Generation IM

Wow, this article blew me away. I was the most shocked to find that 67 percent of preschool children are using computers. I know that technology is definitely being used more than ever now, I just didn't realize that children so young were into it too. I learned from this article that using these technologies helps students develope their literacy skills, social skills and expands thier content based knowledge. I had never thought about these benefits before. I was always of the opinion that video games turn your brain into a marshmellow, but I suppose things like blogs and IM would help students want to develope their communication skills faster. The one question I did have was what age group are they calling natives. Because, the things they talk about such as researching a paper, texting and listening to music is a very common thing for college age students to do-I do that all the time! Are we included in this new age they are talking about? Or is it the generations after us? I learned in this article that the three main barriers preventing teachers from incorporating tech in their classrooms are lack of professional development, lack of time, and lack of support from administrators. I found the seven ways to incorporporate tech into your classroom to be very helpful! The two that I found the most exciting were creating a social network for your classroom, and using the wiki for your classroom.