Week 1: My Reflections - "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"

I was introduced to computers when I was 21, rather late to be classified as a digital native. Now, I use computers extensively in my daily life as a source of knowledge, as a means of communication and also as a medium of entertainment. However, I hardly play video games and would rather spend time reading and travelling than checking the latest array of social updates on Facebook. Over the last decade, I am fascinated and humbled by the advent of technology and how it improved our daily lives. Day to day tasks like booking a travel, finding an address, exploring a deal, learning more about almost anything has become as efficient as possible. As a result, I see technology as a means to an end and want to harness its power as best as possible to improve my life and that of my community. I would identify myself as a digital immigrant who is still looking forward to her journey in this exciting world.

Over last few years, I have indeed come in contact with people who are more driven by technology than me. I worked for a company called Computer Explorers which liaises with the school systems to offer courses in computers and uses a blend of innovative software tools in classes to teach subjects like foreign language and mathematics. In the classrooms, I observed that young children in elementary or middle school are far more adroit in use of computer software that I would have imagined for their age. They learn quickly and process information more efficiently than what I can remember at that level from my schooldays.

As a teacher, I realize that there is absolutely no substitute for technology in schools. Educators have to train themselves to use technology with impact in classroom. In the past, the means of acquiring knowledge was limited to reading text books and learning through lectures. Computers and Internet has made the process of learning streamlined by allowing access to an ocean of reference over the web. Other presentation tools have made it easier to illustrate experiments, simulations and other complex content easily in the classroom. As a result, the students can learn a lot faster and expect a lot more from their teachers compared to what they did in the past. The art of teaching has never before looked so exciting or challenging than it is now in the present.