Steffanie’s Auto e-ography
Jan 12th, 2009 by Steffanie Reid
One of my first memories of technology use in school was in elementary school in an intermediate grade (I don’t remember which one) when my teacher would bring out the big tote of calculators. I remember vividly that we weren’t allowed to use them until we had passed a myriad of tests proving our proficiency with our multiplication tables. I remember being so excited to use the calculators until I realized that it took me longer to solve my math equations using the calculator as I had to take the time to punch in the numbers!
That memory conflicts strongly with the situations I have experienced in my own classroom where I ask students to complete simple calculations in the process of solving a chemistry problem (something such as 40/10 ) and they instinctively reach for their calculators rather than performing the mental calculation! I find it alarming how drastically some of the basic math skills seem to have deteriorated in students as they become more and more reliant on their calculators.
Another early memory of technology involves the first computer my parents bought. I don’t remember what type it was, but I was 9 or 10 when they brought it home, it took up most of my Dad’s desk and was super noisy when it was turned on. I wasn’t able to do much on it without my parents help, as I didn’t understand the DOS commands, but my sister and I had great fun playing around with some simple educational games. We would challenge each other with typing speed tests, and I remember the day I beat both my parents in typing speed, I felt so grown up!
From those days of asking for assistance with computer technology things have revolved 180 degrees. I am now the person my entire family calls for advice when their digital technologies (from cell phones to computers) glitch. I now find that technology has moved beyond the novelty stage to become something that really does assist me and make my life simpler.