I am. In fact, my dad and I had this conversation the other day when I was talking about what classes I'm scheduled to teach next year. He will still sit down and pull out a legal tablet and write out anything he has to compose. I go straight to the computer. If I need to plan, I have access to graphic organizers. (My jr. high kids prefer to do their story/paper planning this way.) I find it more efficient to type whatever comes to mind, then use the tools to rearrange and fix it up. I also like that I can have access to whatever I'm working on at home, school, or wherever I find down time (...and Internet access.)
Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device?
Completely. I can only recite a handful of phone numbers these days. In high school, I could spout off 40 phone numbers, but I just don't have to anymore. All of my meeting invites, appointments, etc. are on my iPhone. The majority of them go from my email straight to my calendar.
Do you go to meetings with your laptop or PDA?
I take my iPad to all of my school meetings. I can take notes, add to my calendar, and do pretty much everything else I could ever need.
Are you constantly connected? Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?
As much as I wish I could disconnect sometimes, I am constantly connected. Sometimes I get frustrated with it, because everytime theres a tech issue at school, or anybody has a tech issue, I get an email or text. I'm as bad as my students are when I have to be without my iPhone, though. I get this feeling like I'm missing something, or could miss something if I disconnect.
How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?
I heard a speaker(Kevin Honeycutt...highly recommend him!) who recently that addressed this...he explained and demonstrated that no matter how many tasks we attempt, we still have 100% of our "brain power" to go around. So, if you are texting and driving, your brain might be putting 20% into texting and 80% into driving. As the tasks and distractions increase, the percentages and effectiveness of each decreases. That said, for routine tasks, I think I can handle 2 or 3 activities at a time. For example, when I'm planning lessons, I'll have music on, be working on my lesson plans and waiting for updates to run in my lab. If it's something important or new, I have to cut down and give my undivided attention to it.
Do
you play video or computer games?
I don't play many video or computer games often. I used to before I had a kid, when I had free time. Nowadays, if I'm playing a video game, I'm trying to help Dora the Explorer outsmart Swiper the Fox, or something on that level with my daughter.
What
generational category do you fall in or are you a mixture of a few?
By definition, I'm a member of Generation X, but I think I identify more with the Net Generation.
As an educator who works with a combination of Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, I think it is most important to remember to teach for the future, not the way we were taught. The majority of the technology that our students will use in their daily lives and their future workplaces does not even exist yet. We have to find a balance of what we as educators are competent in, and we have to push our limits sometimes to stay current. I also feel that we have to fight the budget-driven urge to turn over instruction to online courses in the name of saving money. This is happening right now in my own back yard. Yes, I think that tech enhances instruction, and I think that online courses are good choices for SOME students. However, deciding to send entire classes and groups of students to the computer to complete courses is dangerous in my opinion, especially in early high school classes. I found it interesting that the Net Generation desires a blend of traditional and online instruction.
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