My generation was one of the first to fall under the umbrella of having "grown up with technology," but technology has certainly done some growing up of its own with us. My first memories with technology are from elementary school and always being very excited to get to go to our computer class with Ms. Forte. We worked on typing skills (which continued on through sixth grade), computer programming (with a tiny turtle drawing shapes), and, if we were lucky, the beloved Oregon Trail game. As a wiley fourth grader, I felt more than confident knowing which provisions were necessary for a successful westward expansion.
In my home during this time, we did not have a computer, expect the very basic word processor my mother worked on. Before this computer, we had only a typewriter. I thought I was very cool and "professional" whenever my mom let me use it.
During this time, other technology in our home was slowly advancing as well, at least as entertainment was concerned. We had a Sega Genesis to play Sonic the Hedgehog and I loved my red Gameboy, even though it was the size of a cinder block and monochromatic. We also had an extensive collection of VHS tapes, and the very snazzy rewinding machine that got the job in half the time of a VCR.
It was in middle school sometime when we got the Internet at home, and throughout middle school and high school AOL Instant Messenger was the way all of my friends and I communicated. I got my first cell phone in eighth grade, it was one of the Nokia phones with interchangeable face plates. Text messages cost something like .99 cents to send, and therefore, I was not allowed to send any. As middle school wrapped up, I remember DVDs coming around and staring disdainfully at my collection of Disney videotapes and home movies which I could obviously never watch again!
Typing papers in high school was always optional or reserved for very special occasions. It was particularly useful for making assignments look "fancy." Some kids had mySpace accounts and my best friend and I shared a LiveJournal that we updated with our (questionably adventurous adventures regularly. One teacher in my high school got a special grant for a SmartBoard and we all marveled at it and wondered wistfully about a day when all classrooms could have one.
I have been out of high school for over seven years now, and technology has been rapidly evolving ever since. My first year of college was one of the first years that Facebook existed and users needed a college email to sign up. I amaze my students now when I tell them that originally users only had one picture on Facebook, and as anyone who remembers this can relate, many of us put much thought into what picture that would be. Now, we spend more time getting rid of pictures out of the hundreds we may have tagged of us than pouring thought into which one captured the "real you." And though I miss that game Snake on my old Nokia phone, I might struggle to survive now without my iPhone. My students are using iPads in my classroom and I have become more than competent at the previously mythical SmartBoard. Though it is true that I, along with so many others, have grown up with technology, it cannot be assumed that I have not experienced some level of technological change and advancement.
