Go Outside and Play!

Audrey and Wyatt's Poomse for TaeKwonDo

How much is too much for our Digital Natives?  I mean, between them being tethered to their phones, iPods, iPads, and laptops, (plus the mindless episodes of SpongeBob) when are they getting unplugged and playing?

I realize that I preach endlessly on the benefits of technology, especially when it comes to teaching, but the truth is I think that we can oversaturate our kids to an unhealthy point if we are not careful.  I earlier blogged that one of the benefits of cell phones in school is that students learn proper self-control of the device.  I feel that this same sort of control needs to be exhibited with all of the electronic devices in students' lives. It does not make sense to allow for unlimited access to technology, even for Digital Natives. These students may have been born with an iPad touch in hand, but their ability to self-regulate is not even close to being developed.

One great thing about teaching with technology is the efficiency of instruction and learning. Immediate feedback from on-line activities, interactive lessons, and game-like instruction make learning from technology not only more fun, but also more appealing.  Students that take virtual classes or attend  virtual schools especially spend a majority of their school day at a computer.  Learning management systems like My Big Campus allow any teacher to use technology to enhance their instruction and transform their classrooms into places where students are gaining 21st Century skills while learning content.  It is important to acknowledge that many of these hours in school are on-line and need to be accounted for when thinking of activities for students outside of school.

I know that once my own kids get home from school and I am tired from a full day's work, it is easiest to turn on some sort of electronic babysitter.  I can justify this by telling myself that they have been running around all day.  The truth is, however, that they are plugged in quite a bit during the day instead of running laps around the building.  Especially on the rainiest of days, I occasionally give in to the computer play or television shows.  I do notice, however,  that this type of plan usually backfires at bedtime when the kids are completely wired after expending little energy during the day.

For my kids to make the most out of their academic time on-line, they need to be monitored with their extra-curricular activities to provide a balance of digital play and physical play. Even on rainy days, we can mix it up with some active games on the Wii.  Teaching these Digital Natives a healthy balance of physical and technological activities will prove to be no small task as evidenced by the climbing childhood obesity and diabetes rates in the United States.  It is clear, though that part of teaching good digital citizenship is teaching students when to unplug...and go outside and play!

5 Things I Need My Kids To Learn at School

At the kitchen table this week, my oldest was working on labeling the continents and oceans (side note: there is one more ocean since I went to school, which goes by the name Southern or Antarctic Ocean).  My youngest was trying to cut out shapes by staying on the dashed line, which is hard if you are five years old.  So, I suppose these are important skills to learn as they are building blocks for other, more complex tasks.

What if she forgets her geography, though? What if he really does never master his cutting? What other skills will they try to grasp that they may forget?  What if they can't learn something- I mean, if it is simply out of their realm of understanding?

I think I could handle it if Audrey just is not a math whiz or if Wyatt does not enjoy the beauty of conjugating verbs, but there are five things I refuse to let slide.  These are the five essentials to me that they need to learn in school.

#1- Collaboration
Kids are growing up in a digital age that has now blurred all barriers of continental lines, time zones, and languages.  I insist that they learn to function as a part of a team- both as leaders and followers.  Clear communication, integrity, respect, and sharing are all skills that are honed through learning how to collaborate on assignments, in the classroom, and in the real world.

#2- Digital Citizenship
Students need to learn the art of connecting with others appropriately on-line.  In the scary, unmonitored, digital social environments, students can easily fall into sloppy, rude, unflattering, or even dangerous habits.  We can model this at home, but it is more of a fabricated environment than when they are in school.  Learning managements systems like My Big Campus provide a safe, monitored environment for students to develop skills like on-line communications, appropriate discussions, and proper netiquette.

#3- Synthesizing
Digital natives assimilate information very differently than the traditional linear methods from my own youth.   Today's kids are hard-wired to grab snippets of information from a variety of sources, but they need assistance learning to weave together the information to create their own learning.  This is a skill I feel critical to master while still in grade school.  Whether students enter the workforce or go on to higher learning, they will need to be able to synthesize information to make meaning of the world.

