Despite the fact that I champion technology at my school. Despite the fact that I often write about and promote the use of technology in my personal and professional life. Despite the fact that I am presenting next week at a conference about how technology can help second language learners express themselves. Despite the fact that I encourage my daughter to feel comfortable with a camera and her way around a blog. Despite all of these things, or maybe because of these reasons I am often nervous about technology and the effects it has on all of us. We all should be.

I work at a 1:1 Apple school, and I am not gonna lie, I love it. I cannot ever imagine working in a non 1:1 environment again. My kids have instant access to any and all websites, we blog, we create music, art work, writing, videos, you name it; we are on fire. I have kids who barely utter a sound in class who can now share their learning and express themselves beautifully, but despite my comfort with the tools and success with my students I am weary of the cost of too much screen time. I am sure, by the end of this post, I will end up justifying much of what I say by claiming validity for both sides of the screened or disconnected life argument and cry that balance is key. Taking the balanced approach, however, is the easy way out, unless we look deeply at what this balance system looks like in the lives of our students.

I do not and have never believed in technology for it’s own sake. We have had that conversation too many times. It is the learning not the tools, blah, blah blah. I hope we can all agree that technology, connected learning and the use of multi-media to create new content is crucial to student learning. I am not here to argue for either side.  It is important, however, no matter which side of the debate we are on to slow down, douse ourselves with cold water and re-evaluate what exactly it is we are shouting. It is important to take a step back and consider all sides of our ideas. In the last few weeks, I have written often on the effects of social media on my personal psyche, and now I want to take a look at what hyper-connectedness and “screen” time can do for students.

This train of thought left the station after I read, Technology and Schools: Should We Add More or Pull the Plug?. I was very impressed by the final paragraph:

It is time to engage in a purposeful, reasoned debate about where we’re headed with the use of digital devices in the classroom. We recognize that there is tremendous value in technology and learning, and are by no means advocating abstinence. But we need to be cautious about plugging our kids in more, pushing them into an even greater dependence on electronics. We need balance that stems from understanding that more isn’t necessarily better.

So many times, we draw lines in the sand, and the use of technology in schools is no different. I never want to be seen as the Techie-teacher who is so enamored with my own ideas and philosophy that I am not willing to rethink what I am most passionate about. I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

Criticize the tools you use and use the tools you criticize.

This quote hangs up in my room as a reminder that we owe it to our students to consider every angle when it comes to their future especially since we are all dealing in unknowns. We can claim that blogs help non-English speakers communicate in ways that were not possible before, but who is to say that my daughter’s affinity for my computer will not affect her attention span or interpersonal skills. We can claim that creating media rich content helps develop new literacies which allow students to interact with the world in new ways, but whose to say that staring at a screen seven hours a day will make it impossible for them to take a walk alone and contemplate the clouds.

I am always so saddened to see the students at our school constantly gathered around their laptops, not because I find what they are doing as time wasted, but because I do not think they have had a chance to get a taste of the other. In our global issues club we are working on a campaign for animal rights, but after a brief talk I realized that very few of these urban dwelling mammals have ever had an authentic experience with a wild animal, most not even with a domestic one. Who’s responsibility is it to make sure these kids run their hands through the soil or hike a mountain? Who will teach them to value nature and the simple sound of rain as it falls around them?

image by sean dreilinger

This post is running in circles a bit and that is fine with me. Maybe we can find some place to land in the comments. Let me try and squeeze out some kind of point. In between the typical, “computers are ruining our children” rhetoric, the article makes a few important claims that I would like to highlight and address:

Today’s kids are losing the ability to enjoy the sweet and mundane moments that are part and parcel of ordinary life. Most youngsters, if stuck waiting for a ride, cannot endure simply waiting: they whip out their cell phone to feed their insatiable need for stimulation. The tradition of playing outside after school to shake off the stagnation of sitting at a desk all day has been abandoned in favor of more sitting in front of the TV or computer, contributing to alarming obesity rates in children.

I know this is true because I see it in my students. I see it in my daughter. I sometimes see it in myself. For teachers who love tech and are using it is effectively, passionately, innovatively, those of us who claim that balance is important: what are we doing about it? We all know what we are doing to help students connect effectively, but how are we helping our students disconnect? I was thinking of introducing unplugged days, which would focus on reading, maybe drawing, playing acoustic music, singing in small groups, or just spending time alone drenched in silence. Maybe initiating yoga classes, nature walks around campus anything to slow life down to a manageable speed. I would love to hear your ideas about these or other ideas in the comments.

Now that I have read the article again several times, I am finding less there is less and less with which I agree. It makes some ridiculous claims like:

Increasing the use of technology in the classroom is like feeding our kids pop tarts and soda; it tastes good and they like it, but it doesn’t offer the nourishment they need.

I refuse to allow what I do in my classroom to be called a Pop-Tart. So please do not find flaws in the article. That is not what this post is about. I simply want to share thoughts on how we can help students see beyond their screens, so that when they are connected they can create more authentic and rich content.