I am sure most of you have been shown a “Shift Happens” video at one time or another. If you haven’t: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=1785. It is a real eye-opener and what the principal at my school used as a motivator for us to use more technology in our classrooms. I was thinking about the changes that are so rapidly taking place in today’s technology and that prompted me to look back on my technology journey. My dad is a computer programmer so we always had the most current technology in my childhood home. Does anyone remember the gaming system, Odyssey 2000? It was one of the first gaming systems, introduced in the early 70’s. We stuck a “cling-on” tennis court to the TV screen and proceeded to hit a white “ball” back and forth. What a sharp contrast to the incredible graphics and 4-D gaming that the kids have today! Our next big technology purchase was an Atari gaming system, then a Radio Shack TRS-80. When I think back to the simplistic nature of these machines compared to what we can do now it blows my mind. At the age of 12, my first job experience with a computer was doing keypunching at my dad’s office every Saturday morning. I loved it so much I spent my high school career focusing on learning how to do COBOL programming and card punching. For two years, three hours a day that is what my focus was. By the time I entered the work force these skills were already becoming obsolete. I never even saw another computer that required a card reader. I used to think that I wasted my time in high school on useless knowledge. I now think different. The problem solving, reasoning, and computer skills that I learned have accompanied me through my personal and professional life. My point is, don’t be discouraged that we cannot keep up with technology and that it is a losing battle so why bother using it with our students. It isn’t. We need to help ourselves and our students become comfortable with technology and problem solving techniques so that we are not afraid to tackle the new technology as it comes.
I do remember seeing that game. It must have been fun to see all that technology at such a young age. My first “job” in 1993 when I was 12 was going into a really cold room and getting out the computer tapes that were needed by the workers. I was able to get this job because I told the people in charge of summer hire that I was interested in computers. Did pulling tapes from a room help me with technology? Not directly because I feel the same as you do about how it helped you become more comfortable with technology.
ReplyDeleteI still have a working Atari and an original Nintendo. It is insane how far along things have come. Floppy disks to thumb drives. It blew my mind when I was taking computer science classes that banks still use COBOL and that was why there was a huge problem with the Y2K, because COBOL was so antiquated. I hope it does make children smarter and better suited for the future, but it may also hamper them as well for instances when technology is lacking. For a while I had thought about what would happen if I had to dress a chicken or butcher meat. I would be in trouble. How many of these kinds don't know actual math because they can just use calculators? As every year passes I feel farther and farther behind the curve on technology and I used to WOW people with my computer prowess and programming skills.
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