#4- Love of Learning
As a classroom teacher in public education for fifteen years, there was little sadder to me than an unmotivated student.  I understand not being interested in a certain subject or having preferences, but people have somewhat of an innate curiosity.  I feel it is the job of K-12 educators to hone these curiosities and help the students find how to pursue their interests either for careers or hobbies as lifelong learners.

#5- Imagining
I want my kids to believe, even at the end of their formal grade-school education, that they can do anything.  I don't want in-the-box, textbook answers- I want the ability to dream of anything.  LMS's such as My Big Campus allow students and teachers to create, design, develop, and grow without the confines of a traditional classroom setting.  With 24/7 access to a wealth of resources and supported on-line schoolwork, even assignments like book reports turn into interactive experiences with audio and video components.  Kids should not be stifled into conformity, but rather should leave school with endless tools for imagining and creating.

I realize these are high demands, but it is a high-stakes world students are stepping into from high school.  Imagine a world where everyone stepped from the hallways of their grade schools having mastered the skills above!  I believe big results like finding the cure for cancer and ending world hunger would be inevitable!  I can come to terms with my kids not mastering chemistry or forgetting how to diagram a sentence.  I will only support, however, an educational experience that focuses on their gaining these essential skills.

Phone follies

Audrey playing a word game on my phone

About five years ago, I was teaching a group of fourth grade students and, while reaching into her book bag for a folder, Miranda's cell phone fell out.  OH NO! Our school had a policy much akin to old-school parenting: cell phones were not to be seen nor heard. The look of horror on poor Miranda's face-  and it was an honest mistake, so like any decent teacher, I mouthed "put it back" and gave her a wink.
She did.  Of course she did.  Miranda is a great kid and had learned to follow the rules at school.

I looked around the room and I wondered how many other fourth graders had a cell phone.  So I asked (premised with a promise that I was not going to confiscate the phones) who had a phone.  Twenty two hands went up.  Two stayed down.  In a Title I, rural, 85% free and reduced lunch school, 92% of our fourth graders had a cell phone.   I ventured further. "Who do you call?" "Why do you need that?" "Is it nicer than my phone?"   I discovered that they call their parents to check in and siblings to pick them up, they are allowed a certain amount of texts, and most have to fork the phone over to Mom or Dad by about 9:00 PM.

At first I thought of my own second grader and how there was no way she would need a phone until she was out driving.  And then did I really want her in the car with a phone?!? What if she tried to text while driving?!? Maybe she can wait until she is 25 before she needs a phone...  Then I stopped snowballing and thought of my reasons for her not having a phone, like she is too young, I never had one at that age, she does not need to be making calls, she should be under adult supervision at that age (and the adult would have a phone if need be).  I realized I was comparing my childhood experiences with hers.   The reason I didn't have a phone were because they did not exist.  It was a much slower-paced, disconnected time and place.  One pro of her having a phone are that she could contact Wayne or I if need be, which is no small pro.  She has grown up in a world of immediacy that is unlikely to go backward, for one.  It would be nice to have her text me when she is ready to be picked up, forgets her gym shoes, etc.   I understand that there are procedures in place for that like stand in line to use a phone, leave class to go to the office to make a call, set predetermined pick-up times.  But as a teacher, I much preferred to let a student fire off a quick text to Mom to bring shoes or tell Dad track was cancelled than to miss the class time going back and forth to the office.  

Of course, this is taboo to talk about for some folks.   The freedoms that come with a cell phone invoke images of students ignoring instruction, instigating fights, and setting up drug deals on the playground in the minds of digital immigrant educators.  I would argue, though that the reason students do not know how to use cell phones with proper etiquette is because we don't teach them.  All of a sudden they don't have to hide them in high school and they have no idea how to appropriately function with a cell phone at school.  Perhaps if we started early by teaching them that turning off phones during instruction is just like turning them off at church, a wedding, the dinner table, in a meeting at work, or a movie.  The same as I would never endorse a teacher answering a call in the middle of class, students learn quickly from proper modeling.  Why not start modeling proper use at the younger ages?  The kids clearly already have the devices and these devices are becoming much more easily controlled by parent restrictions.

