How trendy are we? 💩💩💩💩

Today, we're reflecting on a trend in society and analysing it in light of our practice.

I'm most interested in talking about the digital flood that is overtaking us. We talk heaps about limiting kids' screentime because we know it's not great for them to be doing, and yet, at the same moment, I'm stuck on my phone, constantly checking for updates and scrolling through facebook for hours at a time. I also am completely addicted to staying connected via technology. What does it mean though for my future and those of my students? We haven't had it for long enough to know what effects it really will have, but at this stage, we need to do our best to plan for whatever we can see now and what we've known for all ages as important for humanity.

So..what's this trend about?

Digital Technology is a way to communicate, collaborate and be engaged with others. In 2012, Kareka Ramey wrote about the impact of technology in our world today. "We use technology; depend on technology in our daily life and our needs and demands for technology keep on rising. Humans use technology to travel, to communicate, to learn, to do business and to live in comfort. However technology has also caused us concerns. Its poor application has resulted into the pollution of the environment and it has also cause serious threat to our lives and society. This calls for proper use of technology. The biggest challenge facing people is to determine the type of future we need to have and then create relevant technologies which will simplify the way we do things."

What are the implications for us educators?

I guess the implications for us are that we have to find the best way to embrace and use the technology and direct it to serve our needs, rather than become slaves to it ourselves. We need to help our kids to this too. The internet gives us a chance to do many things at once- we can have multiple tabs open and flick between them incessantly, but also we might be not giving full attention to any one thing. Does this mean our attention is actually weaker because we can't focus on anything consistently? This was also highlighted by the OECD report of 2016 about trends shaping education where they talk about kids' decreasing attention spans, digital withdrawal disorder, fear of missing out syndrome (FOMO)

I know we’re already having problems with cyber bullying in our class of 8-10 year olds.  You’d be surprised at my conversations on a Monday morning with children where we talk about why it’s not nice to send a line of poo emoji’s to the class!  

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩And the amount of times we have to check that we’re making choices to use our chromebooks for learning!  It’s a daily, almost hourly reminder!

So, what am I doing about it?

I have to confess, personally, I’m not doing much.  In my own life, I don’t push away the addiction to technology as much as I should.  This is a problem, because how can I expect my students to or teach them how to, if I’m not battling it myself.  Probably the one thing I do, is infrequently enforce ‘screen free weekends’ where the kids aren’t allowed any screens, although I have been caught out when they roll over after they’ve gone to sleep and see me trawling through fb beside them!  

In terms of what we’re doing in class, I think we still need to learn as we go.  We need to use tools, and enable the children to use the tools well, but we also need to give them chances to explore and engage with the world not via a screen.  This will be interesting because we’re getting into playbased learning, and I feel excited for the scope that offers to not be stuck on a screen.  

Anyway, now I’ve run out of words but seem to not have said much about actually how I’m gonna face this trend!  Oops.  I think we need to keep being aware, reminding ourselves that it’s there, and keep it on top.  The world is not only what’s in the screen!  That’s the best way to not let it become taken for granted and be drowned in the wave.