Week 4 Reflection

I was a little surprised with my answers to the blog reflection questions this week.  Here are my answers:

• Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?  I'm much more comfortable answering questions online, which I find very strange.  I always say I'm not really much of a technology person.  In fact, technology is a little intimidating to me when I think about it, yet I prefer answering questions online.
• Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings and so on) over to a technology device? All of my information is saved somewhere.  I have my phone numbers saved on my phone and computer.  I keep an alarm set on my phone calendar to remind me of any meetings or appointments.  I still keep a paper calendar that I write appointments in on occasion, but I don't really keep that calendar all that up to date.
• Do you go to meetings with your laptop, iPad or tablet? I take my laptop, Nook or a campus issued iPad to meetings.  Taking these electronics to meetings allows access to any tools and programs I might need at the touch of a button.
• Are you constantly connected? Is the internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?  I am constantly connected.  I keep my phone with me almost 24 hours a day.  If I do not have the internet connected, someone else in my family does.  
• How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?  I'm a mom, so I have to be a multi-tasker anyway.  However, I do find myself checking my class, email, blog, wiki, cooking dinner, doing laundry, cleaning, answering phone calls, making sure kids are doing homework, helping with homework, and a million other things all at the same time.
• Do you play video games or computer games?  I do not play any games.  Let's face it, I am a full time librarian, mom and take classes. I don't have time to play games.  I don't really think I would play games if I did have time. 
• What generational category do you fall in or are you a mixture of a few? I think I'm a mixture of a few generations.  I am a GenXer, but I am slowly moving increasingly toward the NetGen.  This would never have happened if I had not returned to school and had to take a ton of Educational Technology courses. It does make me a better educator.

Finally, what and how do we need to change?  There are many changes that need to take place.  Educators get set in their ways and stubborn.  We don't want to change.  We think things are fine just the way they are.  If things have worked for years, why grow or change?  It is difficult for educators to explore new ideas and technologies when things seem fine just the way they are.  However, educators need to be open to learning new technologies and how to incorporate them into the classroom.  This will open new doors for all NetGen students who we teach daily.  We have to stop being stubborn and sticking with the teaching tools that worked decades ago because learners are not the same as they were decades ago. One of the goals of educators is the create lifelong learners of students.  Isn't it time educators decided to be lifelong learners too?