Age of the iKid

After reading the article about the monicker "iKids" given to today's youth, I have determined that I AM an iKid....barely. The idea that kids today are defined by a new way of thinking, communicating, researching and operating due to the technology around them is exciting, challenging and very important to understand. I think about myself and the way that I process information and communicate with others and it is VASTLY different than my father. Even my brother who is 6 years older than me seems to be on a different operating system than myself. He is not on Facebook. He doesn't know how to use Photoshop. He doesn't play fantasy football. These are all activities/programs that I use on a daily basis. Right before I finished my undergrad in 2006, Facebook was gaining steam and I became one of the first 15 million people to join the network. Had I graduated two years earlier, I probably would not have been involved with Facebook for sometime or maybe not at all like my brother Mike.
By navigating these programs on a daily basis, my mind has been developed into thinking about things in the context of a desktop. Last Fall while in my drawing class, I noticed that when I would make a mistake and want to erase a pencil mark that I had made, my mind would tend to look up to the top of my drawing board to click EDIT -UNDO as if I was working in Photoshop. As the article states, kids today are alternatively literate and process information multi-modaly. I believe that this is entirely true and very important for teachers to understand as they serve as the leader of a classroom. Especially those teachers who are not included in the generation of the iKid. By sharing a common language and culture with a child, the teacher's influence is dramatically enhanced. By being able to understand the thought processes and ways that information is presented to kids through social media, video games and advertising, a teacher has a much stronger chance to establish a connection with a kid. They are used to signing into things with a password and an understanding of these alternative literacies may be the key to signing into their world.