I’m at the ICTE conference Thursday and Friday and was pleased to see several tech-friendly breakouts with great attendance numbers.
Unsurprisingly, the look on the faces of many were a mashup of fear and confusion. I asked a few who attended the tech-breakouts what they thought, and here are a few responses:
- I’m not a tech-type but all my students are
- My students have so much of a head start
- I don’t have time to learn the stuff my students already know
- These kids get this stuff — but I don’t
Oh teachers – these kids still need you. THEY STILL NEED YOU!
I get the opportunity of "hanging" with students daily. Are they tech-comfy? You bet. Tech-savvy? Not even close in many cases.
Just because our students and kids are digital natives (or digital resident?), it doesn’t mean they are tech-literate.
- Do they know how to refine a search result to find qualified, relevant answers?
- Do they know when it’s appropriate to T9-style text and when it’s not?
- Do they understand when and how they can mashup something or what Creative Commons means?
- Do they know what pictures are appropriate to share online?
- Do they understand the differences between online and offline behavior (if there are any)?
They still need you! And they don’t need you to be tech-savvy…they need you to be tech-comfy. If that.
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