I was born in 1989. The Internet was launched in 1983 and in 1989 ‘even the insiders were betting against it’ (CMH, 2019).

My mom was very involved in technology and she told me stories how she used to carry her gigantic computer (on foot, in high heels!) to different business in order to do their book keeping.

We were one of the first families to own a “brick” cellphone and a computer. My sister’s school even requested to borrow the cellphone for a school trip when she was in Grade 7( Standard 5 back then)

I was blessed to grow up with a computer and was taught about the functions and tools in school. This definitely helped my digital literacy.

“queue the dial up sound”

A dial-up connection uses a “standard phone line and analog modem to access the Internet at data transfer rates (DTR) of up to 56 Kbps ” (Walters,2016).

The internet: where the family rule was 10 minutes only as it was so expensive and “what if someone phones us”? (Jo’s Mom, 2000)

I enjoy technology and experimenting with different tools. I am new to using technology in the classroom as I was a preschool teacher where I encouraged hands-on-learning because children spend so much time on technology at home.

I have a constructivist and blended learning approach in the lecture room and really enjoy experimenting with new online tools.

The one platform I struggle with separating private and professional life is Whatsapp. I use whatsapp for groups for each year which really help when I need to convey messages quickly. Students unfortunately do not understand the boundaries and will message me all the time. I am now pushing back and not replying out of office hours- which seems to be helping!

I am so saddened by the way technology has taken over the social landscape.