I remember my family's first computer. It was simple; a keyboard, a floppy disk drive and a monitor that was connected to the computer base. When we see a computer like that today, we call it archaic. It was a lifetime ago when my siblings and I would play simple games on the black and white monitor. These games that took no more than the arrow keys and a space bar to play provided us a look into the future of technology. Today's computers are much more complex and the graphics and operations far surpass those of my childhood computer. As I sat in my service learning classroom watching seventh graders learn how to type, I was reminded of my first computer and the novelty of the experience. Technology has come a long way since I was a child, and today's youth are faced with many new opportunities and experiences that I could never have imagined. There are computers in most homes in America and nearly all classrooms, it is essential that we help students see the importance of technology in an ever changing world and help them build those foundational skills early in their education.

Because today's children are growing up with computers, many of them are not learning some basic techniques in the correct way. While I was watching these seventh graders learn how to type, I saw the boredom on their faces and heard their groans of frustration because they had to learn something so monotonous. I heard them say, "Why do we have to learn how to type" And, "This is so stupid; I already know how to use the computer." I got the feeling that these students thought that typing was beneath their skill level. They did not take into account that the name of their class was computer foundations and they had to master the foundations before they moved on to the more advanced skills.

As I watched these students struggle to understand why they had to learn typing, I decided to create a PowerPoint on the history and future of technology. I showed students old video games and a picture of the first computer. Many students were amazed that the first computer was as large as the classroom we were in, and others had seen it previously. As I showed them the future of security with the laser recognition of the cornea, they were amazed and many saw for the first time what laser technology was capable of. All of the technology in this PowerPoint was informative and the students seemed to enjoy the discussion that we had about technology and their future. I asked the students if they wanted to work in the technology field when they grow up. Many of them said yes. I asked them if they already knew everything that they needed to know to be proficient in the field of their dreams. Many of them said that they would learn it when they got to college and that the computer classes they would take later would help them. As gently as I could, I informed them that if they did not learn how to type in this class they would not be taking anymore computer classes. I also asked them if they thought the people who created the laser technology ever had to take a computer class. As I asked these questions, I began to see light bulbs going off in their heads. Our discussion turned into a guidance counselor style question and answer session. They were asking me if colleges had a lot of computer classes and how many classes a person has to take to get certain degrees. While I did not have all the answers to their questions, I did see the enthusiasm they began to show for technology and their future. These students were excited to learn as much as possible about technology and they seemed to be able to answer the question, "why do we have to do this" all by themselves.

I enjoyed this experience and it helped me to have a better appreciation for the knowledge that students have for technology. They are being raised in a world of technological advances. Today's children play very realistic video games, and even the way they keep track of school lunches is on the computer. Technology surrounds us and it is essential that we keep up to date because the computers we are using today will be the archaic models of tomorrow.