I'm a 90's kid

I was born before the internet. Plain and simple. I remember as a child walking into my elementary school classroom and along the wall were about four computers, not the sleep modern looking ones we have today, but that big bulky ones, that to us would now look like they should be put in a museum. Back then our idea of fun on the computer was playing Oregon Trail. Now, people sit on the computer for hours and hours going on chat sites, and playing online video games.

After having seen the videos "Shift Happens" and "Vision of Students Today," it makes me realize exactly how much the world has changed. Change is inevitable. It's funny, humans don't like change, yet every second of every minute of every day there is so much change around us. It's amazing to think that just about six or seven years ago Facebook, Myspace and Twitter didn't exist. These websites are now almost essential in everyday life. It's how we communicate.

As someone who wants to be a future educator, the tools available out there today are invaluable. Don't know the answer to a question that a child is asking you? Google it. You don't even have to think about it anymore. I'm not saying that we won't need to have to memorize things anymore, but with the vast knowledge available to us at our fingertips, who wants to? In the classroom this is amazingly obvious. I work with middle school students as a tutor, and for two days out of the week, I am the authority in the classroom. I have gotten up on the board and taught these students. The examples I use are ones that I know they know the answer to, For example, if they are in Pre-Algebra, I use a long division example. I want them to teach me, so I pretend I have no idea what I'm doing. On one of my very first attempts at this, I finished the lesson, and a little girl raises her hand, and in a clear, confident, and slightly condescending tone states "Did you know that you could have saved yourself all this trouble by looking this up on Google?" Aside from being irritated, I was also shocked, how could someone so young be so aware of what's out there? Evidently times have changed and are changing every moment. "Shift Happens" and Vision of Students Today" ring true.

Maybe one day, when I am a teacher, I can teach English to students in India, without having to even leave my living room. Though I'm sure it's happening today, I'm sure it will soon be the norm.