I have been in education for eight years, and in this short amount of time, I have seen tremendous changes; some for the better, some not so much. As a continuation to my previous post about video games, I am going to address technology in general in school. This is really not about behavior at all. I started teaching about two years before BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) was a common initiative. I was using T9 text on my flip phone, and I knew of only one person who had this weird gadget called an iPad. It was my friend Natalie Taylor, and I remember reading about it and looking at her picture of it on Facebook , a social media site of which I was still learning to navigate. Fast forward eight years where teachers are using social media to captivate their student’s attention and communicate more efficiently. The text parents videos and resources. They continue school from home when adverse weather hits, and they Facetime students who need a little extra help on their homework. I can’t even tap into the benefits technology has for the advancement of our students with disabilities. That is another whole post, heck it’s another whole blog.

At first, I was undecided on this subject, but with the passing of time, I am 100% behind BYOT and technology in schools. I have sat in countless meetings where the cons of technology in school have been dwelled on and beat to the ground.

Yes, our kids will send a few text messages throughout the day. The mom in me enjoys that because I can stay in touch with my child without bothering the teacher. If my daughter texts me during a bathroom break or while she is at her locker, and she still gets to class on time, what’s the problem to the educator?

Yes, our kids will check their Facebook when they are at school. We live in world where social media is a major player in our game. We just have to monitor, embrace it and use it to our advantage.

I had a nice conversation with my friend Erin the other day. We were talking about school and all of the changes since we were kids. At some point cursive was brought up, and I said that children don’t really learn that in school anymore. Erin was a bit disappointed and shocked by that. This isn’t the first time I have seen/heard that response. Here are the reality- things like cursive and textbooks are simply not relevant in this world we are living in. It would be like teaching a child to dial their parent’s number on a rotary phone, having them find a subtotal at the grocery store with an abacus or having them reference a hard back Encyclopedia for factual information. As technology advances and time goes by, so does educational content. I do believe our children need to know enough cursive to sign their name, but that’s about it. When was the last time that someone asked you to write anything in cursive? When was the last time that someone asked you to write (not type) anything in general? Exactly.

Sure, I get a little sad about the depletion of classic skills like cursive, but the other side of me is enthused that our children will be stronger critical thinkers and problem solvers. When I was in school, student’s educational status was based on the amount and acquisition of factual knowledge. We used to reference the smart kids as “walking Encyclopedias”. The good news for the average or below average kid is that factual knowledge really doesn’t matter anymore. You read that right. Factual knowledge does not matter anymore. Every student has the same access to general information. Google it, right? Average Anne, Below Average Bob and Gifted George could probably all find out when Abe Lincoln was born in exactly the same amount of time. Factual knowledge is no longer an indicator of academic achievement, but it does make for a heck of a Jeopardy contestant.

I was an average student. I worked VERY hard to maintain A’s and B’s. It didn’t come naturally to me. Because I went to school in the age of Oregon Trail, I did have to search for factual information in an encyclopedia. The way school and life are now, is about application of facts and knowledge. It’s about becoming a problem-solver and a critical-thinker. Students learn how to apply knowledge rather than just find and memorize. Our naturally smart kids, below average and average kids all start out on the same playing field. Teachers are teaching children how to use facts to revolutionize. Students are teaching teachers the same thing.

It is hard for me to think that my oldest daughter will likely never use a textbook in her education, and my youngest daughter may not even know what the term textbook means. She will Google it and find out.

I will teach my children to sign their names and write meaningful, handwritten letters rather than emails. I am thankful that those are the simple skills with which I can supplement their education at home. I am even more thankful that my child will go to school and learn to problem-solve, think outside the box and defend her reasoning to show true mastery of content.