Here Today Tech Tomorrow...

So I have been perusing the class blogs and have found it interesting that the younger students, you know, the less older ones, seem to be quite resistant to technology in the classrooms.  Some have embraced it; other are wary of it, and many, well, don’t want it.  The idea that the mature student, and by that I mean old guy, is actually excited about the possibilities seems to me to be a bit ironic.  Old, never had and should be hesitant, wants while young grew up with is actually hesitant…but who knows, perhaps I am wrong.  However, at the very least it fascinates me.

There is not going to be a choice in the matter, technology is here to stay…the choice has been made and now we are dealing with the consequences, whether they are good or bad, right or wrong.  I got a kick out of the class when we were asked what a carriage was, as in a typewriter carriage and most everyone just looked at each other, a couple of us chuckled.  Wasn’t it fun when were younger using the typewriter and having to start over because it did not make enough sense or you made too many mistakes?  I so remember typing copy after copy and at some point having to replace the ribbon, yup, that was fun, ink everywhere…heaven forbid if you were a bad speller.

Now you write a paper, check it over, run the spelling and grammar check then spice it ups with different formats and add some color and pizzazz.  Want to change things around because it is just not right, no problem, cut and paste.  Finally, hit the print button and there you go... report extraordinaire.  Oh, did I mention, you needed some information, no running to the library you hope someone else is not using the copy of the encyclopedia you need, that could be trouble.  So what next, oh yeah, I forgot all the information was out of date because it was published next last year.  But what the heck, the volume was there and it had one picture for you to look at…now, what other source should I use?  I may take hours to get all the information together and take the notes, but we are on our way…good thing this paper is not due for four weeks.

Now I look at my children, they surf the net and find out what they need at the touch of a key.  Well, not only what they need but thousands of extra tidbits of information all at their fingertips in the blink of an eye…and not only that, but how many pictures do you want and from what angle, in color or out of color, wow, they can import the picture right into their report and make it fit perfectly.  No guessing and moving, perhaps some creative scissoring…it was fun but the tape never looked very good and glue made the paper wrinkle.

My kids watch TV and play video games, and by video games, I mean interactive movies…I played pong…four hours, totally engrossed and marveling at how amazing this game was.  Good thing pong was only two colors, because our TVs only showed two colors, black and white.  To this day, I still vividly remember hearing “the eagle has landed” and “one small step for man” while gathered around  the 10”screen with the rest of my family…then came on the test pattern because there was no more programming.  My kids watch TV on the 55”flat screed HD full color TV in the family room, play games on the 42” flat screen in the front room or watch TV on the big TV in the basement.  You are probably wondering what a test pattern is…um, basically, nothing on TV is what it was…now, there is really no need as we have 10,000 channels all will nothing on, but at least “on” all the time.

Our car back then had no air and when the radio actually picked something up it was muffled and usually only played out of the speaker in the front seat area by the radio itself…well, until you bout new speakers and added them, running the wires yourself, of course, that assumed your car even came with a radio.  Now not only does your car talk, the air blasts and cools you down.  The radio has a touch screen and gives you directions on where to go…and so the kids don’t get bored, your own private movie theater.  Perhaps each child wants to watch their own movie, so we have IPads, ITouches and just about any other IThing you can come up with.  In my day, it was called an Ibook, naw, just joking, it was just called a book and you probably borrowed it from the library.

Now don’t get me wrong I am not complaining about this either way but I remember watching Star Trek and wanting a communicator.  I even put together a model of one and carried it around; I was so very cool…the only problem with the one back then is it did not work.  Today, I have a smart phone, and yes, smarter than me, it outsmarts me every day, damn that phone.  But it took me a while to switch over from my flip phone/communication; I still have that first phone and love it, lol

I have not one but two laptop computers and there are four of them in our house.  We have two desk tops but the coolest thing of all is the IPad, are you kidding me, all I need is my phaser!  Yes, I am a Trekki!!!!  “Damnit Jim, I am a doctor, not a stone mason” Wow, what an amazing world we live in today!

So what is the point of my rambling, certainly not the eloquence of language I am not using but my belief that technology is here to stay, and honestly has made itself quite at home…have you ever seen a Day of Glass, if not, watch it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

Our classrooms have been transformed into the sky is the limit.  Imagination, understanding and whatever else you can come up with are but a double tap or a few key stokes away.  Now learning has moved out of the four walls that trapped it before and has made its place in the world.  What happened has turned into how do I fit into the world?  Where do I fit into the world?  And in reality what does the world look like?  Not sure, get online and let your imagination be your guide.  You are only controlled by what you do not know…yet!  Captain Kirk when asked where to go, point out and said, "that-a-way".  But in reality it could have been anyway.  That is what technology has given us.  The only thing restraining us is us not knowing where to look.

So what could be wrong with all of that you ask?  Well, my son dates his girl friend through texting and innocuous facebook postings…”what are you doing” he says, she answers, “I don’t know, what are you doing”  Really, how about let’s go out and rollerblade or better yet go see a movie, maybe even get something to eat and talk.  Will his first kiss be on app between the two?  Is it actually a kiss if their lips don’t touch or is the intention of it being a kiss where we are headed?  Will holding hands be linking up cell phones?  And speaking of movies...will they watch the movie from their separate homes and then talk about how funny or sad or scary it was, through texts?  WOW, that is no fun.  Where will the shyness be when you first want to hold her hand…technology can be so impersonal sometimes…

So will classes go online, you never have to leave you home, you can learn in the PJs…wasn’t there a commercial about that on TV?  I took some online classes for pre reqs and they were fine, but I tell you political philosophy with no one to talk with, debate or just share ideas…man that was tough…70 papers and not enough feedback…who wants to argue/spar or debate with me, please!!!!!

The trick is combining the joy of the ragged page of the textbook and smiling when on of the kid’s points out the information is actually wrong, according to what they found on the internet.  Then including, pods, blogs, wiki’s, twitters, posts, emails, movies, videos, music, tweets, voicemails and whatever else technology gives us now and what it will provide to us later.  It is a brave new world we are heading into but we need to remember where we came from to help us get to where we are going.  As some of my classmates found out the other day when the power went out, sometimes technology has it’s limitations.  I had my paper copies I printed off the website for class.  Technology is great and is moving us forward but is still grounded in the technlogyless past.  Melding the two together is the trick…

I keep seeing the pushback but in the back of my mind I see technology smugly smiling and saying, “I’ll be back…”