Day: June 9, 2022

Jump back to September 2010 or fast forward to September 2022. Despite being on the agree side of the cell phone debate I truly am upon the fence. If I was to go back to 2010, why that date I don’t really know but I was in my 7th year of teaching and at that time students seemed to have better cell phone etiquette than they do in 2022. They respected classroom rules and didn’t push the boundaries. Students understood that there was a time and place for cell phone use and it wasn’t during school hours. Teachers didn’t have to discipline a child every five minutes for cell phone use as they were engaged with the classroom task and not mesmerized by a game or message. Spring forward to June 2022 and I want to honestly throw out every cell phone in site. What on earth happened? How did we create such an imbalance? Is it possible to turn back time and start again? If I new in 2010 what 2022 was going to look like than just maybe I wouldn’t be on the fence. Oh Cher “If I could turn back time” – what a good tune!

If we knew the impact of internet and smart phones on mental health 15 years ago we might have reconsidered our great desire to pursue our personal use with them and our desire to integrate them into our classrooms. Just like CFC’s and Nicotine – if we could have only predicted the future!

I found the discussion about “nomophobia” from the agree side of the debate quite interesting as I hadn’t heard that term used before. The article that was provided to us to read was full of quality information about the topic. I found it truly interesting to learn the following about nomophobia.

• the fear of not being able to use ones phone or the apps on the phone
• leads to other concerns of stress, anxiety and depression
• threaten classroom learning because students have less ability to focus on a task
• the closer the phone is the less cognitive functioning the students have
• the noises of other phones in the room are even distracting to students
• students feel when the don’t have there phone they are loosing out connectedness with their peers

Despite knowing that I can’t turn back time – I would like to determine how we can alter the future. I believe that smart phones can take up space in our classrooms if we aggressively work at ensuring that phones are to be in classrooms for learning purposes only. As Sam Kerry addresses on his YouTube channel the benefits out way the drawbacks.

So let challenge each other to be a united front. Let’s join together in recognizing the benefits of smart phones in our classrooms but lets stay united in our push to improve etiquette and proper usage. What I say goes in my room should also go in your room. We need to eliminate the good cop bac cop scenarios that already exist in our schools. We all just might need to become cell phone police.

The island – a place of solitude, family and hard work. A place where my memories of my childhood are deeply rooted, a place where boredom was tackled by creativity, a place where challenges were faced with perseverance and a place where life was simple and in the moment. I am certainly one to say that technology is having a significant impact on childhood. So much so that this is the one debate where I was not on the fence at all. I heard and respectfully listened to the discussions around generational gaps and that old people just don’t get it because their childhood wasn’t like that. However, I do believe that we can respectively learn from our elders and use the knowledge gained to make wise choices for our future selves and the lives of our children. Do I think children need to have my exact childhood experiences on an island to have success in life ……… not exactly. But I do believe that myself and the generations before me have made out pretty good and that just maybe they had one or two things right.

Both sides to tonight’s debate about technology and childhood were very well thought out. However, I feel most passionate about the agree side. From the article “The Impact of Social Media on Children” and you-tube video from the “Kid Counselor” I was able to take away several points that I strongly agree with about the impacts of social media on childhood.

• social media has more negative than positive effects on the development of the brain
• increased anxiety and depression
• the new wave of addiction is the cell phone
• the impact of the screens on brain
• many teenagers have meltdowns if the phone goes missing
• less physical activity and outdoor time
• parents aren’t aware of what happens in the secret life of their child on the phone
• parents need to have stiffer rules to help curve the long term effects of social media

I do truly appreciate the efforts of the disagree side to show us that there are young people whom are effectively using social media in a positive way. It is amazing to see young people use their voice with purpose as explained on this website. I acknowledge and respect the efforts of so many young people that are passionate about making a positive change and have been encouraged by adults to use social media with purpose. Unfortunately in my opinion the good is very much overshadowed by the bad and their are just not enough teenagers or children that are mature enough to engage in positive change making behaviours.

Maybe the past is relevant for the future. However, in the present I see no problem in attempting to blend the old with the new. It was incredibly interesting to sit back and listen to our debate teams present their sides and I enjoyed reading Daltons post on balance.

I appreciated Sushmeet’s and Leah’s points in their opening video on the agree side..

• we as humans are doing many tasks online already – convenience and hassle free
• technology speeds up our time spent on learning a task
• lets not rob our students of tomorrow

Leah and Sushmeet provided us with an interesting read about transformational change. The article titled “shifting pedagogies and digital technologies” provided good insight into how to think about the future of education. The authors explain that it is important for us educators to shape our thinking by considering the following:

• educational change needs to be global
• future planning needs to be an exercise in future thinking
• change requires all social groups to work together
• if people are going to buy into change it helps if they are the developers of the change

I recognize the need for change in education as society changes around it. However, I see no problems with utilizing teaching strategies from the past that continue to provide positive learning opportunities for the students in our classrooms in the present. Our students in our rooms shouldn’t be molded into a one size fits all kind of scenario.

The points made by Alyssa, Kelly and Durston on the disagree side of the debate were also well laid out. Some key highlights I took away from their opening video were:

• productive and successful members of society need basic skills
• fine motor skill practice has many benefits
• note taking improves processing skills
• problem solving skills can be used across many daily skills

The following quote taken from an article provided by the disagree side made me think. “I think your cursive writing identifies you as much as your physical features do.” How do we as teachers truly know that our choices we make are beneficial for all students in our room. I think that we should be willing to accept that there could be value in traditional educational methods and that new ones certainly have their place in our classrooms as well. I few months ago my son started learning to handwrite – he came home with excitement and joy that he was learning to create his letters with more style. He now choses to handwrite more than print because it’s easier for him and because he finds it fun. Let’s not take personal choice and passion away from students if we don’t really have to.

As technology continues to change rapidly we as teacher will continue to feel the pressures of change. Determining what engagement looks like and how our students learn the best will always cause stress for us. Give technology an opportunity but don’t hesitate to use traditional models of learning in your room.