You see, Miranda was a responsible, mature student who could have benefitted from BYOD policies had she been able to actually use it.  Phones are not just for calls and texts anymore. Students use their phones to organize themselves with calendars and file storage.  My students accessed our learning management system through the My Big Campus app to have 24/7 access to resources and schoolwork.  They also use their phones to take notes, set reminders, calculate, time, and record.  As I looked around my classroom at the five-pack of desktops, I thought about how beneficial it would be to let students use their own devices instead of relying solely on those the school-provided.  Both the have and have-nots would profit from lower tech to student ratios.

Jason Ohler, Author of Digital Community, Digital Citizen, has this to say about technology in the classroom, "Digital citizenship is impossible until we help students live one life instead two. Right now they live two-a digitally unplugged life at school and a digitally deluged life outside school.” Banning phones from schools not only strips students of the very tools they need to function in school, but also robs us of an opportunity to teach them proper use of cell phones.  I want my kids to learn cell phone etiquette,  budgeting time, and not being distracted by the phone when their attention should be elsewhere.  Our children will need these skills whether they enter the workforce or go on to higher learning- and I believe that even at the elementary level, our students are ready for these lessons.

Team Lennon: Digital Natives

Me, "Daddy didn't answer his cell phone, kids. I am not sure when he'll be home but we can go to the pool once he is here."
Audrey, "Why don't you e-mail or ping him?"
Ping.
 My seven year old just used the term "ping"- and correctly. When I was seven, the word "ping" only came before "pong."  And if Daddy didn't answer the phone at work, too bad.  There was no backup plan for making contact.  But here is my seven year old armed with all sorts of digital stalking techniques for finding her father.

Truth be told, she comes about it honestly.  My husband, Wayne, and I have always meandered the fine line between technology nerds and technology hoarders.  An informal inventory of the apparati in the house includes our eldest, a desktop that was purchased over five years ago that is used pretty much as a footrest (the CPU).  We have four laptops, four smartphones, two iPads, a tablet, and a partridge in a pear tree- all less than two years old.  Our attic houses a disturbing graveyard of R.I.P. technology that ranges from cell phones the size of a small loaf of bread to laptops that weight about as much as my youngest child.  The heap of cords and chargers itself is just shy of the area requirements to become its own zipcode.  We hold onto them for reasons unknown- some uncomfortable feeling that if we get rid of it, the world will suddenly tailspin back to 1995 and we will be caught without our DVD/VCR combo machine.

But the world is not moving backward and as much as Wayne, and I throw ourselves into new devices and contraptions, we will never operate with the level of ease that our children do. My five year old son was watching Wayne undress his technology from his person and as he dropped the computer bag to the floor and unlatched the work and personal phones, my son thought nothing of grabbing the iPad, flipping it on, and reading a Tumblebook.

I remember the first time we let him use the iPad and I tried to give him a tutorial of my expertise (I had owned it for less than 24 hours).  Wyatt squirmed away from me grumbling something about, "Geesh. Just let me use it."  I was afraid he would be frustrated and perhaps take it out on the device, so I stuck close by to watch for any signs of ire.  We had a few apps on there for the kids, but I had not even had a chance to show him which ones so I was fairly confident I would be beckoned back to resume my lesson.  Instead, he tapped, pinched, explored, tried, swiped, and rotated his way into a functional understanding of how to play Angry Birds.  He even found the volume button, which I had not even thought to look for at that point (the grunty and chirpy noises from the game definitely caught me by surprise!).  I am fairly certain he does not remember life without the iPad.  He learned how to use the computer before he learned how to ride a bicycle, or even write.

I realized even in my classroom, where I was trying every tool possible to flip my classroom using My Big Campus, I was not the expert. If I ran into a roadblock, I needed to ask an expert; a digital native.  And now I have two of my own digital natives to show me the ropes at home.  Of course they run, take martial arts, and are avid swimmers- but their lives are infused with technology in just about every aspect I can think of.  Their school system uses My Big Campus to teach them skills like organizing files digitally, cyber-safety, and good digital citizenship that may not be second nature.  As for the will and desire to use technology to expand their world, that is hard-wired into them.  They are truly digital natives.