I recently laughed when the father of a first grader remarked that it would be wonderful to be a kid today. We were at his son's bouncy house birthday party. The kids were running from room to room and had all of the energy in the world. Plus, there were a couple of screens hooked up to Wii games. Most of the kids (and adults) wanted to bowl, play golf, and try their "hand" at tennis by holding a remote and going through the actions of the games. Now this looked pretty interesting to me since I have never been good at sports. What a great way to wiggle around and play a sport at the same time. Maybe I can even swim without jumping into the water. I think I like it!
Technology is just awesome, and I can't get enough of it. I watch my grandsons with their DS games, and their thumbs get a real workout. My teenage step granddaughters can text a message as fast as they can think it. Oh, I ask a lot of questions and try as hard as I can, but they are learning things at such a rapid pace that I feel like I lose more ground every day. I love that they are willing to help me and are patient when I ask questions.
When I was teaching, the tech instructors seemed to want to keep all of the knowledge to themselves. They would let a few tech savvy teachers into their world, but I wasn't one of them. I felt that they just didn't have the time and patience to work with those of us who were actually intimidated by computers and other fancy gizmos. Some of us really wanted to use technology with our students, but the instructors moved too quickly and left us behind. During a training class, one instructor actually slapped my hand and told me to just watch the teacher next to me and to stop messing with my computer.
In my opinion, if a tech instructor can't teach an adult who really wants to learn, then maybe that instructor needs to look for another job. All people are capable of learning, right? Teachers in the school who are tech savvy should be given stipends for spending their time helping teachers who feel uncomfortable using technology in their classrooms. It should be a school effort to get everyone on board. Teachers should want to help their peers learn as much as they can and be given the time to do so. By eliminating needless meetings and redundant inservices, time could be made for this type of collaboration.
After all, the thumb generation expects teachers to know as much as they do.