Week 2

1. There is a definite disparity in the "tech" language used by many of my students and the language I use. You will never hear me saying such things as "apps" or "texting" or the like. I can still recall when the majority of my friends didn't even have cell phones (I was in college before I bought my first cell phone). The text along with my experience in the classroom certainly emphasizes the fact that our students are "digital natives" and therefore, have a very different perception of what technology is and how it should be utilized in a learning environment. In all, however, I am still young enough to see certain capabilities such as e-mail and the Internet as standard tools as opposed to "technology."

2. Alright, I must confess- I had no clue what R/W (read/write) tools were prior to reading this week's assignments. In fact, I was surprised to learn that I actually use this capability by reading and writing blogs. However, as I surf the Web I continually see RSS, Wikis, social bookmarks, and online rubric construction sites, many of which I have used in the past though ignorant of their categorization as R/W tools. I was unfamiliar with aggregators and their role in RSS, online graphic tools, online digital photo tools, among others. As for Google Docs, the first time I ever heard of this tool was last week in class! It is essentially a free, online application that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tools that you can access from anywhere in the world. Google Docs is considered a R/W program due to the fact that it allows the user to read "R" and/or write "W" in a digital online format which can be edited and revised. I think I'll have to give it a try.