Managing Digital Tools for High School Students in Todays Classrooms
William Jackson, MAT, CEO of MetaverseWP & My Quest To Teach
The emergence of tools, platforms, apps, websites,
and new tech like AI, VR, Metaverse. Adapting to
the constant changes in hardware and software
are challenges for high school students in the
digital classrooms of today. Even if schools are
still applying low-tech alternatives because of
financial budgets, student skill levels, faculty
and staff technology levels, application and
understanding.
It is important to have the available tools that
students need to be supported and mentored.
As a teacher of over 30 years teaching
STEAM+M, AI, VR, Metaverse in public and
higher education and remotely with schools in
Africa, Central and South America the exponential
growth of technological availabilities cannot
be ignored. The purchase of the right laptop,
tablet, digital devices and even the availability
of desktop computers need to be considered.
Each student is an individual in the classroom
and at home. Students process information
differently and parents need to consider even
the smallest modifications to help their children
prepare for a new academic year. Students with
learning challenges and modified learning needs,
their needs should be considered, and
modifications made for them.
Parents should consider the physical, emotional,
and mental abilities of their children, this may
sound silly, but a child may be intimidated by
tech, excited about tech or complacent about
tech. Each child is different, consider their
vision, do they need glasses or contacts to see
screens of different sizes and resolutions?
How are their hearing abilities? Will they need
speakers or headphones and if using headphones
how loud should your children have the levels?
There are many parents wondering why when
they are speaking to their children the reactions
are like speaking to a deaf or hard of hearing person.
Parents need to monitor the sound levels which
could lead to early hearing loss and challenges.
Students are not experts in every application, do
they need training in now to use educational and
productivity software? Parents create a potentially
challenging situation if they automatically expect
their children to know how to use M.S. Office,
Google Tools and Apple Products outside of gaming
and entertainment.
The summer is a time to veggie out on music, gaming,
social media, and other activities that are learned
from family and friends, even using YouTube, and
LinkedIn, not to mention TikTok videos that
demonstrate a popular way to learn quickly. Parents
need to be sure that current tech can help their children
and not be a challenge because of incompatibility of
software and hardware. Computers now will update
the Operating Systems but can the CPU or Brain
process that information in an acceptable time.
In my classroom at the beginning of the school year I
always had an introduction of what projects, applications,
websites, audio-video and interactive hands-on projects
that were going to be done. Even the projects that
involved The Arts, Design and Modeling, the use of video
on YouTube, building in Mine Craft, and Roblox and the
remote conferences and trainings that I integrated in
the classroom for the year.
I always asked students their ideas and opinions of the
latest tools they knew about so that I can learn from
them as well. I picked times where the students were
the trainers to build a “Train the Trainer” model of learning.
These conversations are important because there
is more learning with technology than the use of
tech for just texting and music enjoyment. Students
need to be able to process in their minds what is
asked and even demanded of them in the 180 days
of learning, engagement, activities, exploration and
research. Parents should learn if they do not already
know what their children’s limits are when applying
reading assignments, math projects, book report
research and other ways learning will be conducted.
Technology is a great tool, but common sense is needed
if the students are on a reading and math level. Strategies
must be put in place to help the student to be successful
and there is growth. If students are frustrated, confused,
feels unsupported they will lash out or disengage from learning.
Tech is not going anywhere and will increasingly be put in
place as a tool to educate, empower, guide, collaborate and
of course, test, test, test, assess, measure and evaluate.
In the not to distant future just as was shown during the 1970’s
television show “Star Trek” there will be no teachers only
computers and robots to guide learning.
The danger is that parents sometimes assume that since their children are “experts” with their phones that transitions to being “experts” in an academic and learning environment. This cannot be further from the truth, in today’s world as students matriculate through their learning stages and grades, they are given multiple tasks that require many skills that are still developing. Prioritizing what is important, time management, development of physical skills, proper nutrition, screen time and even disconnecting from technology to have family time is valuable.
Parents be observant of your children because the load of academic engagement, study, collaboration, research, reading, comprehension
and the testing that will come, can be overwhelming. There needs to be planned breaks so children can disconnect from tech and reconnect
with living as humans and spend time playing to provide mental health breaks.
Technology can be the great equalizer in learning, but it is not a babysitter, surrogate parent, a tool to fix all challenges in learning and comprehension and with AI it should not substitute parental love and parenting skills that parents must apply every day. More to come as the school year progresses and technology is applied.
William Jackson, MAT & CEO
MetaverseWP & My Quest To Teach
https://metaversewp.com/ & https://myquesttoteach.com/
#metaversewp #myquesttoteach #digitaltools #technologyintheclassroom
#williamjackson #educatorslessons
