This week has had me thinking about whether or not teenagers today would consider themselves as part of the “two lives” or the “one life” perspective as technology users.
As a high school teacher, I work with teenagers on a daily basis. This doesn’t mean I understand them at all times, but I try. Trying means keeping up with technology which often means asking my students to explain things to me. I feel the need to state, I’m not old but there is a generation gap between my students and myself, which means I’m a dinosaur in their eyes. Fortunately, I like technology and I try to stay on top of it, but if I need an expert on a recent trend, well my students are the best experts around.
As an educator and someone whose goals in teaching focus around my students developing into responsible citizens who can handle the world beyond high school, I’d like to say that teenagers are in the category of “one life”. This in my mind would mean that whether at school or at home students would use technology the same way. However, I think the reality is that schools by filtering and blocking certain content (think social media and group chats) create a forced “two lives” perspective. Many of my students enjoy group chats and social media outside of school. Several have expressed the need to go home to watch Youtube videos for fun, and Facebook keeps many of my students busy in their personal lives.
I support the school’s decision to limit access to these sites because class time should be spent learning; however, I do wonder if I was given the ability to teach class using social media or group chats as an acceptable platform if that would encourage students to not only learn how to use the media but develop more of an understanding of what constitutes acceptable use of them.
During a break in classes today, I asked a group of students what they thought about the idea of “two lives” or “one life”. The students thought about it and I thought the most telling answer was, “Well, Ms. H technology is technology. If you want a way to talk to your girlfriend, you are going to find a way to do it. I go to the bathroom to text her if I need to.” This was from a student whose girlfriend was also in the same class.
In conclusion, I think most of this discussion boils down to acceptable use depending on social situations. If a person, whether an adult or a teenager, is looking to find “bad” stuff online, they can find it if the desire is great enough. But, I think this is true for most things in life. Many of my students see technology as something that is just there and has always been there, so for many of them learning to use technology is just something they do because it is part of life.
As a high school teacher, I work with teenagers on a daily basis. This doesn’t mean I understand them at all times, but I try. Trying means keeping up with technology which often means asking my students to explain things to me. I feel the need to state, I’m not old but there is a generation gap between my students and myself, which means I’m a dinosaur in their eyes. Fortunately, I like technology and I try to stay on top of it, but if I need an expert on a recent trend, well my students are the best experts around.
As an educator and someone whose goals in teaching focus around my students developing into responsible citizens who can handle the world beyond high school, I’d like to say that teenagers are in the category of “one life”. This in my mind would mean that whether at school or at home students would use technology the same way. However, I think the reality is that schools by filtering and blocking certain content (think social media and group chats) create a forced “two lives” perspective. Many of my students enjoy group chats and social media outside of school. Several have expressed the need to go home to watch Youtube videos for fun, and Facebook keeps many of my students busy in their personal lives.
I support the school’s decision to limit access to these sites because class time should be spent learning; however, I do wonder if I was given the ability to teach class using social media or group chats as an acceptable platform if that would encourage students to not only learn how to use the media but develop more of an understanding of what constitutes acceptable use of them.
During a break in classes today, I asked a group of students what they thought about the idea of “two lives” or “one life”. The students thought about it and I thought the most telling answer was, “Well, Ms. H technology is technology. If you want a way to talk to your girlfriend, you are going to find a way to do it. I go to the bathroom to text her if I need to.” This was from a student whose girlfriend was also in the same class.
In conclusion, I think most of this discussion boils down to acceptable use depending on social situations. If a person, whether an adult or a teenager, is looking to find “bad” stuff online, they can find it if the desire is great enough. But, I think this is true for most things in life. Many of my students see technology as something that is just there and has always been there, so for many of them learning to use technology is just something they do because it is part of life.