Techno-savy, Techno-Safe, Techno...yes or no?

In May of 2014, we heard on national news sites across the country that Google had unveiled their newest, latest gadget (although rather large for gadget status)…the driver-less car. This is a car that supposedly has no steering wheel or pedals. There’s no need for them, the car drives it self.

Whoa.

There’s some debate as to whether this will be plausible on the grand-scale that Google is imagining this contraption. But that’s just it – imagining. Thinking about it. Saying “Is this possible?”

Google hires people to think outside the box, to think on a grand scale. Where most people would say “never”, Google hired (and Apple, Microsoft, among other major companies) employees never say never. They say “how” and “when”. (http://www.automoblog.net/2014/10/10/self-driving-cars-on-the-road/) This is a good article discussing what it could be like to have these types of cards on the road.

Innovation – the heartbeat of the American, entrepreneurial spirit. And it’s amazing. We are literally having the conversation of driverless cars. Getting up, speaking to your car in the morning when you tell it where to go, sitting back and reading your tablet while you drink your coffee as the car gets you to your destination.

And this is the world our kiddos are growing up in. A couple of years ago, I was watching a 1 and a half year old open up a Christmas present. The toy had a tablet-look to it. It wasn’t a tablet, but it was made to look like a tablet and it had pictures of animals and letters on it or something. The contents of the toy are not what’s important to this little description. It’s what the little girl did with the toy that made my jaw hit the floor.

As soon as this toy of was out of the package, this 18 month old toddler set it in her lap and began swiping the “screen” of the toy. At first, it didn’t register what she was doing. She was trying to play with it, or move it, or do something with it, who knows.

Then it dawned on me. She was trying to navigate the screen. She’d seen parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and older cousins do this hundreds of times in her short 18 months of life, and so naturally, something with a screen should be moved with your finger in a swiping motion across the surface of the object.

Fascinating. Little kids play kitchen, play cooking, play telephone, play mommy and daddy, play house…and now they are playing tablet. Incredible.

Technology is really just a captivating entity in our society. SO much goes into it. And our kids now are surrounded by it. In a 2009 Neilsen study (mind you this is FIVE years ago), statistics showed that children from the ages of 2 to 5 years old spent an average of 32 hours in front of a TV, either watching TV, DVDs, DVR’d episodes or using a game console. Kids 6 to 11 spent 28 hours doing the same thing.

Notice anything missing from that study? Computers and cell phones. Imagine what that study is like now 5 years later as we have seen exponential growth in availability and access to electronic devices.

So what’s the point here? Technology is bad and we shouldn’t let kids access it?

NOT AT ALL!! The point here is how are we handling this unbelievable climb in our culture. How are we dealing with this idea that we are literally connected to the entire world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 and ¼ days a year? Is there a principle we can follow to help guide us? A way to go about navigating the complexity of introducing technology to our toddlers and children in schools? Absolutely.

Those methods of introducing this stuff to them is what’s at debate here, but just as Google, Apple and Microsoft employees never say never, I think we have to face it – we can’t say “never” to our kids getting these things. I was as staunch against technology in school as anyone could have been – but it’s time to face the music (or maybe we should start saying “download the music”…I don’t know).

As with everything, perhaps moderation is the key. Understanding that combating the rise of technology in our world is a losing battle, but promoting healthy technology habits is where adults MUST come in to play. We have to be teaching the right behavior, demonstrating the right behaviors, practicing the right behaviors.

That means as a teacher, don’t check your cell phone 82 times a day while you are teaching. In fact, make it known that you put your cell phone in your desk and you don’t check it until after school. Show the kids that they can make it through a day without having to know who has texted them, who has instagrammed a new picture, who has “liked” their status, who has tweeted a pic, who has snap-chatted a 15 second vid, who has added them on a friends list.

This is an endless discussion, I understand, and no 2-page blog will solve the world’s mystery as to how to go about approaching technology in regards to student’s and children’s usage of technology. But, if you are so inclined, check out this great article from the Washington Post titled “5 Ways to Teach Kids to Use Technology Safely”. Worth your time and worth investing some research into how to make this a safer digital world. Some districts have taken up the call of teaching “Digital Citizenship”. I love the idea of promoting the PTA and/or PTO in your community to step up and take charge of this call. I won’t repeat the article here, but please take 5 minutes to read it.

I would just end with this question. What are you doing in your classroom to promote safe technology usage? What are you doing to be an advocate for better tech practices and a smarter approach to technology for kids? There are so many ways to go about this, but being on the front lines is the best place to be – otherwise, kids will be teaching us a thing or two about technology, and without guidance and a morally-based mindset, they might not be great things we are learning.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween next week. Stay warm!

Best wishes,

Joshua Lee – Mom’N’Me Teacher Pay Teacher Store

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Thanks again friends!