As teachers, we see first hand how technology is influencing and impacting today’s youth. One of the quotes that really stuck out to me from this book is to, “beware of the media equivalent of secondhand smoke; the impact of how you use media in your children’s presence.” (p. 48). You go out to a restaurant and you see a family out to dinner, both parents are on their phones and kids are either sitting there or also on devices. This is what our world has come to...tech addicts! Parents are obsessed with their devices, and now their children are too...apple->tree.
I enjoyed that this book broke down the idea of being Net Smart into different literacies. At first I was confused with the term literacy because I automatically thought, reading. But literacies in this sense are areas for knowledge. Rhenigold discusses crap detection, participatory culture, collaboration and cooperation, and network smarts. However, my favorite literacy is definitely attention. It is so important to pay attention to where our attention is being focused. Over the past few years, thinking about your thinking has become more popular. In schools, teachers are beginning to use mindfulness activities to get students to become more aware of where their attention is being focused. This is the first step in becoming net smart. If we aren’t paying attention to our attention, we can’t give full attention to what we should be paying attention to.
Hello Jordyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that parents and students are addicted to their phones. At our school we have a tech-free indoor recess (when we aren't able to go outside due to weather conditions) and at first the students were shocked and didn't know what they were going to do without going on their computers to play games during this time. Now that we have implemented this for awhile students build with legos, play games, play school, and find creative ways to fill their recess time. Recently, I taught my students to play pick up sticks and they had a great time. Maybe this cell phone obsession/addiction is creating children who are more needy and crave any kind of attention they can get.
Yes, focusing on our own attention is one way to work on giving full attention to tasks and others. Students in my classroom have a lot of issues paying attention to simple directions and need many reminders to focus in on lessons. After I have taught a lesson there are always five or more students asking, What are we supposed to do? My response is to ask one of your classmates and if they don't know come back and I will give you some clues what we just discussed.
I have really been trying to think about my attention to things and how easy it is to let my mind wander. I listen to books on my way to work and when I have a lot going on it is easy for me to start thinking about many others things when parts of the book are not holding my attention OR is it I am not paying attention because I find it less interesting? I really think that is such a great skill to work on but it will be something that will be a life long process. So how easy is it for our students to lack attention to something they do not find as interesting? All of the literacies you listed are a life long endeavor! But I believe we are in a good position to lay some foundations and help students be aware. Also like Betsy mentioned giving situated opportunities to have more balanced tech lives. I love using technology but I feel that after reading our books through this course an our discussions that I need to model a more balanced diet. I too find it sad to see very little ones (under 2) watching phones - it is everywhere and while I understand it helps with keeping them quiet we are seeing the long term effects all around us with attention and addiction.
ReplyDeleteMindfulness is a great term. Most students at my school are in PD classes where they really work hard on learning how to be mindful. Now we just need to make sure these mindful lessons incorporate the technology piece and that they don't just tune out of being mindful when they are on a screen.
ReplyDeleteJordyn I like that you brought up the term "literacies". I too was confused for a while until there was more explanation. I think this a term that we need to see more in the teacher discussions that we have at PD's. "Math literacy" I think is a term being used (I don't teach math, but I think I've heard it). In the same respect digital literacy and others I think need to make it into the mainstream discussions as to how they are addressed and incorporated into the classroom. I know that I'm just now learning to use the term more broadly than in JUST reading.
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