I found this article to be rather interesting and informative. The author went straight to the point about the types of digital differences impacting learning and provided very good examples that highlighted the benefits of technology integration.

One section that got me thinking was where he talked about the Generation Gap.  It is definitely very evident today how much more students know about technology compared to the teachers. Even in some of my classes today, the professors have a hard time with technology. This happened recently in one of my classes where the professor was seriously baffled as to how to maximize a window and had to have a student assist him and show him exactly how to enlarge the screen. He is definitely a digital immigrant.

It’s also interesting to think about the generation gap and how kids are being exposed to technology at a younger age. Children are now being faced with different learning requirements. Not too long ago, my little cousin was telling me about how she had a powerpoint due for one of her classes. She is only in third grade and this very much surprised me because when I was in elementary we definitely did not learn how to use powerpoint until I was in middle school. I also don’t recall having any major project that required a computer until at least 5^th grade. We made our presentations out of magazine clip outs displayed on poster boards and it seems as if now that will become a thing of the past.

I also found the Project Fresa to be a wonderful learning experiment for the students and a commendable thing done by the teachers. This project shows just how important technology is and how it connects the world together. The students were able to have a real world learning experience, rather than just learning testing material from books.

The article also brings up the point that students will have “constant access to information, resources, and data,” while this is a major benefit, I think it can also cause a huge problem. With all that information at the tips of their fingers, students can become too reliant on technology and seize to think for themselves. Maybe for younger students not so much, but for high school students having all the information they need can lead to laziness in schoolwork and easily looking up answers online. I feel like nowadays, teens have become too attached to their computers and their social networking sites. They overlook all the resources and information that the web has to offer and don’t tend to use their computer to further stimulate their learning. I think by exposing students to the benefits of the Internet at an early age, they will more likely know how to better spend their time on it.