Listening to Jesse Miller’s thoughts about the use of technology in the classroom had me conflicted. On the one hand, having tech be a source of creativity and access to information can be valuable, especially for inquiry-based projects. The reality is that students will continue to use tech for most professions after finishing grade school, so gaining insight about the best ways to use the information on the internet and applying it is important. The strict cell phone use ban from bell to bell that the BC government announced seems like a step too far. However, I also believe that having no restrictions is perhaps even more detrimental to students’ learning.

When my partner, Sarah, went to observe Royal Bay High School during L2P, she was shocked by the amount of kids who were on their phones during class time. Not only that, some students had their airpods in and were listening to music DURING INSTRUCTION. As Jesse said, kids have always been able to distract themselves in class with things other than cell phones, but to me this is different. Doodling on a piece of paper has been shown to have some benefits when processing information. It does not provide the same level of distraction as content on the internet can provide. Being able to consume this content, which is often created to be addictive, is not tangential to learning. Instead, I believe it would be advantageous to allow to use of devices when applicable to the classroom activity. For example, if students need to research information about a topic for an inquiry project, they could use devices provided by the instructor or their cell phones. This would restrict their usage to the appropriate time and place. In the end, effective teacher instruction & interaction makes the difference:

Accessed on Feb 4, 2024 on the TEDxTalks Youtube Page

It did seem to me that Jesse was approaching this topic mostly from a high school perspective. Considering our cohort will mostly be teaching elementary students, I think we should be even more careful with tech access. Too much screen time can cause more behavioural problems for younger children. There are so many fun, engaging ways to explore all of the subject areas that do not involve an emphasis on technology, especially for younger kids. I’m curious to know other’s thoughts on this…how much would you rely on technology in your classroom?