When I get asked about the rough percentage of time that children spend on devices as part of our Oakleigh SS BYO Program, I find this difficult to answer. It also tends to bemuse me that this is the focus of the conversation rather than the most important aspect – what children are actually doing with technology and how it is benefitting their learning.
We are part of a world where ubiquitous access to technology through a range of devices is just part of what we do. As adults, we use technology when it is the best tool to enable us to get the job done in the most efficient way. The way each one of us works however, tends to be highly individualised and based on what we know, our personal preferences, what we have access to and what we have learnt from others.
Some of us use technology to enhance our creativity, some of us use it to improve our efficiency and output and some of us it to enable us to work in dynamic and collaborative ways. Others of us use it to extend the reach of our communication. Others of us use it to access information and perspectives that we would never have been able to without the technology.
My point here is that we don’t all work in exactly the same ways. For one of us, a task might have the potential to be enhanced through the use of technology whereas for another, another tool might be better suited. An important point here is that for us to know whether any tool is going to be suited to support us to get the job done, we need to have been exposed to its potential, functionality and to its efficient use.
Additionally, it is interesting to note that in 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their guidelines for screen time for children to take into account the increasingly complex world in which we live. Regarded by many as a gospel in terms of advice regarding healthy amounts of screen use, this updated set of recommendations by the Academy was quite pivotal in how it discussed the importance of families monitoring the TYPE of screen use and the opportunities screen use offered families to be involved in positive discussions and experiences.
https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-announces-new-recommendations-for-childrens-media-use.aspx
So, where does this place us in terms of the education of our children?
At Oakleigh SS, we use technology in dynamic ways from the very beginning of school. In teaching the Australian Curriculum and in addressing the specific needs of this generation of students – we do this in a number of ways:
- the use of ICT (as specified in the Australian Curriculum, General Capabilities) across the curriculum
- the teaching of the Digital Technologies Curriculum (Australian Curriculum)
- The use of devices to support the General Capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking and other areas of skills for 21st Century learning
In detailing activities involving the use of technology, we once again enter the realm of difficulty in trying to specify a percentage of time as learning often includes different modes and even though one of these modes might be technology, it might also however, include other modes as demonstrated in the below examples:
1. Guided research where the students are using the device to find information but then writing notes at the same time.
2. Publishing a piece of writing from their draft handwritten story or report in front of them.
3. Collating data from a science experient and using a spreadsheet app to analyse the data.
4. Creating a screen recording where the students are articulating their understanding of a mathematical process.5. Writing a story (hand writing) using a mind map representing the plot which is represented on their iPad in front of them.
6. Using digital feedback from their teacher, displayed on their iPad from a piece of writing submitted digitally and improving their writing using pencil and paper.
7. Using a browser to look for Creative Common pictures to demonstrate a story they have handwritten and then ‘mixing’ these images to go into a published version of this story.
8.Using a tables app to practise tables, graphing the results and analysing the trends to plan for further improvement.
9. Planning a coded program which will draw geometric shapes and then debugging to ensure success.
10. Using a device to access information, complete interactive quizzes to demonstrate understanding and then writing a report on what they had read.
So, a learning activity can include multiple modes and the use of a device might be just one of them. It may be the mode that is supporting another mode of operation and enabling learning that is dynamic, based on feedback and a result of other previous rich learning experiences. The learning activity could also be such be that the technology is providing the key means through which an outcome is attained. In these circumstances, it is especially exciting to realise that, without the use of the technology, this activity and the outcome would not have been possible. I refer here to the title of the blog – as this kind of activity is one which could be defined as transformational.
Additionally, within our program, by Yr 6, we aim to have the students selecting ICT as a tool if it is the right tool for the job for their own learning. So, we spend a lot of time in yr 4 and 5 building them up to this stage – where they can identify tools that suits their own learning style and if ICT is the right one – they may be using this but others may not. An example of this is artistic expression – some may like using an app or software but others may not.
So, the question should not be ‘how much’ or ‘what percentage’, but rather, ‘what does the learning look like’ or ‘how is the technology enabling them to work differently or more creativity or more critically or more collaboratively?”
Most interesting about discussions like this one are the potential they create for ongoing opportunities to discuss the type of learning that is most valued by a community of learners.