Blog Post 2

 One of the first programs that I learned how to use was Microsoft Word, so I would say I have a good deal of knowledge and experience with the program. I stopped using MC Word around my freshman year of high school, because my school utilized Google Drive and the other programs associated with it. I find myself using Google Docs way more (even when I had MC Word on my computer), because it was more convenient for my classes at the time. Overall I think that Google Docs (and the other Google Drive programs) is a bit more streamlined than Microsoft Word (and the other MS Office programs), so they're easier to use for simple projects and assignments, although there are some functions that MS Office can do that Google Drive cannot, but I never use those functions for any of my school work. 

Of the ISTE Standards for Educators, I find the Citizen standard to be most meaningful. Under the Citizen standard, students learn how to build relationships, develop skills in digital literacy (knowing whether or not an online source reliable/factual), and learn how to protect their personal online data. These are the types of skills that are essential to navigate the digital world. Thus, I believe that the Citizen standard is the most versatile for students, and will help students develop skills that they will utilize far outside their time in the classroom.  

I believe that the term digital native can be an accurate descriptor for those who have grown up around technology. Being a digital native means that you had access to technology (laptops, smartphones, ect.) while you were growing up, so - as you developed - your brain became familiar with utilizing these kinds of technologies, as well as new technology that has since been developed. Growing up with technology has given us a major advantage when using it, that being we are FAST, both when using tech that we know and learning how to use new tech. That's something I have noticed about "digital immigrants," they can learn how to use tech just as competently as digital natives, but it isn't as intuitive for them, and I have noticed that digital immigrants get more frustrated when they don't understand it fast enough. Based on my experience in school, most of my teachers could get by using technology, but they didn't like using it a whole lot, and most of them just used it to print off worksheets and conduct an analog lesson. (Online school was not/has not been an enjoyable experience for a lot of them.) For the most part, I don't think technology is going to make any big shifts from the current norm, because from what I can see, most changes in technology is just going to be optimization and making things faster, and my future students will likely be skilled in most of the same technologies that I am skilled in, but this is subject to change as I do not know what new technologies could come around the corner that my future students would grow up with that I will have to learn how to use.