The+Gap+Between+Digital+Immigrants+&+Digital+Natives

Is your District providing resources/PD to address this idea of bridging the gap between digital immigrants and digital natives?

Since I work in a Catholic School, the resources that are available to the teachers/students in my school aren't as extensive as those that may be available in the public school districts. There is a large gap in my school and in the whole Archdiocese of Chicago between the "digital immigrants" and the "digital natives." Some professional development has been implemented to try to teach the basics to some of our teachers; however, this if often pointless for some of the younger or more tech. savy teachers. I find myself bored, or if it is something I haven't learned before, I find that I am able to learn it much more quickly than other teachers. I end up being finished and having to wait for others to catch up. The lack of technology at my school is also an issue. While we do have LCD projectors available and the use of laptops for teachers, some of these technologies are not being used as much as they could be in the classrooms. Our school purchased a Smart Board at the beginning of this year, but we haven't yet been trained or had the opportunity to use this in our classrooms. How are we supposed to use the technology in our classrooms if we don't have the proper training or resources to implement this kind of learning into our classrooms? If we could bridge the gap between "digital immigrants" and "digital natives," I believe we could make better use of technology in the classrooms and through staff and parent communication. If we didn't have to spend time learning the "basics," we may have more time to find and be trained to use new and exciting technologies in our classrooms.

Teachers that are considered to be "digital immigrants" needs to be brought up to speed with their technology skills, not only for their sakes, but for the sake of the students. Workshops and professional devleopment needs to be offered to these teachers to allow them to increase their technology knowledge. Districts should encourgage them to take technology classes and maybe even require them to attend these classes. It is also important not to overwhelm these teachers. A mentor should be assigned to each of these teachers to guide/help them with their learning and to make them feel comfortable as they are learning these new schools. If we want to push these teachers to learn more about technology, we must provide them with the means and support to acquire these new skills.