The article I read was from Mind/Shift and was entitled "Teaching Respect and Responsibility--Even to Digital Natives" by Holly Korbey. The author talked about the responsibility educators and parents have to teach students the responsibility of using technology responsibly. The author discusses the importance of parents and teachers not resigning their responsibility of teaching "ethical guidance and the security of rules and boundaries." Just because today's students may be more tech-savvy does not mean that we should surrender our wisdom of the way the technology should be used.
Korbey also says in the article that as more schools become exclusively digital textbook institutions students will need to recognize the reality of multi-tasking (this also relates to another article I recently read about the reality of successful multi-tasking, "You'll Never Learn" http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=sm&utm_campaign=button_toolbar ) and that conversations need to occur with students not only about Internet safety but also how to recognize and use credible information. She states that students need to learn the difference between technology use inside and away from the school setting and what is appropriate in each setting.
Korbey cautions that as with any learning students may make mistakes with the use of technology and should be allowed to learn from that. Teachers and parents will need to take the role of using those teachable moments so that students will learn responsible use of technology.
I was interested in this article because as we are currently writing English curriculum, we are looking at the use of digital books in our district. With the discussion that students may soon have one-to-one devices or even if we have classroom sets of computers or notebook devices, I am concerned about how to teach students this responsibility of use. I struggle with students using their smartphones in class almost daily. At East we have talked about the need to teach students to learn when it's appropriate to use devices and when it is not. We have also discussed having no-device areas in our building again, but that won't make a difference if the students have notebooks or computers for use in the classroom. I feel this is an important conversation for teachers to be having, and I was glad to read an article addressing these concerns.
For more information or to read the article in its entirety, go to: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/teaching-respect-and-responsibility-even-to-digital-natives/
Korbey also says in the article that as more schools become exclusively digital textbook institutions students will need to recognize the reality of multi-tasking (this also relates to another article I recently read about the reality of successful multi-tasking, "You'll Never Learn" http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=sm&utm_campaign=button_toolbar ) and that conversations need to occur with students not only about Internet safety but also how to recognize and use credible information. She states that students need to learn the difference between technology use inside and away from the school setting and what is appropriate in each setting.
Korbey cautions that as with any learning students may make mistakes with the use of technology and should be allowed to learn from that. Teachers and parents will need to take the role of using those teachable moments so that students will learn responsible use of technology.
I was interested in this article because as we are currently writing English curriculum, we are looking at the use of digital books in our district. With the discussion that students may soon have one-to-one devices or even if we have classroom sets of computers or notebook devices, I am concerned about how to teach students this responsibility of use. I struggle with students using their smartphones in class almost daily. At East we have talked about the need to teach students to learn when it's appropriate to use devices and when it is not. We have also discussed having no-device areas in our building again, but that won't make a difference if the students have notebooks or computers for use in the classroom. I feel this is an important conversation for teachers to be having, and I was glad to read an article addressing these concerns.
For more information or to read the article in its entirety, go to: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/teaching-respect-and-responsibility-even-to-digital-natives/
