EME Week 3: ISTE Standards and "Digital Natives"

 Hi y'all!

In my academic experience, I have used Word mostly in college, but also became familiar with it in my K-12 years. I believe I started out writing using Word in about the sixth grade, which was before Google Docs were popularized. We would use Word and save all of our work onto a flash drive. I do typically prefer using Google Docs, but I often find myself using Word for assignments in college. 

The ISTE Standards are a list of guidelines for teachers to help them when empowering students through the digital age. Out of all of the standards listed, I'm most drawn to 2.3c, Citizen- Teaching Safe, Legal, and Ethical practices. When using technology, I think it is so essential for students to understand and set boundaries around their time spent on the internet. I was also drawn to the aspect of protection of intellectual rights, which is especially important for students in the arts who may be sharing their creative work online. I want to help students gain a deep understanding of how to protect their intellectual property and mentor them through using ethical tools. 

The term digital native refers to people who are born into a certain technological age who are familiar with and required to know how to use the popular technologies of that time. I do agree that children who are born into modern society are much more familiar with new technologies and are more likely to want to use them as well. The one point I do not agree with is that people born into a certain technological age are more comfortable using certain technologies. For example, I see many people from my generation who stray away from using social media or AI technologies because they are hesitant based on their impacts on society. I definitely see a difference in how my teachers use technology versus their students. Many of my teachers avoid using technology at all in their classrooms and those who do still seem unfamiliar or struggle with technology that the students in the class are very familiar with. In the future, I'm sure this trend will continue, and this may be due to the fact that each generation becomes familiar and comfortable with the technology of their age and resist any change to their knowledge and comfortability.