Journal #1

Article: Professors adjust their methods to reach technology-savy generation.
By Eleanor Yang Su

This article is very interesting to me because I can directly relate to it. My mom and I always talk about how technology has almost become a second language for the people of my generation. Her generation is struggling to learn how to speak "technology" and what it means. For me and the other "millennials" of my generation we have grown up around technology as the article mentions.
I can relate also to the difficulty of lecturing to students while they are using their laptops and cell phones in class. I have witnessed many students, including myself, text messaging in class, using the internet to check e-mail or myspace, and occasionally using thier laptop to take notes in class. I have however, seen many professors being turned off to this because it is a distraction to them as they teach. I have had several professors ban computers from class, saying it is more of a distraction than it is helpful. According to this article by Eleanor Yang Su, she found that many San Diego professors are going in the opposite direction, and utilizing different high-tech teaching strategies. I believe that this is the direction that education will begin going, not just for college students, but for high school students as well. I know from observing several high school classrooms that cell phones and ipods are huge issues in classrooms.
I found the section of the article about multitasking very interesting. I feel that I am a huge multitasker and sometimes it helps me get things done at quicker pace, but sometimes it distracts me from what needs focusing and I end up doing a half attempt on all of the tasks. Not good :(
This brings me to my first question: How can I make sure that while I am multitasking with technology, I am getting all of my work done to my full potential? I think that this takes a lot of self discipline and requires that I set aside time for tasks that require my full attention. For me this is very difficult to do because most of my homework is done on the computer and my cell phone is consantly ringing. I need to make this a priority for myself so that when I become a classrooom teacher it will be a habit to focus and not distract me from teaching.
My next question is about the generation that is going to follow me. The kids born in the late 1990's and eary 2000's. These kids are by far going to be more technological savy than the Millennial generation. This will also be the generation that I want to be teaching. These kids are getting cell phones for their tenth birthday. I was not allowed to have a cell phone until I started driving, when I was sixteen. These kids are growing up with LeapFrogs and other technological learning devices that encourage reading on a computer more than reading from a book. It is a very vague question with an even vauger answer, but I think it is important for all of us to be aware of.