So I have been thinking about hosting a "tech blackout" or "unplugged" day in the HS for some time now. For some, hearing the Technology Coach & Coordinator talking about not using any technology for a day at school seems out of place, strange, or warped. Our current generation of teenagers that I see every day at school are very tech savvy, engaged and wired all of the time. My school is awash with iPhones, iPods, tablets of varying lineage and laptops galore. As a 1:1 laptop school, I expect there to be an abundance of technology in the students hands, everyday. But as a technology department, we have never prescribed that technology/laptops need to be used all of the time, 24/7. Technology should be used only where and when appropriate, where it enhances teaching and learning.
The problem that I see in our hallways, classrooms and around campus is our students' preoccupation with their technology - at all times of the day. We have students who feel the urge to be connected so strongly, that they have turned on their mobile notifications for their favourite social networking sites, so they receive a constant stream of buzzing text messages of updates from their thousands of "friends". Being an international school, most of these "digital friends" are spread around the world - this must mean that the buzzing updates go on day and night. How is this level of connectedness healthy or happy? Do any of us really need to be online and networked all of the time?
Mindfulness is a new buzzword that is floating around our school right now. In the spirit of being more mindful, and connecting to the cyber-citizenry section of the ISTE NETS-S standards (which we have adopted for our student body), I think an "unplugged" day challenge for faculty and students would be an interesting way for students to reflect on their connected lives. In our Digital Footprint student seminar, when I talk with HS students about how they perceive themselves and how deeply their need to be connected is, most seem to downplay how dependent they really are. They either do not want to admit their addictions to themselves, or they just do not see it at all (it's all normal to them). So how to raise student awareness, mindfulness and self-reflection? I propose going back to 1984 for a day in the life of a student.
What I have been formulating is '84 on 8/4 - having a full day at school where the theme is 1984, on April 8th (Europe goes by D/M format for dates). In keeping with the 1984 theme, we could restrict participants from using any technology that did not exist in '84. This would mean no laptops, no mobile phones, no mp3 players, no digital projectors, no interactive whiteboards and no internet. Students (and faculty) could still use a landline phone, could watch tv when they get home, listen to music on a Walkman (if they can find one ;-) or could actually have a face-to-face conversation with a real person/friend/teacher/family member or pick up a book to read. There will always be a contingent of staff and students who will object to such an exercise - how to engage and involve them all? Do we make this an optional "challenge" or try to impose it on the school? I don't actually know, as this is a complex problem. There will always be some who will argue that their use of technology that particular day is unavoidable and crucial to their teaching or learning. Perhaps involving everyone goes into the "too hard box" for now. Perhaps getting the first try at such an event off of the ground as a staff/student challenge would be the best way forward . . . start small and grow it from there. And I think the theme aspect of it is important for students. I'm already working with student council on the idea and it can be turned into a spirit dress-up day and/or be connected with curriculum as well - what high school doesn't study Orwell, right?
Have you ever hosted an "unplugged" day or something like it? What were your motivations for staging such an event? What was kind of pushback was there from staff and/or students? How did it work out? What were the good and bad outcomes from the day? Most importantly, would you do it again?
The problem that I see in our hallways, classrooms and around campus is our students' preoccupation with their technology - at all times of the day. We have students who feel the urge to be connected so strongly, that they have turned on their mobile notifications for their favourite social networking sites, so they receive a constant stream of buzzing text messages of updates from their thousands of "friends". Being an international school, most of these "digital friends" are spread around the world - this must mean that the buzzing updates go on day and night. How is this level of connectedness healthy or happy? Do any of us really need to be online and networked all of the time?
Mindfulness is a new buzzword that is floating around our school right now. In the spirit of being more mindful, and connecting to the cyber-citizenry section of the ISTE NETS-S standards (which we have adopted for our student body), I think an "unplugged" day challenge for faculty and students would be an interesting way for students to reflect on their connected lives. In our Digital Footprint student seminar, when I talk with HS students about how they perceive themselves and how deeply their need to be connected is, most seem to downplay how dependent they really are. They either do not want to admit their addictions to themselves, or they just do not see it at all (it's all normal to them). So how to raise student awareness, mindfulness and self-reflection? I propose going back to 1984 for a day in the life of a student.
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| Remember these? Who still has one lurking at home in a drawer? |
What I have been formulating is '84 on 8/4 - having a full day at school where the theme is 1984, on April 8th (Europe goes by D/M format for dates). In keeping with the 1984 theme, we could restrict participants from using any technology that did not exist in '84. This would mean no laptops, no mobile phones, no mp3 players, no digital projectors, no interactive whiteboards and no internet. Students (and faculty) could still use a landline phone, could watch tv when they get home, listen to music on a Walkman (if they can find one ;-) or could actually have a face-to-face conversation with a real person/friend/teacher/family member or pick up a book to read. There will always be a contingent of staff and students who will object to such an exercise - how to engage and involve them all? Do we make this an optional "challenge" or try to impose it on the school? I don't actually know, as this is a complex problem. There will always be some who will argue that their use of technology that particular day is unavoidable and crucial to their teaching or learning. Perhaps involving everyone goes into the "too hard box" for now. Perhaps getting the first try at such an event off of the ground as a staff/student challenge would be the best way forward . . . start small and grow it from there. And I think the theme aspect of it is important for students. I'm already working with student council on the idea and it can be turned into a spirit dress-up day and/or be connected with curriculum as well - what high school doesn't study Orwell, right?
Have you ever hosted an "unplugged" day or something like it? What were your motivations for staging such an event? What was kind of pushback was there from staff and/or students? How did it work out? What were the good and bad outcomes from the day? Most importantly, would you do it again?
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