What is Screen Schooled about?

Screen Schooled is written by Joe Clement and Matt Miles.  The subtitle of the book is Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber.  According to the authors, too much screen time at home and in the classroom has resulted in students who lack focus, critical-thinking skills, and meaningful social engagement.  Education is trying to keep up with the digital world as districts are going toward a 1:1 ratio of students and devices. On a mission to educate and empower parents, they give examples of how screen saturation at home and school has created a wide range of cognitive and social deficits in our young people.

Is technology making our kids smarter or dumber?

Clement and Miles address many issues with technology.  As teachers, they do describe how the iGen kids are obsessed with their phones and are constantly on social media in the classroom instead of focusing on work.  They cite extensive research on the negative effects of screen-time on young people’s brains. Then they explain that the concept of Ed tech improving student learning is increasingly looking like a lot of hype.  And that it is undermining and not supporting the aims of high quality education. They also recognize that the push to infuse technology into schools is a huge opportunity for making money and companies are cashing in.  

These issues are valid but I do not see them as exclusively issues in education.  These issues are under a much bigger umbrella, that is our society. And education is a sub-category of our society, therefore, the issues are there.  These issues are not exclusive to our education system, they are everywhere.
When we address technology in the classroom, the purpose is for technology to be one of the tools used to get to high quality education.  Just infusing technology is not going to work. It’s the difference between using a word processing program instead of writing and essay with paper and pencil and collaborating to solve an authentic problem instead of taking a test.  Technology is a tool to get to deeper learning. Educators need to design the learning to infuse technology. The goal is not using technology, it is collaborating, creating, contributing, communicating and critical thinking.

All the issues that Clement and Miles are ethical issues.  That is separate than technology overuse is making our kids dumber.  No matter what, and from the beginning of time, teaching our kids to be good citizens has been around.  That is why teaching good digital citizenship is so important. Overuse of anything is detrimental so maybe we need to apply the saying, “moderation is the key” to technology, as well.  Why should it be different?

Reading Screen Schooled did open my eyes to seeing how technology is negatively effecting the secondary school environment.  But I don’t agree that they are arguing the right point. I am in an elementary school that has high technology use. We are almost a 1:1 environment if you count our BYOT.  The students are using technology for everything but it is effective use. That is a result of teachers designing the learning with the 5C’s, authentic activities, and driving questions in mind.  We also have a huge emphasis on Digital Citizenship because of our high technology use. We cannot dismiss technology from education. It is part of the world therefore, it needs to be part of education.

Who am I?

Welcome to Schooled!  For the purpose of this blog, I am an educator, a student, and a parent.  I carry many other titles but these 3 roles will help me pick through the DDLS principles and figure out if technology overuse is making our kids dumber.  As an educator, I can pull experiences from my practice as examples of screen use in school to evaluate and synthesize an opinion.  As a student, the 6 Principles of my graduate program can be used as a framework to make a determination.  They are Teachers as Designers, The Ends Principle, The Knowledge Principle, The Learning Principle, The Means Principle, and Students as Designers. And finally, my role as a parent, gives me the most authentic reason to figure this all out.  I have a lot at stake, the well being of my 2 sons.

In the next few weeks, I will read Screen Schooled by Joe Clement and Matt Miles.  They are two veteran teachers who expose how technology overuse is making our kids dumber.  I am interested to see what they say.  At this point, before reading the book, I am skeptical and take a stance that technology in school is beneficial.  I see it first hand everyday at my school.  This might sound like a cliche but the students at my school are developing the 5 C's to be 21st Century Learners.  They are creating, critical thinking, collaborating, communicating, and building community.  Let's see if I change my mind after I read this book.