Growing Up Online

Watching "Growing Up Online" was a very scary but true message.  As shown in the videos, kids are connected almost all the time no matter where they are.  With this, you cannnot control what they do, who they talk to, or do the basics to protect your child from danger.  Technology is a double-edged sword.  It it a great tool to expand your horizons and learn to use new outlets to share ideas and gain more knowledge but at the same time, its a way to get into serious trouble and change who you are for the worst.  All of this changes how a student learns.  It shortens their attention spans, allows them to learn outside of class or learn something complete different while you're right in front of them.  Other downsides are bully.  Children now "need" technology to learn.  To me, it does not even seem possible that elementary kids now could ever sit in a college lecture someday for 2 hours at a time.  I sometimes struggle with this but know when I have to pay attention.  My fear is that they will never fully learn how to pay attention without some kind of screen or a program to do everything for them.  I still know that we need technology to teach our students and to help them remember what they are learning.  There are ways to prevent cheating with sparknotes and to have them focus in school.  The biggest problem to me is what happens outside of school.  Do parents regulate what their kids look at or who they talk to?  Do they even communicate with family members through speaking?  Do parents even care?  These are things that I cannot control.  Yes, I can do whatever I can in my classroom to help them learn but what effect the outside world has with technology is not controlled by myself.  In my classroom I will NOT allow social networks to be open.  I will not allow ipods or music devices to be out and I will never allow phones to be used for anything personal.  There are things that I will do.  I will encourage use of video, use of a SMARTBOARD, I will use technology to grasp and keep their attention.  At the same time, I will have students learn to use these technologies and expand their horizons.