Screen time
I find that I am spending more and more time looking at one screen or another. This bothers me but I don't know how to avoid it. Before I only used the computer for sending emails and searching online for teaching resources. But in the last two years the number of hours I spend in front of my computer and on my cell phone has grown exponentially. And this trend promises to continue as I learn about different ways that technology can enhance teaching and learning experiences. A part of me wants to say that teaching is an art, that good teaching comes with time and self-reflection. I should be able to teach effectively with at most a chalk board nothing else. I imagine myself standing in the sand on a desert island with nothing but shells, sticks and sand as my tools. So when I'm faced with the task of learning tech tools I do so with a certain dread that this will mean more time online and in front of the screen that I feel comfortable with. Perhaps that's because I'm a novice tech user and with time I'll learn how to control the amount of time I am immersed in the cyber world rather than interacting with the physical world around me. On the other hand, I know that I need to become digitally literate in order to figure out ways to more effectively engage my students.
I have the same thought at times. I consider myself to be older fashioned. I have a phone to call and text. I barely use my iPad for anything other than Amazon shopping or email checking. Thus, I always feel technologically behind the times because I don't have my face in a screen that much. Yet I feel way happier when I'm not on a device, reading a book or doing something that is not techy. I see how much screen time the younger generation has nowadays, and it is astounding. This amount of screen time most likely is a number one factor in why younger people have a difficult time socializing outside of the box of technology. Yet, that is the culture of today. If only we could find a happy medium in screen time and technology use.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI recently went back into the elementary school classroom, which started in spring 2019 as an exercise in sabbatical research, but quickly became a long lost love, as I was able to actually spend time teaching 3rd-5th grade students, something I had not done as a teacher of record for these grades since 2000 in gifted education and special education! To say that I was amazed at how these students utilized technology is to understate my wonderment. These kiddos showed me how to utilize technology, and I was formerly from one of the top 25 districts in the state (West Chester) and after completing additional graduate work and career voyages in Urban Education, fought to get back to my sordid roots in urban education with these kiddos. Needless to say, I found myself immersed in teaching through various modalities that I had used over the last dozen years or so in higher education. In one of the most high-needs pockets of the School District of Philadlephia (southwest), I found the link between my grade 3-5 scholars and my teaching pedagogy interwoven with technology, ipads, Iready, First in Math and Cool Math, Aimsweb Plus, Benchmark Plus, Kurzweil and more technology teaching tools in addition to assistive technology and Google Translate for my Els with special needs! To think that I can go on without digital literacy is now a fallacy, given to an erroneous assumption. The Art of Teaching is married to technology and digital litearcy! Its here! (I did and do now still utilize the chalkboard that sits beside the White Board - I liven it up with colored chalk of sorts)
I don't know that I ever really reflected on my own screen time as much as I do now that I am a parent. It is really eye-opening that my not even two year old knows how to scroll through YouTube to find the song that he wants on my phone or tablet. This really got me thinking, am I doing him any good or harm with this? Obviously he is growing up in a digital world but am I turning him into the "screen zombie" we have all been warned about? I think, like anything, it is all good in moderation. He needs to be exposed to the digital world, but also needs time with traditional, analog toys to develop that way as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like the app on my iPhone that gives me regular updates on screen time and where I spend most of my time. I can tell when I have had a busy week or have been off work, based on the amount of screen time. I feel immediate gratification when it tells me my screen time has decreased by 30%. Conversely, it's deflating to me when I see that it increases at times!
ReplyDelete