology more than I will, so I will have to make efforts to ensure that technology is still used as effectively as possible in my classroom.