When I began teaching seven years ago, we had a few classroom desktop computers, my teacher laptop, and a few iPads to use throughout the school. Apple had introduced it's smartphone only six years earlier. I had a slider cell phone with a qwerty keyboard which I mostly used for actual phone calls and a few texts. My, how far we have come!
Your student is truly a "digital native", never having known a time without smartphones and internet access. They literally have the world at their fingertips and can carry the equivalent (or more!) of the Encyclopedia Britannica in their back pocket. That is an awesome and powerful thing that, when used well, opens up so many possibilities. This year, we will be learning how to make the most of those possibilities. We will make mistakes and gaffes along the way. But without some failure comes very little learning.
In the past few months, I have learned more about technology than I ever thought I would. I have much more to learn. I will most definitely be learning along with your students, and I am certain that they will teach me things as we go. While it may not be the kind of school day that we envisioned, keeping our own attitudes positive and open to new challenges will encourage our "digital natives" to be resilient and adept at solving problems as they come up.
