The Last Generation: Integrating Technology in Education

We are the last generation

We are the last generation to be taught cursive.

We are the last generation that remembers the Sony Walkman and the VCR.

We are the last generation that will have to adapt from the pencil to the stylus.

As technology advances, my generation will have to travel farther away from the foundation of everything we learned growing up.

This is a good thing.

As an aunt and older sister, it is odd to see my 12-year-old sister doing the same things I did in ninth grade on the iPad. My 10-year-old niece probably knows more about the device than I do. My 6-year-old niece and nephew have been using iPods and iPhones since they were two, learning from YouTube videos and exploring through children’s apps like Osmo.

Technology is shaping a generation into the vision of Steve Jobs

Children are learning to code with the Hour of Code. They know how to use iMovie, and they are creating complex presentations for school projects. They no longer use big, standardized poster boards to display their work. They’re creating interesting, fun, and interactive Prezi and PowerPoint presentations.

I find myself asking my niece or sister how to use a certain app or how to get a certain effect on my presentation. True digital natives, they are teaching me how to be better connected.

Central York School District’s new wave of tech tools and applications has created higher standards for all grades and, therefore, better quality work. Students are not just using apps. They are creating them.

Technology and social media have the power to connect students with people who they might normally never have had the opportunity to collaborate with in person.

Central High School’s Improv team was born from a single tweet sent out to someone living in L.A. With one click of a send button, Mr. Hodge was able to start a new comedy-loving community that has connected over 20 students with professionals and rising stars in the industry.

This is the power of media and technology

More kids are using screens and soft skills to create huge projects and becoming student entrepreneurs.

In our Apollo—mass customized learning—program, students have the opportunity to create their own non-profit organizations by crafting an in-depth outline and researching other groups who share similar interests.

Teachers are more interactive. They have more time to talk to students one-on-one.

They are provided both the tools and the skills used in today’s new workforce. Recently, Forbes started looking for young people to head their Snapchat. Using and working with social media has become a whole job in itself.

And Central York School District is giving kids more experience for these kinds of jobs than other school districts in the county.

I am a part of the last generation.

But, I am also the beginning of a brand new vision.

Steve Jobs said it best, “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”