So you now have various options to use technology in your classroom, but do you fear that the students "know more that you"? I will let you in on a secret, they really don't. One thing I have heard teachers say is that "the kids know more than me". Depending on the situation, that may not be true. Yes, they can Tweet, Snap, and Text at rapid speeds unknown to most of us over the age of 30......but how is that going to benefit them writing a paper in college, finding valid research information, creating a bill for a customer, or being able to remember a password that is used for more than five minutes to get a social media account.
I have been working with students using technology for the past 14 years of my career and more heavily this past year. They still need to be taught and issued guidance and you as the teacher have more knowledge than you are giving yourself credit. Students still need you to tell them that they need to use the same type of font throughout the entire paper and believe it or not how to center the title of said paper. I saw a student this year using a 24pt font to write a paper. It seems that many of them do not know how to press the "shift" key when typing the letter "I". You have the knowledge to direct them to valid and reliable research sites. And what about those students going directly into the workforce or wanting to own their own business, would the ability to type an invoice or create documents with proper page numbering be beneficial?
One situation I encounter in my job more than any are students that do not know passwords to any account they have. As teachers, you can tell them how may times a day in your job you have to remember a password just to gain access to your work life.
These may seems like basic skills, but they are basic skills that many students do not possess, but you do. You have a lot to offer students and becoming a learner yourself will help you get more comfortable with using technology on a regular basis.
If you are curious about my graphic at the beginning of my blog, I used http://doppelme.com. A free, user friendly site to create custom avatars.
