Prensky and Boyd

                

 If I had been introduced to Prensky's idea of someone being a digital native or digital immigrant due to their birth date and circumstances of growing up with technology being ever present prior to 2020, I probably would have believed it. People like to believe that children and teens are capable of utilizing technology, in all it's forms, rather easily. They play online video games where they can communicate with their peers while they are all sitting in the own homes. Many teenagers have personal cell phones and carry the internet with them wherever they go. educational systems today require students to create assignments on computers utilizing a variety of programs and sites. My eight year old, for example, utilized Google Slides and Microsoft Word to complete a project for school. Prior to the Covid-19 world wide Pandemic I would have assumed that technology was relatively easy and seamless for the generation of students that are currently in America's public schools. After the closing of brick and mortar schools due to Covid-19 my thinking leans more towards Boyd's beliefs of experience being a larger contender. Now I know better. 

On March 13, 2020, a Friday,  students and teachers within all sectors of education in the state of Rhode Island were told at the end of the school day that they would not be returning as expected on the following Monday. Instead they would be learning and teaching virtually from home. I am not sure that many of us understood exactly what this would mean. 

As a teacher I sent my students home, then scrambled through my classroom trying to determine what I would need to take home with me so that I could continue to do my job. I immediately became anxious, not just of the unknown fears of a world wide pandemic, but also of my ability to teach through technology while also ensuring my 2nd grader received his education as well. It turns out that one of the biggest obstacles during this time wasn't the pandemic. Instead it was the lack of understanding on the part of the various participants in using technology as well as the availability of the technology itself. 

I teach a Pre K Integrated class at Pleasant View Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island. According to the Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook the Providence Public Schools educate 24, 075 students. Of those students 261 are known to be homeless, 36% live in poverty and 15.7% live in extreme poverty. For many of those students school was their safe place. It was where they were fed and kept warm during the day. Due to Covid-19 we sent them home one day saying we would continue their education virtually when many of our students were relying on the school system to provide them with their next meal. How were they ever going to have the resources necessary for virtual learning?

The reality is many of our students didn't have the technology necessary for them to participate in virtual learning. They relied on school issued Chromebooks, that quite honestly, were not of the best quality. A proper instrument was not the only set back our students experienced. Many of our students were living in homes with no internet. Not only did the school department scramble to find enough working Chromebooks for all of it's roughly 24,000 students, it also worked to find affordable internet and to provide hot spots to those that needed them.

Once proper materials were provided students and teachers faced other complications. Reality hit quickly to show that just because students knew how to use a Smartphone and create a homework assignment on a computer didn't mean that they knew how to use the types of cites and programs needed to make virtual learning work. Honestly many teachers didn't know what how to use the formats necessary for them to continue teaching as well. March 2020 was a wake up call, and learning curve for many. 

The first step in understanding technology is having easy access to it. Next you need to be taught how to use it. Many people know how to use their phone. They are able to master the pieces they are interested in using. This makes them feel like they are quite adept with technology. The reality is that until people are given the opportunity to play around with technology, to make mistakes and correct themselves, they don't know how to use it. I don't think age determines an individual's technological status. I think availability, experience, and honestly, interest are what are truly necessary. 

People will learn the information they are invested in. People learn the pieces of technology they need so that it is functional in their lives. They become better at some pieces of technology than others because those pieces of it serve a bigger purpose to them. All of us determine for ourselves how invested we will be.