Blog Journal 2

 Blog Journal #2

Throughout my education in K-12 and even until now as a sophomore in college, I have had a lot of experience with Microsoft Word. Over the years I have used Microsoft Word to submit essays or research papers, so I have had experience with manipulating the documents and using different fonts and font sizes to complete my assignments. In college, I have also taken an intro computer course where some of my assignments were done with Microsoft Word. Even though, I am very comfortable using Word I do prefer using Google Docs. I prefer this word processing software because to me personally it is easier for me to find the previous document that I may have been working on and the document automatically saves when you are working on it. This makes me confident that my work will be saved in case I forget to save the document. I do prefer Word for some things because it has features that Google Docs does not have, but I mainly use Google Docs. 

The ISTE standard that is most meaningful to me is the 2.3 Citizen Standard. This standard states that educators should work to positively inspire students to participate and engage digitally in a responsible way. This standard is most meaningful to me because it is the foundation for students to become strong learners and should be the first thing an educator makes sure to do. If an educator didn't inspire students to be responsible and respectful online before teaching them ways to engage digitally, the students may not use technology in a way that is healthy and productive. This standard is especially important for K-12 students because when students are at younger ages they are learning to become helpful citizens, so teachers can help teach them how to be respectful online and in real life. 

A digital native is a young person who has grown up in the digital age. I do agree with the term "digital native" when referring to today's youth, however, I do think that just because someone was born into an age of technology does not mean that they necessarily will be more comfortable with technology. I think this because some children may not have access to technology at a young age and therefore as they get older they may not have the same knowledge as someone else you had access to it as a young child. I do think that digital natives will learn and adapt easier to technology than digital immigrants. For example, in the past, students in my class have sometimes taught my teachers how to use new technology because they were able to learn how to use it and adapt more quickly to new technology than an older teacher that might not have always been around technology. This impacted my learning experience because while there were no major impacts it did interrupt the flow of the class because the technology may not have always been working and cohesive. In the future, as an educator, I will probably face this conflict with education because my students will be quickly adapting to new technology while I may need more time to adjust. 

Badges are a cool way in technology to measure your growth in various activities or to mark digital accomplishments no matter how big or small. I think that badges are a good way to measure your growth in different activities and can also motivate you. I have earned badges through my Apple Watch for different fitness goals like a certain amount of steps or exercise. While I don't personally share my badges, other people might want to in order to motivate themselves and show that they have completed a goal of theirs. Badges are a really good way to hold yourself accountable for your goals.