Our lives are increasingly digital, but how adults and young people view the digital world is very different. Last week I had the opportunity to hear from Amanda Third (UWS) speak about being young and living in a digital world, from the lens of cyber psychology.
Amanda Third opened her talk with a quote from Douglas Adams (2002),
“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
This set the tone for understanding for how people view technology and led to several suggestions as highlighted in her research. Third’s research suggests that we need to focus on growing an understanding of the benefits of the digital world and not focus on terrible risks. She said that by focusing on risk and harm, we are not doing our children justice, as this leads to a failure of imagination as young people aren’t exposed to what is possible digitally. Our students will need a deep understanding of the digital world to solve problems now and in the future. They need to be prepared for their digital futures and need space to dream up new and positive uses of digital technologies, which I am excited to say happens regularly in our K-6 classes. Most recently we have been exploring Google Tour creator to simulate VR experiences and creating a variety of digital solutions to problems we see in our world, within and beyond the curriculum.
Third suggests we move towards a rights based approach that focuses on provision, protection and participation and called for a different dialogue to explore the benefits of the digital world. She said that a number of studies had shown that kids don’t go into a moral vacuum when they go online, and that we should focus on developing students with a strong moral compass so they can transfer this to their digital life. Third also called for flexible responses to challenges, that it is not recommended for all schools to ban phones, as each school is different. By navigating some risk, our students build resilience which can lead to teachable moments and benefits. She also highlighted that what children worry about is very different to what parents worry about online, and that our Digital Citizenship education needs to reflect this. This included: “that nobody will respond or comment on my post”, “about others oversharing information about me”, “about running out of credit” and “about wasting my time”.
We want our students to be safe and independent learners who explore advanced digital practices. Digital technologies have much to offer the world’s young people. Digital Technologies are embedded in our students learning experiences at Emanuel. I look forward to sharing some of these throughout the year, and at our annual Innovation Festival in Term 4.
Read more about Amanda Third’s work at UWS: www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1451641/10_Digital_technologies_and_the_Young.pdf
Some other ways you can support your kids development of positive uses of Digital Technology:
Published in Ma Nishma, 29 March, 2019