Educating the Net Gen-The Real vs the Possible

I liked that this article started out by stating that not all of our students are actual "Net-Geners". My issues with incorporating technology in education have all been related to the fact that not all students have access to the internet and some don't even have computers at home. Schools don't all have the best resources/funding for technology either. Despite that, I'm beginning to be a believer in what the internet has to offer to education. I've learned things in this class that I already have used or intend to use in my classes. My initial skepticism and ignorance is what prevented me, and I believe prevents most educators, from incorporating more technology into the classroom. I'm young enough to be considered of the Net Gen, and yet I consider myself to be technologically incompetent (although I'm learning!). I can only imagine how older teachers feel. And yet we rarely have professional development in Technology. Each class I learn something else I didn't know existed with regard to technology and education. It's almost overwhelming how much is out there. I'm open to change, but I wonder if anyone else is. Some teachers have been doing the same thing for years, and I don't think many are adapting to technological changes, nor do they feel the need to. Some day I hope to have access in my classroom to more technology. For example, with what I've learned I'd almost kill to get a digital projector and a computer that's fast enough to make use of it! It would also be nice to have a few computers in my room. I have students with a huge variety of experience in my subject (Spanish). I'm expected to take differentiated instruction to a whole new level, given that some of my students are fluent Spanish speakers where as others have never used the language. For those fluent students that finish their work well before others or aren't challenged enough, the internet could provide many supplemental activities for them, without them feeling bogged down with extra "busy work". For now, I intend to occasionally take my students to the computer lab, but this takes extra time and can present complications (i.e. getting there, starting up computers, finding 30 that work, getting things to print, assigning seats, finding 30 headphones that work for audio activities...lots of new worries that aren't necessarily issues in the traditional classroom). I also plan on using teacher resources the internet provides to improve my classes- hands-on lesson plan ideas, videos (teacher tube/united streaming) which I can burn to DVD, worksheet/puzzle makers..anything I can find to make my lessons more engaging. I hope to see school districts supporting technology more than they do now. A lot of technology use in schools depends on administration providing funding and adding technology into the curriculum. Until that happens, I intend to learn and use as much as I can, because I do believe learning can be more meaningful to students if technology is properly implemented. Also, I've noticed many of our EduCause readings are geared towards education at the college level. Online assignments are far more likely to be completed by college students, partly because they are more responsible, and partly because they all have access to computers on campus, whereas not all secondary students do. On the other hand, if our students will be attending universities that make use of technology, shouldn't it be our responsibility to make sure they are ready for that college level education? Another issue I have with technology is that not everything we learn can be "simulated". For example, virtual dissections/surgeries can not replace the hands-on experience future Doctors will need to have. Visual aids to understand mathematical concepts are neat too, but students should be able to eventually generate those mental images without relying entirely on a website. On the whole, I think educators need to try a little harder to keep up with technology, especially if it is the best method currently available to inspire learning. Our learners are definitely changing faster than our teaching methods, I just hope we can eventually catch up, or that we at least start trying to.