Today, I got to be part of Getting Smart and Digital Learning Now's session about blended learning. It was a lot of fun being able to work with my peers and come up with a school that I thought would be perfect for not only my generation, but for the generations to come.
After about thirty minutes of throwing ideas around and arguing ideas with my group, we were able to relax, listen, and take notes over what all the other groups had come up with. It was interesting being able to sit in and listen to everyone's ideas about what was to come in the future.
Sitting there listening, I discovered that teachers and administrators really think of our generation as technology crazy and that they actually do have some plans to include technology in our future. However, as I sat there with my tablet in front of me, typing notes as quickly as I could, I thought back to what my group had just been arguing about.
Being surrounded by technology doesn't make life easier for us; it can actually make it ten times harder because we stop communicating with each other, and we become so absorbed in our own device. We don't want our future to be fully dependent on technology; we just want technology to play a supporting role. It was a great first session and I'm glad I was able to be part of it.
Brianna Soliz is a junior at Del Valle high school in the Del Valle Independent School District. She is attending and reporting on SXSWedu as one of Compass Learning’s student correspondents.
