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Using technology wisely benefits students
By Ty Smeins |
March 27, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT would be overstating the obvious to say that technology, especially the Internet, has changed the face of education. Schools can no longer ignore the fact that technology is one of the largest influences on our modern lives. The world of education has had to come to terms with this and, in fact, embrace it.
In the majority of college preparatory schools, with the means and foresight, technology has been implemented in schools with one-to-one laptop or iPad programs. Shanghai schools are no different. At Shanghai Community International School, all students in Grade 6 through 12 are issued a MacBook Pro to use throughout the school year. This allows students to access a great many resources of information. One asset is social media.
Social media, once a great acclaim of ingenuity, has more recently been the recipient of bad publicity. Greater understanding of cyber bullying, distractive multitasking and the long-term effects of digital footprints, as well as poor role modeling of social media by pop culture icons have caused schools to tend to shy away from the usage of Facebook, Twitter and other popular mediums for online communication as an educational resource.
Where these concerns are justified, it is not realistic for schools to pretend that social media doesn?t play a major role in our students? lives. In fact, it is more important to address the pros and cons head on and hold open and honest conversations with students.
At SCIS, all aspects of appropriate and safe digital media usage are threaded into the core curriculum so students can more easily see how standards and ethics of an online presence are not isolated to only when at school. Students learn how to navigate safely in the digital world and are introduced to the idea of intellectual property and deciphering appropriate sources of information. It is important that schools address 21st century technology skills and use it to prepare students for future technology.
(Ty Smeins is Upper School vice principal of Shanghai Community International School)
In the majority of college preparatory schools, with the means and foresight, technology has been implemented in schools with one-to-one laptop or iPad programs. Shanghai schools are no different. At Shanghai Community International School, all students in Grade 6 through 12 are issued a MacBook Pro to use throughout the school year. This allows students to access a great many resources of information. One asset is social media.
Social media, once a great acclaim of ingenuity, has more recently been the recipient of bad publicity. Greater understanding of cyber bullying, distractive multitasking and the long-term effects of digital footprints, as well as poor role modeling of social media by pop culture icons have caused schools to tend to shy away from the usage of Facebook, Twitter and other popular mediums for online communication as an educational resource.
Where these concerns are justified, it is not realistic for schools to pretend that social media doesn?t play a major role in our students? lives. In fact, it is more important to address the pros and cons head on and hold open and honest conversations with students.
At SCIS, all aspects of appropriate and safe digital media usage are threaded into the core curriculum so students can more easily see how standards and ethics of an online presence are not isolated to only when at school. Students learn how to navigate safely in the digital world and are introduced to the idea of intellectual property and deciphering appropriate sources of information. It is important that schools address 21st century technology skills and use it to prepare students for future technology.
(Ty Smeins is Upper School vice principal of Shanghai Community International School)
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