Futuring Overall these videos and readings suggest that we are in a technological age that no one is yet prepared to deal with. Innovation and invention are moving so fast that it's difficult to predict where we'll be in a short time. As an educator in training, the implications of this mean that it will be challenging to keep up with the times. Thinking about funding, and technological advances, schools have a future of struggling to acquire new and improved tools so that students are well equipped to enter the workforce. That students are "Digital Natives" means they will have a natural understanding of technology and that most educators (myself included) who are "immigrants" will be using tools that can be challenging to understand. The upside within this week's materials is that there is opportunity to combine abilities and refine literacy and writing skills so that humans can communicate more effectively in these technologically-driven times. The "Did you Know" videos state that we are preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet, but we assume will be there because technology is changing fast enough to create them. This is an eye opener. It means we ought to be creative and imaginative about how we approach teaching. However, the goal of education is, and has been, to teach people how to access new knowledge, gain new skills, and participate in an evolving society. Our challenge lies in keeping up with the pace of new technology. Technology expenses can be so high that equipping students with current models of gadgets isn't an option. Even within a school district one school may have the current technology while four others are far behind. It doesn't take published research to point out that students will be at a disadvantage if their school lacks funding to buy technology that can help produce an occupation-ready member of society. The current predicament of educators is to instruct using technology and concepts that are second nature to them. Mark Prensky's article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants outlines how the older generations that are teaching are essentially using a second language when it comes to technology. Prensky would say that for us who didn't grow up using digital tools we typically assume there are other resources before we turn to our technology. We are now a technologically-driven species. To avoid it likely means you will be left behind. And although we probably don't have to fully embrace it yet, we can benefit from accepting and using the skills that are associated with technology. In his article Orchestrating the Media Collage, Jason Ohler describes how reading and writing within technology can train people to organize their thoughts in a more cohesive and concise manner so that the author does not lose his/her audience to an outdated, or long-winded style of writing. Today's blogs, websites, and postings are all clear and to the point, otherwise folks will have to slow down for longer than their lifestyles allow in order to read them - and that likely won't happen. Today, technology is the most advanced it has ever been. Tomorrow, the same statement can be made. That is a challenge for me to digest, and to work with. However, to give my students the best opportunity to succeed out in society I better bring them my technology game-face and incorporate the skills I have.