Blog Post 1

The question of what inspires a teacher to use technology in the classroom is a simple one to me.  You have to connect with the students in some way and get them to reach their full potential in the classroom, and the easiest way to do that is to give them content and learning tools in a form that they are most comfortable with.  For this generation and the next, that will be through technology.  This is a difficult proposition for a lot of teachers because school funding can only stretch so far, and all of the nifty gadgets that are designed for the purpose of reaching the new technologically driven students are pricey.  Relying on students to use home computers to complete assignments can also be tricky depending on where you teach because, while home computers may be nearly ubiquitous in this age, the level of computer available, and access to it can vary wildly from student to student.  It can be hard to find a happy medium where all of the students can be involved without excluding any or holding others back.  The simplest solution is to only use technology for the teaching side, and not relying on the students to have anything themselves.  That can work to an extent, but you will also lose out on some interesting teaching and learning programs if you do.

The ISTE standards are general guidelines for teaching and learning in the technological age.  As general rules of thumb, they are an excellent baseline for students and teachers.  They can be used and tweaked to fit any individual classroom and should be read and understood by any teacher who is trying to incorporate more technology into the classroom. 
The one that seemed particularly apt to me is the Educator as the learner.  It is important to keep up to date with as much as possible, and this is particularly important in a field like educational technology where the pace of change is rapid and as soon as you get new toys, they may be considered obsolete by your students.  You need to be able to learn new technologies and techniques rapidly to keep up with other teachers and your students.  One thing the standard did not mention is that sometimes, the learning you do will come from your students, as they will likely be more familiar with what you're trying to use than you or your peers. 
The one I think I definitely need to work on the most is Teacher as Designer.  I am not a terribly creative person, and it can be a struggle to learn new techniques and methods of doing things.  I will definitely need help from other sources to learn how exactly to use some of this technology in a teaching fashion, but there should be plenty of help out there to do so.

I think, as a generalization, "Digital Native" works, though the phrasing of this question kind of excludes me.  I would not be a digital native, but am in the group of older people who generally take to technology well.  And there are (Again, in general, there are always exceptions) differences between the generations, and technology has an effect on the brain.  I don't think there's even a question about that.  The shorter attention spans are a thing, and it doesn't only affect the students today.  I can see changes in myself from the time before I was using the tech all day and when I wasn't.  If I step away from the technology for a while, as I like to do on vacation, my attention span and ability to concentrate increase considerably.  When I'm immersed in technology, even reading a book, which used to be one of my favorite past times, is a chore.  I don't see this issue going away, as the advances keep coming further and faster.  I imagine we're not too far off from implantable tech that will allow people to be constantly hooked into everything.  It will pose some interesting dilemmas for teachers in the future.