I am the type of person that does not run from technology per se, but I would definitely not consider myself technologically savvy by any means. I interact with computers daily, mainly to check my email, but my internet literacy does not extend far past the all encompassing usefulness and ease of google. I would say that my reluctance (avoidance is too harsh of a word) to interact more with computers on the regular comes from the fact that although I grew up with a computer in my home, I managed to get by most of the time without using one, besides the obvious typing course I was obligated to take in the 9th grade.
As we discuss teaching technological literacy and usefulness in the classroom, and also demonstrate how helpful it can be as a teaching tool, I have been thinking about my own education and whether or not it suffered from the lack of availability of the internet in the classroom. If a question arose in the classroom, our first option for a solution was going to the library. Today, the answer could be found in a manner of seconds on the world wide web. Yes, I agree the speed and vastness of the internet is revolutionary. But I also think that it changes the way we critically think about problems, and at times we are quick to remove our greatest tool, our own brains, from the equation altogether. This sort of escape may save time, but at the same time sacrifices real learning.
I think that their needs to be a delicate balance, one that reconciles technology with individual inquiry, the need to ask why, and than actually try and figure out why before resorting to simple, solutions. Teaching is much more about teaching how to think than how to teach rote memorization of facts, or in this case, teaching how to easily access facts without actually thinking about the facts themselves.
As a teacher, I think this distinction needs to be constantly considered and reconsidered in the classroom. Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe in the usefulness and necessity of learning how to use technology, as my own personal experience with and knowledge of technology leaves something to be desired. Technology can be a great aid and supplemental resource to a teacher, it offers many different educational tools as well as links students to the world that they live in, giving them invaluable skills and a literacy that my parents still view as an enigma. As I both explore and educate myself as to the value and uses of computer technology, I also hope that I can learn to navigate appropriately the thin line that separates educationally useful technology from the mindless use of technology as a means to an end.
