Times they are a-changin'...Oh..they've already changed...

There has been a lot of talk lately on our campus about how the students are so much further ahead of many of the faculty members regarding technology. I don't know what the average age of a professor is here but I'd bet many of them are 10-20 years older than I am (I'm 40). Many of these people are struggling to keep up with their students and to teach in a way that the students understand.

My kids are 8 and almost 3 and since before they were born we have had a computer, cell phones, DVD player, cable t.v., etc...and we aren't on the cutting edge of technology by any means (no iPhones or iPods in our house). They don't know what life is like without these things and really can't imagine not having them. My husband and I, of course, remember life before these conveniences. I don't think we had cable t.v. until I was in Jr. High (early 80's). We didn't have a computer until I was close to 30 years old and didn't get a cell phone until I was pregnant with Kobe (2000).

Of course it's completely different for our kids. Kobe knows about social networking sites (like Facebook) because he sees me posting there. He knows what it means to chat online, he knows how to log on to our public library account and find books and place them on hold and he can sometimes navigate our computer in ways I didn't think of. Kobe also knows about blogging and what is means to "post". He knows all this because we talk about it at home and he sees what I do. I'm strict about where I let him go online and he's pretty limited to sites like Disney's Toontown Online and Hotwheels.com but even those sites have social networking built in which is where he learned about creating an avatar and an online profile.

So, this morning, I'm coming up the stairs and Kyler says to me, "It's woading (translation = loading)". I say, "What's loading Kyler?" "The waptop (laptop) is woading." Yes, another tech term that my almost 3 year old knows now. The fact that he is telling me the laptop is loading is another issue altogether.

My point is, my children are growing up in a world surrounded by technology and have tons of information accessible to them at any given time. It's a different world and we have to sprint to keep up with them.