Technology in the classroom can both facilitate learning and help engage students in the material. Technology can also gauge competency and understanding of material in ways that traditional methods may not, which will help students master material in a way that they would prefer, while simultaneously allowing teachers to cater to their students’ needs. Involving technology in assessments makes it easier for teachers to grade and respond to material, while also creating avenues for involved and specific feedback for the students. Technological application allows for teachers to accomplish more in less time, while allowing students to receive a personalized experience.

An aspect of the ISTE standards that appeals to me specifically is 7c: Using assessment data to guide progress and build self-direction. In the Marching Chiefs I work with incoming freshmen, teaching them marching fundamentals to prepare them for evaluations that will determine their admittance to the ensemble. Receiving and processing feedback is a critical part of my job and my responsibility to my students. One of the hardest parts of working with a group for something like that is that not everyone progresses at the same pace. It can be difficult to apply feedback when the needs of students vary so widely. Because of that, the potential for technology to facilitate specific feedback is extremely appealing to me.

Point 6c is one that I have no real experience with. I’ve never had to assign individuals a task that requires them to formulate a design plan. I don’t know much about how to formulate such a challenge, and as a result, this point is far outside my comfort zone. Hopefully I’ll be able to add design plan formulation to my skill set soon enough.

I don’t know that I feel like a digital native, but I have been around technology in an academic setting for the better part of my life. While I do sometimes laugh at people older than me struggling to adapt to technology, I am absolutely sure that before too long, I’ll be in the same boat. Some new technology is bound to come along and be just as alien to me as smartphones and fitbits are to my parents. Fundamentally, technology is going to continue fulfilling the same purpose: facilitation. Students in the future may have different tools in their classroom environments than I did and do, but they will still be using them to facilitate learning. The digital natives of the future may have entirely different technology than I grew up with, but as long as the core benefits of technology remain intact, students of the future will benefit from technology in learning environments just as I have.