Technological Perspective - Google Docs

In thinking about my perspective on the language that students speak and how it would differ from their perspective, I immediately thought of my son and daughter.

I think that because my children have talked about the new tech. inventions that they are interested in as soon as it comes out, I am used to the terms they use. What I found out from talking to Jeremy is:

• He does not know the proper terminology for the technology he is using. When I asked him what Web 2.0 was he said he didn't know but had heard it before. The generalization in the text that the Net-Gens don't read manuals, they just want to do, is correct as far as I can see.
  

• For the most part, technology information is both given to and received by peers. That generation does not care to know the proper terminology which is applied to the technology that they are using. What is important is the doing, and doing it quickly and efficiently.

• There is technology that he is not using or learning in school and therefore it is not important to him, because he does not need it right now. He uses Facebook as a message center but does not blog. He does not know about social bookmarks, has never used online graphing or photo tools and has never made a Wiki. What is really exciting is that he heard they are great for organizing events, and He wants me to show him how to make one!

• Both my children look up every thing on the web. My daughter found just the car my cousin, Barbara, was looking for on the web. Barbara had been hit from behind, her car was totaled and she needed a car fast. My daughter searched tons of sights, found one in NJ near my cousins house, that had just been posted an hour early. Everything worked out so well. The type of car my cousin wanted was rarely found as a used car. If it were not for the Internet and my daughters determination, my cousin would not have this car in two days. When the dealer was contacted they had already received a call from someone interested, but no deposit had been made.

However, Everything is not always easier the "net"way. Erica's driver license was stolen and so she searched the Internet and found out how to get it replaced. When she told me everything she had to do, I sent her to the Notary - a much easier process.

Today devices are much more user friendly. I really feel that my generation was leery of computers because when we started to use them--we had to learn programming languages-yuk! They were not user friendly. The process was down right painstakingly slow and labor intensive. If you were not the type of person who enjoyed this painful process and felt rewarded by achieving the success of getting the computer to do what you wanted it to do (just as important as getting the information you needed the computer to provide), you did not use computers unless a course required it.

What is funny is that I have started to change in how I approach new technology. I do not just get out the manual to learn how to operate it--I just start to explore the buttons and features. I haven't read the manual for cell phones in years. I used to need to know all about something before I used it--not anymore.


What is Google docs and why is it considered a R/W program? How can it benefit students?

Google docs is a site where you can do almost anything. It is a R/W site because it supports social networking by providing the ability to create and edit documents online individually or in groups. Each group has the ability to track the changes that have been made and publish the document. This makes it a great tool for the classroom in counts applications for any subject matter.
I haven't used it but have been told that some of the applications are easier than Microsoft office, so I will definitely give it a try.