Best of 2007 Blog

Amazing!!! In every class I have been taking since at South Alabama, there has never been at least a few people mentioning how computers and technology's advancements are taking over our world. The same conclusion is always made; get with it or get left! This blog forces to the surface everything that so many of us are afraid to really think about. Is it really okay to be proud of and shrug off the fact that we really don't know anything about computers? Is it okay for us to just joke about the fact that we are being left behind in a world that, now days, doesn't have time to be concerned with whether or not you are up-to-speed with the rest? With technology only getting better and faster, do we really think it will all just go away? Do we really think it is possible for us to just wake up in five or ten years and computers are no longer?

This blog has made it clear that not only is learning technology going to be important for us to get our degree, but it is also going to be a necessity for us to be allowed to use them. One of my first thoughts was that there is no way this is the only person raising the question of how can we allow "technology-illiterate" people be in leadership positions in our community. He brings to light the example of how you can be totally illiterate of the mechanics of the vehicle, but you know enough to stay out of the road! In my opinion, there is no way to do this with technology...There is no escaping its path. Another point he brought about was how can we teach, even our own children, the do's and dont's of the cyberworld if we cannot even log in and navigate? Do we really think there is a place in the world for those with a degree and a fist full of jokes about how they are totally stupid when it comes to computers? This blogger really makes you think of just how shut out all the "technology-illiterate" people will be in the very near future. What will these people do when they are told they are going to be participating in, NOT ATTENDING, a teleconference ?

Another point of his..Modeling is the tool we are suppose to use the most when it comes to displaying the actions we want our children/students to pick up on. Just last semester in Dr. Marshall's Sociology class we must have spent two weeks talking about how you HAVE to be able to model the behaviour you want them to mimic. How can we expect our students to be prepared for what they must face after graduation if we can't even check our e-mail? How can we answer their questions if we have never logged into Google Docs or iGoogle? Are we selling our students short of what they deserve? Are we going to turn them out into a world of laptops, ipods, spreadsheets and blogs totally unprepared?
Something else mentioned in this blog that I could 100% relate to, is the thinning patience of some teachers who ARE totally up and going with our new found world of computers, etc. That was the pointing out of how wrong it is for them to turn their backs on those of us who have never been taught in the first place. I can remember my second or third semester at Faulkner State. My Spanish teacher was using an on-line supplement to help us learn the language. This was wonderful for some, but for others like me who had never done anything on a computer, I was totally lost. When I went to her and explained my situation and asked for help, I was told that the only help she could give me was to drop her class, pray it didn't mess up my financial aide, and try again with another teacher at another time. Really nice, huh? From that point on, I was always scared to death of computers. It took my Computer Basics teacher 2 years later to help me loosen up when it came to computers. Once I had someone willing to help me, I really started to like the computer world. Though I am still VERY far from not needing instruction, he gave me the confidence I needed to learn! There are too many teachers out there who feel that because they have already learned it, those who don't are just too far behind and they feel no obligation to help us out! This blog points out how that is totally unacceptable and I completely agree! I hope that upon our graduating and our coming into the world as the teacher and no longer the student, we can all keep in mind just how frustrating it can be when you don't get something right off the bat and we do need help. I hope that we can all be the ones who make the difference for our students and show them everything we can to keep them up to speed in a world that is not about to slow down!