This week I was drawn to two different articles discussing media and our current use. Reflecting on them, I can’t help to think how far we have come, but in the same sense what have we also lost? In the Federman article, McLahan’s concept of the meaning to “the medium is the message” is explored. My big takeaway from the article is how quickly we were forced into the use of technology during Covid (sorry for bringing it up). Technology allowed us to bring students and families into virtual classrooms, that allowed the school a way to stay connected. The time that followed post Covid (thank goodness) allowed us to continue to incorporate these new found technologies such as Zoom, Google Classroom, Seesaw, and a host of other website and services into everyday teaching. Is this still sustainable to use technology in this way? For our school and division it no longer is….well not as much of it.
Our school, like many other have had to cut way back on our technology in the building. Two weeks in…it has not been a bad thing. Like Federman states,
“after a long period of time and experience with the new innovation, we look backward and realize that there were some effects of which we were entirely unaware at the outset.”
We knew we had issues with technology last year. There is always hiccups and a learning curve for students, but the issues weren’t about the use of software, it was the behaviours we were seeing in some of our students. Some were hooked, and not in the good sense. They became dependent on needing the screen time that they yearned for. What should of became a useful teaching aid, often became just a distraction or a temptation.
In her 2012 Ted Talk Connected, but alone? | Sherry Turkle – YouTube, Sherry makes some great observations about how technology changes us. She states, it “not only chang(ed) what we do, but who we are.” I feel more than ever now this is so true. My own kids are glued to their screens if we allow them the opportunity, and watch mindless content (how Dad views their watching at least). With a son in Grade 6, cell phones are a hot topic for us around our house. Does he need it? No. Would there be benefits of him having one? Sure. Is it going to improve his communication skills…. sorry got distracted by an incoming snapchat of a ceiling. Now I’m back.
Have to keep that streak alive!
My fascination with the new technology grows weekly, even from last winter and my EC&I courses, there has been incredible new AI programs. I found it funny that Turkle references iPhone Siri becoming more of a friend, fast forward to today and Snapchat has the My AI feature built in. Innovative and purposeful, yes. Scary at the same time, for sure. What types of data is being collected with these responses? Or what kind of advice is being said back to the users? With all technology comes responsibility, some of us are ready for it and some are not. Turkle references the 3 main fascinations we have with technology:
1) We can put our attention where we want it to be
2) We can always be heard
3) We never have to be alone
I’ll be the first to admit that I have looked at my phone during a meeting. How am I not supposed to expect that my students or my own kids would do the same. What my worry is, when the phone or tablets disappear, can my students still communicate their thoughts and feelings in an appropriate way? Being able to assess online content and media goes much further than hitting a like button, or leaving a brief comment. The ability to comprehend the content and digest it through a healthy way is my goal with my students. How do you handle media literacy with your students or your own kids for that matter?
Read post Graeme! Those snapchat streaks are so important aren’t they? I’m with you on looking at my phone during a meeting or sending a text to someone across the room during that meeting saying “could this have been an email?”
I feel like technology is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it. But find our boundaries. Sherry talks about those sacred places and I feel to start it is important to have these sacred places where devices should not be around. We have to have these “real life” connections and have real conversation.
I’m still learning how to handle media literacy myself. It is an ongoing process for me. I’ve learned to “show less” or hide certain videos so my algorithm doesn’t show me nonsense videos on my tiktok or instagram. I would love to know how other teachers and parents are handling their media literacy
Shella
Thanks for the comment Shella! I agree tech is not going anywhere in the near future. Time to embrace it, but still work on having students have “real” conversations and be able to deal with conflict in person, rather than hiding behind a screen is still a challenge for some. Don’t get me started on algorithms… search one topic and boom, you’re flooded with future videos on it.
Great post. It is such a dilemma as a teacher, an adult, a parent, a partner, and all the other roles in life we play, as to who/what gets my attention and when and something that we are constantly thinking about. For my oldest kid who is 4, and who loves to watch movies on streaming services and youtube videos, he has gotten pretty good at being able to tell us if something is appropriate for him to watch or not, which impresses me because of the wide spectrum of content on sources like those. It makes me hopeful that we can instill positive digital citizenship and media literacy skills with him. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Self-filtering for a 4 year old is pretty impressive! I know I can instantly tell when my kids are watching something I don’t approve of just by their faces when I walk into the room. Mostly, it’s not inappropriate, but just content that isn’t very intellectual (kids playing with toys….. or weirder, grown men playing with toys and acting scenes out).
I wonder if the title should be “Too much humanity”. It seems to me we attend to what we care about and what we are attracted to. I think you are right in asking about your expectations of student checking their phones in class as you check your phone in a meeting. It seems very human.
“Class boring, not very connected to what is important to me. Oooo – got a snap which is very important to me.”
“Meeting boring, not very connected to what is important to me. Oooo – got a comment on my Facebook post which is very important to me.”
Not sure our behaviours are going to change but maybe meetings and classes will change.
Couldn’t agree more. Structure of the way we currently do meetings and classes, could definitely improve to not have those downtimes when you even feel the need to check your phones. I find classes like PAA and PE were the best to teach because the students were always so engaged or busy, there just wasn’t that time for checking technology.