Sources in the order that I talk about them: Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation Rebecca Sweat’s article “Whatever happened to childhood?” Jacoba Urist’s “Hey parents, stop romanticizing your 1970s summer” Kate Fagen’s (ESPN) “Spl…
Continue readingCtrl + Alt + Teach: Finding Balance in the Digital Classroom
What initially felt like a second choice (topic selection) became an opportunity to examine technology beyond the popular narrative that more technology equals better learning. While researching and preparing for the debate, I discovered that the issue is far more … Continue reading
Continue readingAre Your Rose-Coloured Glasses Fogging Up?
Is Social Media Ruining Childhood? Congratulations to both sides! Debates are not easy, especially when you might be asked to defend a position you may or may not hold. You all presented interesting arguments and brought up excellent points to … Continue reading
Continue readingLikes, Filters, and Lost Childhoods?
As someone who was born in the 90s, I was a child when social media first became a thing. I grew up on MSN messenger, Myspace, and multiple chat forums I was 100% too young to be on. As a gay kid in the early 2000s in “small town Regina” […]
Continue readingTeaching Old Dogs New Techs
I’m going to let you all in on a little secret – I’m old. The number is not really important, but to put it into perspective, I’m over 50. Now, in the grand scheme of things, I know that that’s not really that old. I mean, the Egyptian pyramids, those are old. But in the world of tech, I’m about as ancient as those pyramids. See, I remember school when cutting edge meant you had a single computer lab filled…
Continue readingSocial Media: A Digital Scapegoat?
Are we giving social media too much agency in framing it as a thief of childhood? Have you ever been so excited for something that you don’t even consider the potential drawbacks of what you are excited for? It is my belief that this is what happened with society and social media. It was at the kitchen table in my childhood home where I convinced my mom to let me commit my first act of identity fraud and lie about…
Continue readingMore Tabs, More Learning? Protecting the Sacred Space of the Classroom
In my first EC&I 830 post, I confessed that my teaching life is largely held together by an unreasonable number of browser tabs. In other words, move over Red Green and your duct tape, here’s Mr. Sharp and his brower tabs! *That reference might be too old for some of my classmates, which also makesContinue reading “More Tabs, More Learning? Protecting the Sacred Space of the Classroom”
Continue readingAm I Cranky or Cautious?
Our first debate topic regarding whether technology enhances learning or not, has me questioning my age. My instinctive response was, “No, tech is absolutely ruining EVERYTHING and not necessary”. However, after actually listening to both sides of th…
Continue readingFrom Chalkboards to Digital Classrooms: The Changing Face of Learning
Before this debate, I believed that technology had an important role to play in education, but the discussion helped me think more deeply about how and why technology enhances learning. The debate was not simply about whether technology belongs in classrooms; rather, it raised a more important question: how can educators use technology purposefully to […]
Continue readingTechnology is the Spice of Life (Or at least Education!)
As Brooke stated in our opening statement, technology enhances learning, similar to how spices enhance food. Technology is not necessary for learning, learning has been happening far longer than modern technology, but technology can make that learning faster, more engaging, more individualized, and prepare students for a modern world. Technology […]
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