- How are current students different from previous ones, including yourself?
Students of this century were born into a world in which technology and social media are accepted as the norm and utilized in a widespread manner...
I recall in late June, at the end of my Grade 8 year (1999), friends helping me set up my first email address, so that we could use “MSN Messenger” over summer to keep in touch. My parents had just purchased our first family computer and we had dial up internet, which cost a fortune. My younger siblings were not yet aware of what the internet was, but we all took turns practicing “Mavis Beacon Typing” drills. At this time, none of us had cell phones and only a select few students were getting computers.
As I neared graduation (2004), teachers started requesting more and more assignments to be handed in typed. This was a stark contrast to when science fair projects had to be crafted on a typewriter. I vividly remember slowly watching which buttons I pressed so that I wouldn’t lose the entire page due to a menial error (also note that my parents and teachers knew much more about using a typewriter than I did).
By my first year of University in 2004-2005, it was recommended that we all purchase our own USB sticks. I was frustrated that we were required to buy a USB stick, when floppy disks were cheaper and I had access to them. I remember going to buy my first USB, it was able to hold (in retrospect) such little data, and cost nearly $100! Each of us had one USB which we guarded carefully. I had also just gotten a pay-as-you-go cell phone, which I kept in my glovebox in case I ever needed assistance due to an accident, flat tire or emergency. If I didn’t put another $10 card on before 30 days were up, I would lose my previously accrued time and money.
Comparing this to my students of 2014: over 3/4 of my Grade 8s have smart phones and are using social media applications while in class. Approximately half my students have an Ipad or Laptop that they use in class all day. They are always connected to the internet (wirelessly!). All the students are able to communicate with each other digitally, every single student has their own email address which they use regularly. This is an ironic shift from when I was a student: the school encouraged us to practice our typing, wanting us to use the internet and so they were the driving force to my acquisition of technology.
Fast forwarding to this decade, students come equipped with all the technology and information, and are usually able to show the teacher how to use their smartphone effectively. Essentially, I was taught by my teachers how to use the internet, and now I am being taught by my students how to use the internet too! Whereas having a cell phone or Facebook account was never part of my identity as a teenager, now the main medium of expressing your identity is with your cell phone and social media. Now USB sticks come in many forms, including cute little animals, every colour, shape and even ones that move. Cell phones have become an accessory and their cases can be 'bejewelled' or made into a wallet. These are all things that have been incorporated into our identities: how do we use and design our social media sites? What colour cell phone do I have? What brand of tablet do I bring to school? ... These are all aspects of self reflection that I never considered as a youth, but that my students contemplate on a regular basis.