Blog Post #2

I attended the same school from 6th to 12th grade and as adapted its own technology curriculum, my teachers shifted from requesting us to use Microsoft Word to Google Docs. I was always most comfortable with Microsoft Word; however, there is one thing that stands out about Google Docs that would lead me to teach with it as well: The autosave feature. This feature would have saved me from a mishap that occurred when I was in seventh grade English completing a research paper. The hard drive on my laptop randomly crashed, deleting everything. I had most of my paper completed and had to start from scratch. As a 13 year old, this was very frustrating since I had spent so much of my time taking notes and creating outlines. If I had used Google Docs, my work would have gone straight to a cloud. 

The 2.1c standard states that: Educators stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from learning sciences. It's important for educators to listen to knowledgable researchers to discover the best learning options for their students, as well as understand what may be less effective. While certain teaching techniques may seems rational, learning science may suggest otherwise. One example that comes to mind is something my 12th grade math teacher explained. He would use multi colored markers to help students learn the material better, which was backed up by science. This is something that a teacher may not necessarily think of, but is a useful method. 

I think the label "digital native" is accurate. We have grown up entirely different from previous generations, as the digital world has become the backbone of our lives. The "digital immigrants" had to put in a different level of effort to learn, handwriting all notes instead of typing them, and having to find information in books instead of doing google searches. I think the lives of digital natives are far less time consuming than digital immigrants.