Technology makes everything so much more efficient than it would be without using it.  For teachers, helping kids learn more material in a short amount of time is the ultimate goal.  Technology also allows teachers to communicate with their students better.  For the students, technology makes learning easier with online resources, study tools/games, etc.  After looking over the ISTE Standards for Educators, the "Designer" standard stood out as the most meaningful to me.  This standard describes how educators accommodate different learning styles for students through technology.  I believe this is a very important skill to have and utilize because learning is so individualized, as everyone's brain is uniquely wired.  The standard that seems outside of my current skill set would be "Facilitator."  As of right now, I do not know much about technology and different digital platforms and I do not have the gift of creativity to figure it out on my own.  I do believe this will change by the end of the semester.  I strongly believe in the label "digital native" for today's youth.  This means we have been born and raised into using technology, it was almost forced down our throats.  I have seen many differences between how people my age and most of my current teachers use technology including the level of advancement and the purpose.  My generation uses technology mostly for entertainment and leisure, or to make something in our life easier.  My teachers are more likely to use technology for purposeful use only, and nothing fancy.  Usually, this would include PowerPoint or uploading slides to a class website which greatly benefitted how I learn material, but in a simple way.  I believe the roles will continue to advance throughout the years.  As I teach, my students will see me as the less advanced version of themselves, being "old-fashioned."     

        I commented on Erika’s blog post, noting I agreed with her thinking that a teacher must adapt to the constant changing technology in today's world. I believe some teachers really struggle with learning new ways, even if they may be more effective. It is obvious we have grown up surrounded by technology, so of course we are familiar with it. I think there is an age group stuck in the middle that grew up with technology, but it has advanced so rapidly and drastically changed. Our current teachers did not grow up exposed to this nearly to the extent as we were. I do not utilize the analyst skill very well either, but I am hoping to learn more so I can.  I also commented on Olivia’s blog post saying, I thought the communicator standard was an important one too because this is centered around our learning and how we learn through our teachers. I really liked how you thought about how adapting from flip phones to smart phones has helped us figure out technology we use in school that we may not have been familiar with. I have never thought about it in that way, but that is a very good point. I also included in my blog post how my future students will be even more familiar with technology, as they have grown up in a more technologically centered world than I did.