Today’s students have a road ahead of them that most of us never dreamed of. When we were in school, our teachers and parents had a pretty good idea about the kinds of jobs available to kids. Today it is a much different story. Who knows what jobs lay ahead for students? Who knows what great and wonderful bits of technology will be invented in the next 3 years? Or the next 5 years or beyond!
Technology continues to advance at crazy rates that extend far beyond that which our schools can keep abreast. A student entering university today is likely training for a job that may be obsolete by the time they graduate four or five years later. This presents certain obstacles for university professors, but consider the impact of this new reality on grade school teachers.
Among all the other responsibilities heaped on the shoulders of our K-12 teachers, we add the task of ensuring our students are job-ready for positions that don’t yet even exist. Whatever a child is taught technology-wise in grade 4, for example, will be completely outdated before that child reaches high school. Combine this truth with students’ limited access to the necessary tools, how can we possibly expect schools to deliver on society’s expectations that schools pump-out digitally rich graduates?
All of this disturbs me and I think about the access my own children have to computers in school. I have always worked hard to give my kids the tools they need to succeed in life.
I Have Taught My Kids
Not to pick their noses (or each others),- To chew with their mouths closed,
- To always share their chocolate with ME and not their dad,
- To be kind to others, and
- When they were four I taught them to read and how to use a mouse
All of these are valuable life skills, but I have also been cramming them full of digital lessons almost as fast as they cram down Halloween candy before they get caught! They have been working on the stealth lessons all on their own!
They have been getting lessons in Microsoft Excel, Word and Power Point for the past year; my kids are 6 and 8. I want them to have an understanding of the tools that are available today in hopes they will be better prepared for tomorrow. But that’s just me. I am a self-professed nerd and love to share that “nerdity” with my kids. I figure a good place to start is showing them the cool things they can do with the software they have access to at school.
I realize not everyone has the tech skills I have, so I wanted to get a look into what kids are doing in school regarding technology. I surveyed students from two schools within my school district. Each school is in a different town, but they are governed by the same school district. Please have a listen to my findings and feel free to comment on my podcast too.
Please click on the green play button to hear my podcast.
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