How do I foster a healthy relationship between high schooler and technology, such that it improves empathy and interpersonal skills and does not negatively impact these skills? Over the last month, I have questioned, researched, surveyed and brainstormed how to cultivate a positive relationship between technology and social skills. The 21st Century has brought many technological advances and has the power to impact our students in many ways. Our students are fully aware that technology can destroy humanity or improve it (Garcia, Stamatis & Kelly, 2018). As a teacher, it is important to understand that technology can bring students together, it does not have to divide.
First, I began to focus in on how technology can positively impact social skills and how to cultivate this relationship in the classroom. Higgins and BuShell (2018) shared, "Students and teachers are connected now more than ever, and if that connection is used for the purpose of teaching and learning, the one-to-one technology environment can be a powerful place." Fox-Turnbull (2010) discusses using technology in the classroom has shown to equip students with chances to collaborate with their peers. This creates high levels of engagement, empowerment and increases the opportunities for students to take ownership of their own education. “This collaborative approach with children taking ownership of their learning and technological outcomes clearly situates quality technology education programmes within socially constructed or constructivist learning" (Fox-Turnbull, p.25, 2010). This shows that technology can go hand in hand with social constructs or interacting with others.
To learn more about the experiences of other teachers with technology and its relationship with social skills I created and shared a 10 question survey with my professional learning network (PLN). After analyzing my survey results I found that a few of my questions responses stood out! The survey received responses from 32 secondary level teachers (out of 49 teachers total) and 94% of the secondary teachers said technology can be useful in the classroom. Out of the 32 secondary level teachers, 16% said that their students feel most comfortable socializing face to face and 78% said both face to face and cell phone. The word clouds below represent the answers of how technology hinders (thumbs down) and facilitate (thumbs up) social skills.
I began to try to imagine a potential solution to this wicked problem. I followed Warren Berger’s (2016) innovative questioning process to see what the next step would be for me. My aha moment came when I began to understand and connect to vujade or the idea of looking at something that is familiar to you with fresh eyes and fresh perspective. I have really tried to look at everything, but my wicked problem in particular with a fresh perspective. Berger talks about stepping back, challenging assumptions to gain a deeper understanding of the problem in front of you. I began to think about how technology does not have to negatively impact social skills if it is utilized in a knowledgeable way and understood holistically.
First I began to think about a solution for teachers and I believe it involves a professional development on technology. Where teachers can learn how to incorporate technology use with established/ universal expectations and understanding. Although, I realized there are two pieces of the puzzle that are missing from this wicked problem who are equally involved. So, I decided to create two surveys, one for parents and one for high school students. I can then start to connect how students are interacting with technology at home with how they are interacting with technology at school. I need to understand their perspectives to better understand holistically how to build social skills and foster the relationship between high school student and technology in the classroom. I created this multi-modal presentation using Adobe Spark to discuss my wicked problem and share my findings. A multi-modal presentation allows for the information to be taken in in a variety of ways! So, as I was creating, I tried to use multiple ways to share my information by using visuals, video, audio, and text. Although there is still more to be discovered before another attempt to solve this wicked problem, I am excited to share my findings with my school and my professional learning network.
Resources:
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York: Bloomsbury
Fox-Turnbull, W. (2010). The role of conversation in technology education. Design and Technology Education, 15(1), 24-30. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/742871897?accountid=12598
Garcia, A., Stamatis, K., & Kelly, M. (2018). Invisible potential: The social contexts of technology in three 9th-grade ELA classrooms. Research in the Teaching of English, 52(4), 404-426. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/2049976725?accountid=12598
Higgins, K., & BuShell, S. (2018). The effects on the student-teacher relationship in a one-to-one technology classroom. Education and Information Technologies, 23(3), 1069-1089. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s10639-017-9648-4
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