Technology is important, but don't forget the past (Week 5)

The article on ReadWrite.com by Brian Hall titled "My Teenage Son Does Not Know How to Mail a Letter - I Blame Technology" actually had me laughing out loud.  We push technology in the classroom, children and young adults are surrounded by technology, and technology is at the forefront of just about everything we do.  However, what about the past?  How did we look up an address and phone number?  How did we write a research paper?  What about using snail mail to send a letter - as the article discusses?  The author writes about a teenager, who was just about to graduate high school, and he didn't know how to write an address on a letter.  Even more ironically, the parent told the teenager to Google how to address a letter.  Yes, use the internet to learn now to write an address on a letter that's going to the USPS.  I find that funny!

My daughter is 3 years old.  She amazes me everyday with her abilities to use and understand technology.  I, too, support her use of technology for purposes of learning... and fun, too!  However, I never forget about the past.  We actually write and draw pictures to send to grandparents.  She helps me write the address and put the stamp on the letter.  She knows we put it in the mailbox and the mailman picks it up.  These thing are important to me, and I want them to be important to my daughter too.

The point I want to make... Technology is so important to our future generations.  Technology is used to support and enhance learning in the classroom and at home.  However, students and young adults still need to know where we came from as a society.  If this includes something as simple as being able to address an envelop, then so be it.  Technology is important, but don't forget the past!

Hall, B.  "My Teenage Son Does Not Know How to Mail a Letter - I Blame Technology."  ReadWrite.com.  27 May 2013.  Web.  Retrieved 27 May 2013.  <http://readwrite.com/2013/05/27/my-teenage-son-does-not-know-how-to-mail-a-letter>