Net Gen language and R/W web

What I have discovered after reading more about the Net Generation is that I am pretty up-to-date with the "new" technology terms. I can blog and subscribe to podcasts. Websites are not a mystery to me since modifying web templates "taught" me html. I like technology. Really, really, like it. Like the Net Gen, I would be lost without my laptop and iPhone. My husband calls me a tech geek, since I have kept up with most of the changes that have occurred throughout my Generation X life.

I am really looking forward to bringing all of this technology into my classroom. Technology has changed so much since I first bought my Mac computer in the late 1980's. I had email through the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a grad. student in the early 1990's, which I thought was SO COOL at the time. (Although I didn't have many friends to email... but that is another story!)

When the world wide web came on-line... well... it was like, "wow". My dad (who was in his 60's at the time) came to visit my husband and I in New Jersey in the mid -90's. I remember him logging onto my AOL account and "surfing" the web for his woodworking hobby. He was so impressed, and I was even more impressed that he could do it! When that Compaq computer died, our new Dell computer led to our first non-AOL account and one of the first versions of Internet Explorer. Boy, did we think we were surfing fast with our dial-up connection that wasn't part of AOL!

Broadband cable internet - years later - was WONDERFUL as I could finally attach a wireless network to our modem and connect all of our household computers. Yes, plural - computers. My first laptop still needed a network card... and I am so glad my new one has built-in wifi!!!

The "new" R/W web is like another step in the technology progression. Now, instead of simply "surfing" the web, I can interact with it! I love it! Social networking has allowed a renewed connection to high school friends I haven't seen in almost 15 years, and blogging is a fun way to "journal". Anything goes, and that is really neat.

Since I have kept up with so much of the technology, there haven't been too many surprises in my readings.

One of the great features that I haven't used much with the new R/W web are the shared softwares such as Google docs. Unfortunately, I own so much software - from my Microsoft Office and Outlook to my Photoshop and Hallmark card program - that anything I need to do can still be done with my own programs. For those without these resources, however, the new "freeware" is fabulous.

I'm glad to know that despite my (increasing) age, I have managed to stay pretty current with technology. It will definitely help me relate to my future students, since I am willing to create lessons that teach objectives in "out of the box" ways!

PS - The only technology that I've let pass me by is text messaging. Although I know most of the "text" language, I still like an old-fashioned email. :-)

PPS - Like the Net Gen, I've discovered that I have developed a need for immediacy in life... shopping on-line has spoiled me, and I sometimes wait impatiently for answers to my emailed questions. Sometimes I wish that this aspect of technology had passed me by!!!