I thought I'd eventually be out of a job.

[Eileen Lennon]

I ask a student to attach a file to an email and I get a blank stare.
I tell the class to open a new tab so they have two websites open at the same time and I have to show them how to do that a few times.
I assume that since they are growing up with technology they naturally know how to use it, but I am shown on a daily basis that this is not the case. They know how to get to their game website and play till their eyeballs fall out, but when I ask them to find a file they created yesterday, they have no idea where it is. Its both disheartening and comforting; I'll never be out of a job.
Their parents use computers, but they started using them when one keystroke could make all their work disappear. They have a fear of computers that is no longer appropriate. These students never had that fear; the computer has been their friend since the beginning. So why are their skills so limited? I guess because they are being taught by fraidy cats.
Technology can be overwhelming and even scary, but I try not to impart that on my students. Technology is transforming our world and their lives. We should embrace it, not keep it at arms length. Even if sometimes it eats our reports and just smiles at us.