Technology Autobiography

In school, my class was in the cusp of emerging technology. We learned things like basic programming, how to change the colors on the computer screen, and how to word process. In high school, it was a big deal that our term papers had to be word processed. It was a novel idea. Once I got to college, email was just begining to be a widely-used tool. At U of L, we had to apply through our advisor to get an email account. It was a pain, but we liked it. Near the end of my undergrad, the Internet was taking hold. We made fun of our professors because they talked in this new "dot com" language. We used to say that we wanted a "lemon dot poppyseed dot muffin." Who knew how much the Internet would transform our lives?

Professionally, I have always used technology in my jobs. It was novel that I knew my way around Microsoft Office, Pagemaker, Outlook. That was cutting edge. Over the past few years, I have become much more interested in social media - Facebook, Twitter, RSS. Being in Public Relations, I was constantly attending seminars about these new communication tools. Now, there is so much that is readily available, it is a bit boggling. But, I am still on Facebook. I never did get into Instant Messaging, and I have yet to make a tweet. I feel like I use the technology that works for me and is easy to use.

Having been in the "real world," and having two small children, I don't see how computers and other technologies cannot be a part of the classroom. For example, I believe that computers have changed the writing process for many. It used to be a big hassle to have to revise a written document. White out, correction tape, and lots of paper made it important to type it only once and type it correctly. So, the process was to get it down on paper, then type it out. Now, it makes sense to do pre-writing and revising as you type on the computer. If you are a strong typist, chances are you can pound it out on the keyboard as fast as you can think, a distinct advantage over handwriting it. So, the technology changes the approach. Instead of focusing on traditional writing methods, I feel like computers shift the focus to careful editing.

Additionally, I feel like technology levels the playing field for students. The pervasiveness of Internet access for students makes researching thoughts and ideas easier to access the information versus a traditional library approach. However, it is just as important to teach all students how to conduct research in an appropriate manner for academic research.

Being comfortable with technology - whether it is basic word processing, Internet, or RSS feeds - is key to success in modern society. There are very few jobs left in our culture that do not require the use of technology and the mastery of basic computer skills. Our role as educators is to ensure that we use appropriate technologies and model competency.