Learning in an age of technology

After reading "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others How to teach when learning is everywhere" and "Footprints in the Digital Age" by Will Richardson I came to a realization. As a preschool teacher I, like Will Richardson, worry that my students will missuse the Internet. In this fear I know that I am guilty of "...failing to empower kids to use one of the most important technologies for learning that we've ever had." In truth our youngest students ages 3-5 are more capable of learning to use this technology for learning than any other age group.

Recently I enrolled a new student age 3, we'll call him W. W was in for a tour of the school and was trying out the toys in the classroom. He caught sight of our child friendly computer and plopped down. I clicked into one the children's games for him and slid him the mouse. He placed his right hand over the mouse and used his thumb to click. It took him no less than 60 seconds to connect that he when he moved the mouse the arrow on the screen moved. It took him another 30 seconds or so to connect his clicking with the reactions on the screen. I knelt down and showed him where to click to find a picture to "color" and add things to. After standing back and watching him for a few minutes his mother informed me that W had never even sat in front of a computer before. I was astonished. He had created an entire picture with characters that he had chosen from a panel on the bottom of screen, and different colors from another panel on the side of the screen. This is one the moments that reminds me how sponge like these children's mind really are. They are capable of learning anything including how to use the Internet.

Teaching or should I say guiding our very youngest students to online teachers is such a daunting task. As Will pointed out the Internet is an endless resource that includes places for learners of all ages. I believe that I "...must engage with these new technologies and their potential to expand our own understanding and methods in this vastly different landscape. We must know for ourselves how to create, grow, and navigate these collaborative spaces in safe, effective, and ethical ways. And we must be able to model those shifts for our students and counsel them effectively when they run across problems with these tools." In my attempt to bring the Internet into the classroom I have started small. I have taken the advice of my technologies teacher and began using a web site www.starfall.com. This is a web site that teaches phonics. I know it's a small step to integrating the Internet into my students lives but I know that with time I will learn to branch out. As Will said there is a certain fear associated with allowing students to use the Internet. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why schools ban the use of web sites such as YouTube and facebook during school hours. Are educators educationally equipped to properly harness the Internet in their classrooms?