Our topic of conversation in class a few weeks ago was about digital literacy in schools. This topic is increasingly relevant to educators because technology is always growing, and we need to know how to address and include it in our classrooms. Technology and its use in schools is a topic of conversation that is always coming up, but it never has a concrete solution. What we consider new technology now, will seem ancient in a few years when there are new, emerging technologies. Our students are shaped by what is going on in the world around us, so in order to create safe and engaging class environments, we need to teach our students how to work responsibly with technology.

Recently in British Columbia, new codes of conduct have been implemented to restrict students’ use of personal digital devices in schools. Linked here is an article from CBC titled “B.C. districts to restrict cellphones during 2024-25 school year” that dicusses the new changes, how the rules will be enforced, and reactions from administrators and teaching staff. The general reason behind this change is that the government hopes to reduce distractions in schools, but there are some downsides to this ban. Our guest speaker from class suggested that banning phones in the classroom could put certain students into a situation of crisis, which prevents them from being ready to learn.

The video below discusses some perspectives on why phones should be banned in schools as well as student and parent perspectives on why they are a useful tool and important for student safety.

Our guest speaker suggested a way to discourage the use of personal devices in the classroom without fully excluding them: To have a 2 minute phone break in an 80 minute instructional block. It allows students to have a break and check their phones for two minutes before resuming a lesson, but if one student uses their phone when they are not supposed to, the whole class will lose out on that privilege.

Another thing to consider is that children learn their habits from their parents. If the adults in a child’s life are always cheking their phone or scrolling on social media, kids will think that is appropriate and healthy behaviour. So if we want young kids to learn to have healthy separation from their devices, we have to model that behaviour for them.

While the issue of banning personal devices in schools is not very relevant to teaching primary grades, internet safety is very important for keeping kids safe. It’s important to teach kids to use the internet safely for technologies they may use in the classroom, but also for technologies they may be using at home. Communicating with strangers is a big concern as well as accessing content that is inappropriate for certain age levels.

I was curious about how to properly introduce internet safety to young students, so I found a great video that students can watch that provides some simple rules and guidelines for being safe online. I like this video because it uses fun animations and examples that younger kids could understand.

While the use of technology in the classroom can seem daunting, there are so many useful tools that can benefit student learning. This is something that I have had to reflect on because I can often be hesitant to use technology. But, as previously mentioned, technology will continue to evolve and influence new generations of students. We need to learn to work with technology in order to teach our students to use it safely for learning.

— Sofia 🎀