Technology Stages....Which am I?

Which stage are you at now (personally or professionally)?

     Personally I feel that I am in stage 2: adoption.  Until recently my main use of technology has been for personal reasons, such as Facebook, email, banking and word processing for youth group lessons. As a future professional I see my self at stage3: adaptation. I am ready to try integrating technology in to my curriculum as I see this is necessary to keep the students focus. I see myself having the students write things out and all working on the same thing in the lab. Not rushing to much with the some what over whelming amount of  technology. On the other hand I am also excited to learn more about all the "cool tools" to help me branch out and reach the other stages in order for my students to have the best learning experience.


Is there one stage that you found to be particularly easy and/or difficult?

    I think that stage 3: adaptation could potentially be difficult because you are trying your best to integrate technology into your curriculum but you are completely confident with it yourself. You want to use it but it stressed you out and you give up. This could become a viscous circle causing you try again and again.

Do you agree with the stages as they are listed, or is something missing?
    
     I agree with the stages as they are. I feel that technology is something one is either willing and anxious to learn or wants almost nothing to do with it.

Do you know of an instance with a colleague that easily fit in one of the listed stages?

     In the school where I volunteer I definitely have seen teachers in these different stages. The one I work with most often is definitely stage3: adaptation falling back to stage 2: adoption at times. She is not a fan of technology and at times is still having  a hard time with it. There are also teachers in stage 4: appropriation who can't get enough technology and use it everyday with their students. I have also seen stage 5: innovation where the teacher know just how much technology to use to help their students succeed. In a different setting I see this at work as well. Some of my coworkers do not like using the register since it is computer based. They usually try and avoid training and panic if asked to ring. (stage 1: entry)

Research Reflection

What stood out?

     The amount of time children spend using technology stood out to me. Although I do see this in my everyday life just seeing the numbers shocked me a little. Especially when children are "media multitasking", spending seven and a half actual hours but in reality its ten hours and forty-five minutes.

Were you surprised by anything you saw?

     Yes, I was surprised by the statics associated with various ethnic and racial groups. I never realized this could be a factor in the amount of media used by a student. It seems like most families have some kind of media whether its a TV, computer, smart phone, or video games. I am just shocked that certain ethnic/racial group would use it almost double the time of another. I was also surprised by the fact that the TV is still the most popular form of media with students. I honestly thought it would be the computer.

Do you think having information such as this available to you will help you reach your students on a greater level?

     Yes, I believe it will be helpful to me as a future educator. The research done by the Kaiser Family puts into perspective just how much I will need to integrate technology in to my lessons to keep the students focused and wanting to learn. Classrooms are definitely not completely lecture based anymore. In some ways I think it will be a little difficult to integrate technology into a math curriculum but I am up for the challenge.


Should we be cautious about the research findings or take them at their word?    

     I think we can take them at there word but also realized that the amount of time spend daily using media will always be raising. This research has confirmed what I see in my everyday life; at home, at work and at the school I volunteer at. Children of all ages need "screens". Sometimes its hard to get them to do anything without some screen time.


Do you thing students were portrayed positively or negatively by the findings?

     I feel that the students were portrayed positively. Positively in that this is how they are and they do see a problem with it because this is how they grew up. With all of these "new medias" at their finger tips. Therefore they don't really know any better. The  future generations will have so many cool media devises that us teachers might even  be replaced with robots or computers ourselves.




*Some of the children in my life and their many "screens"!*