TechNafiza

We are introduced to Nafiza in “Digital Youth Portrait: Nafiza”. She is a young lady who starts her day with technology. Her cell phone is her alarm clock and her i-pod goes with her everywhere. She uses one form of technology or another throughout her day as she does different projects. I sometimes wonder if all this technology is helping our children or hurting them. We have younger and younger children doing things that were being done by older people. I have to ask, is this technology causing our children to think they are more grown-up than they are?

There was a time when communication was limited to letters, wire (telegraph), ham radio, telephone, and long distance telephone calls were handled through the operator. And then there were car phones and mobile phones. Then along came the pager. Cell phones came next. Somewhere in all this confusion computers advanced and the Internet, the World Wide Web, came along and grew and grew and is still growing. I do like the possibilities that technology offers. Children around the world learning about each other, more or less, face to face. I am curious as to how far technology will have progressed in 30 years or so.

I think that the way the world is today; our children need every resource that can be made available to them. As educators we need to keep on top of the newest technology so that we may show the students how to use it and maybe use it properly. We are the guardians charged with educating them and preparing them to be vital and productive citizens. To keep up with our students, we will have to continually learn about and use technology and even then I am sure there will still be plenty that our students teach us.