The Ups and Downs of Teaching and Learning in a Digital World

Technology plays a huge role in my daily life. I am constantly on a device at work and have been now for about the past 7 years since our district went 1 to 1 (1 device for every student) and we use Google Suite for everything. When we first began this initiative our network in the district couldn’t handle the amount of devices trying to access it all at the same time. It made what was supposed to making our lives easier much more cumbersome. Thankfully, the district realized that this was a real problem and really vamped up our network. We then realized that many of our students did not have access at home and were consistently looking for places to go in town that offered free internet access. Again, the district responded and joined with the town to create spaces where students could access the internet outside of school hours in order to complete their projects, research and so forth. Then Covid hit and we were all forced to stay home where, again, many students did not have access to the internet. The community and the district responded in record time and made sure that any student that did not have proper access at home received it. It was pretty incredible and awe inspiring.

The amount of information that is available to any of us through a free and open internet that can be used in an educational manner is astounding. I have found so many new professional communities to help me find new ways to engage my students with online videos and research activities. When I started this program last year I was extremely nervous about completing my masters program completely online, because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to really connect with the material and engage myself in order to really learn anything. I am glad to say that I was wrong, and I am now so happy that I have chosen to complete this program in this manner. I have learned so much about online learning and online education over the past year and a half. It can be extremely engaging when you find a community that contributes and helps each other in a positive way and use the right tools (apps or programs).

Through these past 7 years however, I have also seen the dependency of always being connected to a device (either laptops, Chromebooks, or cell phones) among my students. I can honestly say that it scares me a bit. I am finding that my high school students spend so much of their time consumed with social media that most of the time they aren’t engaging in their studies or with each other the way that they should in order to be successful in their classes or in life. My high school students are constantly discussing cyber bullying and getting into actual fights over arguments that happen on social media yet they still feel the need to constantly post every moment of their lives on tiktok.

Many of them “know” what a digital footprint is, but do not take it seriously. I have discussed with them how important it is for them to start realizing that what they are posting anywhere online can be traced back to them and what the consequences of that can be if they are not actively aware of what they are posting. One of our first big projects this year was creating ePortfolios as part of my innovation plan, and they wanted to add links to their social media accounts. I asked them honestly if they thought it would be a good idea for them to do this, since their ePortfolio is supposed to be used in a professional and educational manner and many of them said that it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Ohler’s article, Character Education for the Digital Age, really spoke to me this week. He states, “We need to not only help students learn to use these tools, in smart, productive ways, but also help them place these tools in the larger context of building community, behaving responsibly, and imagining a healthy and productive future, both locally and globally.” The world has changed so much because of technology over the last 20 years, and we haven’t changed the way that we teach students in this new world fast enough. Teaching digital literacy and digital citizenship to students from a young age is something that we must do (the same way that we teach social emotional learning) if we want our students to really learn how to interact with technology in an impactful way. Ohler goes onto discuss that teaching students how to engage responsibly will greater benefit their educational experience than if the school district just blocks them out from being able to access content that they may need for their studies. The ban on sites in our district has been a huge problem because great content that we want our students to see and engage in isn’t available to them when it should be. Wouldn’t it be better if we just showed them how to be responsible instead of censoring their learning experiences?

References:

Ohler, J. (2011, February 1). Character education for the digital age. ascd. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/character-education-for-the-digital-age