My Technology Timeline

On October 17, 1986 I was born in Durham, North Carolina where I entered the age of information.  Little did I know that I had emerged among a time of instant gratification and rapidly growing technology.

My first actual encounter with technology was with my radio and cassette player.  My siblings and I would record our favorite songs, and then record ourselves singing in between the songs.  Some time we would even record ourselves as the DJs, introducing the songs we loved the most.  However, it wasn't until I was in the 4th grade that my family got our very first taste of the computer world--we bought a word processor!

Of course, the word processor was not the initial introduction to typing that most people had (such as the typewriter), but it certainly was mine.  I couldn't wait to type my school reports and watch the little white letters pop up on the screen.  From then on we moved into a Dell computer, complete with Microsoft programs such as Word and Publisher.  This was where my technology skills soared. 

When I was in middle school I can remember learning how to type (anyone else remember asdf jkl; ?) and we had speed drills to practice our typing abilities.  Although I became experienced at typing fairly quickly, I remained adamant about writing on paper first.  I loved to journal and write my narratives by hand, and the technology seemed intimidating to me.  I insisted that I couldn’t get my thoughts out while typing; I had to write by hand.  While my peers were quickly navigating the internet and finishing homework two times faster than I completed mine, I felt reluctant to give in to the technology world.  You could have classified me in the avoidance stage.

It wasn’t until college that I learned the significant positive effects typing could have on my writing.  With online journals, class blogs, blackboard, instant messaging and of course the beginning of social media, my life changed dramatically.  I was on my laptop most of the day, typing notes in class and communicating with peers online.

While I am not the most technologically savvy in my family (that role belongs to my older brother!), I feel that my competence has helped guide me in my education. If I tinker with a device or website for long enough, I can usually figure it out.  The key is finding the time to learn as well as prioritizing the usage of technology available to me.


Interestingly enough, I didn’t get a cell phone until college and to this day do not own an IPAD.  However, I have slowly gained an appreciation for the changes our world continues to make.  I finally have a Nook and I hope to one day enter the wonderful world of the Mac.  Until then, I am content to learn more about the new technologies that come about each year and incorporate the technologies available to me in my own classroom.