0:02 I want to start off with the question
0:04 technology in the classroom is it better
0:08 or worse for our students today and I
0:10 want to kind of get your guys insight so
0:12 let's see it thumbs up if you think
0:14 technology in the classroom is more
0:16 beneficial to students all right now
0:20 give me a thumbs down if you think
0:21 technology in the classroom is more
0:23 harmful to students okay
0:26 good to get you guys's insights listen
0:29 little secret I must admit I've been
0:31 teaching middle school for five years
0:33 now and I have no idea whether
0:36 technology in the classroom is the best
0:38 thing in the world or the worst so
0:40 example if I'm having students use
0:44 cellphones to do some research I'm
0:46 always impressed when I see the kid
0:48 who's got multiple tabs open they're
0:50 cross-referencing sources and citing
0:53 information all at the same time and I
0:54 think wow technology in the classroom
0:57 what a valuable tool but then you see
1:00 the kid who's streaming Netflix or
1:02 literally doing a tick-tock mid class
1:04 and I think wow technology in the
1:06 classroom what a needless distraction
1:08 this is the problem right if my job as
1:11 an educator is to do what's best for my
1:13 students in terms of technology I don't
1:16 know what's best for my students so I
1:18 did what everyone what the question does
1:20 I googled it right
1:22 long story short googling did not go
1:25 well kind of muddied the waters turns
1:27 out if you google technology in
1:29 education you're gonna find hundreds of
1:32 articles that can convincingly argue
1:34 both sides from every angle so
1:36 admittedly no help there
1:38 but the key takeaway is this topics
1:41 debatable right and if it's debatable
1:45 despite the countless and noble elements
1:48 and pissing missing pieces to the puzzle
1:50 there are three things that we know to
1:52 be true about technology and regards our
1:55 students number one we know that
1:58 technology can be dangerous right
2:00 schools face things like cyber bullying
2:02 it can bring problems out of the
2:04 classroom into the classroom whether it
2:07 be academic dishonesty right it can
2:09 technology can make it easier to cheat
2:12 that's true and
2:13 recent evidence suggests that technology
2:16 can even mimic symptoms of addiction
2:18 which is concerning for a lot of reasons
2:21 but either way we know that technology
2:24 is a minefield and we got to be careful
2:25 the second thing we know technology can
2:28 be infinitely valuable it can advance
2:31 student learning in a way that no
2:32 teacher or school could ever replicate
2:33 it can act as a vast reservoir of
2:36 information that not only can turn any
2:40 expert into a layman or any layman into
2:43 an expert but can do so with a few short
2:45 flips of the thumb right so number two
2:49 we know technology can be infinitely
2:51 beneficial so if you keeping score at
2:54 home we are tied up it's one to one we
2:57 know technology is good we know
2:59 technology is bad and admittedly we're
3:02 no closer to answering our question but
3:04 the third point that we know to be true
3:07 about technology helps clear it up a
3:09 little bit third thing that we know is
3:11 that technology isn't slowing down in
3:13 fact it's speeding up it's safe to say
3:16 that technology isn't a fad like bottle
3:19 flipping doesn't have an expiration date
3:21 it's not going anywhere and if that's
3:23 the case and you're a student in 2019
3:27 you were born sometime after the year
3:29 2000 that makes 100 percent of our
3:32 student body card-carrying members of
3:34 Generation Z now Generation Z is most
3:38 commonly referred to as digital natives
3:40 and this term says it all because
3:43 they're defining quality is the fact
3:46 that they've never experienced the world
3:47 without the internet without cell phones
3:50 without complete access to the entire
3:52 world and if that's the case then that
3:56 means that to our students technology is
3:59 less of a device that they possess and
4:01 more of an environment that they inhabit
4:04 right so hypothetically if school is
4:09 experiencing cyber bullying issues let's
4:12 say they may decide to ban technology
4:15 because this the problem is clear
4:18 technology has a negative impact on
4:20 student learning and the solution is
4:22 simple no technology means no problems
4:25 but this solutions only
4:27 temporary when you consider eventually
4:31 that bells gonna rain right and at that
4:34 point students are gonna leave the
4:35 classroom they're gonna open their
4:37 locker they're gonna take out their
4:39 phones and they're gonna exit that
4:41 safety bubble at that point students are
4:43 gonna find themselves in a familiar
4:45 digital environment with the same risks
4:47 and dangers but this time maybe
4:49 inexperienced and underprepared so when
4:53 we re-examine the question is technology
4:55 more beneficial or harmful to our
4:57 students we realize that it's the wrong
4:59 question to ask because it doesn't
5:01 matter if technology is more beneficial
5:04 or harmful to our students when we
5:07 remember two things number one as
5:09 schools and educators our
5:11 responsibilities to do what's best for
5:13 our students and our students have a
5:15 device in their pocket that is both
5:17 infinitely valuable and infinitely
5:19 dangerous that's why it becomes clear
5:21 that utilizing technology in the
5:23 classroom is less of a choice and more
5:27 of a responsibility right because as
5:29 educators were men's horse and that
5:32 means it's our obligation to prepare
5:35 students for the challenges of being
5:37 digital natives as teachers we have
5:40 students practice skills all the time
5:42 but navigating digital waters takes
5:44 practice too and that's why it's our
5:46 responsibility to be able to provide
5:48 students with opportunities to develop
5:50 their digital literacy skills and become
5:52 lifelong independent learners thank you
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