How It Affects My Life Today and How It Might Affect My Future

Digital technology has become a part of my everyday life at present and I only foresee this technology becoming more significant in my future. Digital technology is not just an improvement of old technology, rather it should be viewed as an entirely different entity. Alan Kay was quoted as saying, “…The promise of exponential growth in computing demanded that the sixties might be regarded as “almost a new thing” and [ we worked ] to find out what the actual “new thing” might be (Packer, R. & Jordon, K. , 2001). I believe that over the course of the next decade, society will have to alter its way of thinking and discover what man might be capable of doing with digital technology and how to make the best possible use of this technology.

Now I awake every morning to a digital alarm clock. As I get ready for my very busy day, I check the weather on my television which is beamed to me via satellite, read my e-mail, listen to any new messages on my digital answering machine (I turn my phone off at night and screen my calls so as not to have to speak with any nasty Tele-marketers), and look at my itinerary for the day on my Palm Pilot.

As I get into my car I immediately turn on the CD player and crank up some tunes to make the ride to work a little more pleasurable. It's only 7:30AM and my life has already been tainted with digital technology.

Digital technology has also thoroughly infiltrated my career. I teach a fifth grade class in Eastplain Elementary School. The students there are becoming more and more exposed to the digital world. On Monday mornings our class goes to the computer lab. We often use the Internet as a resource to reinforce a social studies or science lesson. Searching the web for interactive, historical sites is enjoyable and informative for my students and me, that is when everything is well planned and all of the technology is functioning properly. Before using an Internet site to help with instruction, I must spend some time surfing the web myself. I am constantly on the web looking for resources for lessons and cool sites that are appropriate for my ten and eleven year old students.      

Although many of these students are comfortable using much of the technology available, they still need to learn how and why to use it properly. There are also some students who are not “computer literate” and get frustrated easily when there is any kind of problem. So, it becomes my responsibility to give expedited tutorials to those students whose parents probably still think of a computer as a luxury, instead of a necessary learning tool.

As often as possible, the students make use of the three computers in our classroom. It’s nice having the computers in the classroom which, by the way, can double as CD Players. In addition to them learning how to surf, students are schooled in the use of many types of software. I guide them through applications such as MS Word, Inspiration, HyperStudio, Greetings Workshop, Encarta, and many others. I also teach them how to scan pictures, use a digital camera, and troubleshoot the continuously malfunctioning printer. Every Thursday, the students receive choice time. The favorite choice for many students is to go on the computer and play games like Math Munchers and Oregon Trail.

I am very happy this year because the district purchased a Sony Mavica. Using this digital camera makes it easy for me to take pictures of all the exciting school events. I save the files to a floppy disk and either put them up on our district’s web site or print them and hang them up in the halls for everyone to see. Now I don’t have to stand on line at CVS anymore. I also create a PowerPoint presentation for the fifth grade at the end of the year.

I try to make use of the Proxima as often as possible. I use it for presentations to the students, for staff development with my colleagues, and we just used a PowerPoint presentation for our school’s “Character Counts” program, which we presented to the Board of Education.

Recently my colleagues and I worked with our district’s “computer teacher” to create a webquest on endangered species. The students loved researching endangered Lemurs and Sharks. The teachers loved having such wonderful resources at our fingertips. Our school is also currently participating in Newsday’s Stock Market Game, in which students trade imaginary money On-line.

Before I leave work, I receive a page from my wife. I immediately call her back using my cell phone. She asks me to pick up a DVD to watch tonight. Because there are only two phones in my school, I proceed to call several parents who have been unreachable for the past three days.

As I leave work, I hop in my car and turn on my CD player, and go pick up my daughter. When I get home, I listen to any digital messages, add appointments to my Palm Pilot and delete the things I have accomplished. I quickly turn on my TV and satellite receiver and watch a few minutes of the SCIFI channel before I put in my daughter’s Sesame Street DVD. Later, I go On-line and read my e-mail and usually surf the net for awhile.

As you can see, my life is presently overflowing with digital technology. It is hard to fathom that only a few decades ago Doug Engelbart was poorly received when he first relayed his idea of getting computers to interact with people (Rheingold, H. 2000).

But what will my life be like five years from now? Well, although it may seem that digital technology has taken over my daily life, it is my belief that the future will hold even more technological advances, which will change the very structure of my life.

When I wake up five years from now, I envision having an alarm that plays music from a satellite station through my new Palm Pilot. This new organizer will also serve as a cellular phone, a wireless Internet connection, digital camera, MP3 player, and voice recorder.

As I get into my new Mercedes, the radio automatically begins playing my favorite satellite radio station at the preset volume which I programmed On-line before I purchased the car from the Mercedes On-line Automart web site.

As I am driving, the radio volume will decrease and I’ll say,” hello!”

The car phone which is located on the dash will recognize my voice and automatically put the caller through.

“Honey, you forgot you organizer and coffee again.” The voice says.

“That’s alright,” I’ll say contently, “I’ll just download everything onto my laptop when I get to work.”

As I arrive at work, I’ll walk in the office and check my mailbox. It is empty as usual. Since the school will have purchased wireless laptops for all the teachers and administrators, there will be a huge decrease in the amount of paper used.

All my mail will come directly to my web site. My laptop will continuously keep track of all my e-mail. I will check to see if my students completed their homework before they even enter the school. Many assignment will be e-mailed to me by students. Of course, there may still be a few students who are unable to turn in their assignments using this method. They will be considered part of the “Digital Divide,” a term used to describe the division of those who are using digital technology and connected to the Internet versus those who are not.

I am confident that most school districts (especially on Long Island) will be reaping the benefits of digital technology by the year 2007. According to a recent report (American Teacher, February, 2002), “The instructional computer base has doubled (5 million computers in 1995-96 to 11.3 million in 2001)… and nearly all schools today (92 percent) are connected to the internet.”

Instead of the clumsy plan book that I currently use, all of my plans will be in a program on my laptop. Laptops will become the preferred “body” for housing ever changing software. Desktop computers will slowly become an artifact belonging to the past. All of my records, lesson plans, resources and attendance will be stored on my laptop, which hopefully the district will have purchased for me.

Those big, heavy, antiquated textbooks will be replaced with easier to carry around minidisks or other forms of data storage. Students might even be able to read materials On-line. Maybe publishing companies will lease access to On-line textbooks and materials to school districts, which will in turn allow access to students of the district. No more heavy book bags! No more messy desks! One such person working to make some of these dreams a reality is Alan Kay.

Alan …is acknowledged by his peers, if not yet the general public, as one of the contemporary prophets of the personal computer revolution. Now his goal is to build a "fantasy amplifier," a "dynamic tool for creative thought" that is powerful enough, small enough, easy enough to use, and inexpensive enough for every schoolkid in the world to have one. He has the resources and the track record to make you believe he'll do it (Rheingold 2000).