Maturing with Information and Communication Technologies.

My parents brought home our first computer in 1992, when I was 9.

Prior to this, I had only used the Macintosh computers at school.

I could use both home and school computers for educational games.

I did not get a personal computer until college.

Middle school (‘95-’97) brought the modem into my life.

I connected through Prodigy, a service I truly didn’t understand. I knew I wasn’t allowed to be on for long because it tied up the phone, but I could play a Baby-Sitter’s Club game and read new stories.

The wonders of the web became clear to me through e-mail in 1997.

Suddenly I could send messages to my cousins across the country instead of letters.

My parents signed me up with a Juno account, and I still use the same address today.

I was one of the last of my friends to download AOL Instant Messenger in 2000.

I used it that year to talk to friends late at night.

Once I went to college the next year, it became my way to stay in constant contact with friends from home and to make plans with new friends at EIU.

My parents bought a cell phone sometime in the late ‘90s. Once I started driving, the cell phone traveled with me in the glove compartment.

It was for EMERGENCY USE ONLY!

…I never made a call from that phone…

In 2003 I stepped into adult responsibility by purchasing my own cell phone and calling plan.

I had the freedom to call whomever I wanted, and more importantly to me, could always be contacted by others. No more waiting by the phone or wondering if that boy called and didn’t leave a message.

During my last two years in college I was enrolled in WebCT courses, taking quizzes and posting forum responses for the first time.

In 2007 I reversed roles as the teacher for an online course space through Moodle, which I started using again in 2009 as a grad student.

The Facebook arrived in 2004. I joined in 2005, when you had to have a college email address to join.

As Facebook has evolved, so has my use of it. I now stay in contact with high school, college, and grad school friends, co-workers, former students, and family members. I share pictures, essays, and updates of my life.

Last spring, a wireless router was not enough for me. I needed the Internet in my pocket at all times. Insert my new cell phone, the Motorola DROID.

I make calls, text, post to Facebook, take and share pictures, play games, look up random information, and organize my life.

It is safe to say, I’d feel lost without it.

I’ve spent my teens and twenties with these technologies.• I check favorite web pages daily.• I have four email accounts. • I no longer have a landline phone.

I could say it is part of my identity.

But I still can’t embrace e-readers. I need to feel a book in my hands.