In our penultimate week, the class discussed - not for the first time - the educational, social and health implications of technology. A lot of people with a lot more expertise in this area have spent a lot of time talking about these interactions, so I don't want to pretend to be an expert or labour the point. I would rather like to share a few of my own experiences, some of what I think these experiences might mean, and how I would approach this topic with my students, and perhaps my potential children of the future.
Anecdotes
An anecdote is the lowest form of evidence, this is true. However they are also human experiences, and do allow us to build our understanding through the age old art of storytelling. I would like to share with you three such stories.
Anecdote the First
The first one is from my time in high school. At our high school, we would often go on band camps to rural areas in New South Wales. Now my school was a public school on the lower North Shore, and many of the students who went there were from middle class or lower middle class backgrounds. Many also had little experience with the outdoors.
For one of these camps, we stayed on a farm. Even as someone who has done a lot outdoors, there were many new experiences for me. However, one of the nights was a bonfire night. Our guests wanted to give us a taste of the country and this was the perfect way to share our stories in the beautiful land we found ourselves in.
We came to the bonfire night by tractor. As we got close, we could see the glow growing in the distance. This was a sight I, as well as one of the other teachers who grew up in the country, knew well. It was the middle of winter, so we looked forward to the warmth of the fire. As we got off the trailer we had been riding on, we heard the following comment:
"That fire looks just like the iPad fire!"
It should come as no surprise that both the teacher and I were a bit shocked by that comment. How could anyone have reached high school and not have ever seen a real fire? Even more so, how could they think the iPad fire came first?
We quickly informed the student that the iPad fire was, in fact, based off real fire like that which was in front of him now. But that comment has stuck with me, and reminds me how easily in this human construction that we call a city we can distance ourselves from reality and the physical world.
My First Prac
My first practicum took place at a primary school, where I was assigned to a year 6 class. Late in my prac, I was helping the teacher prepare for the next lesson during recess, helped by some studious year 6s. It is worth noting that these year 6s were some of the highest achievers in the class. As we were cutting out some diagrams, the students started discussing what they had been doing in their down time. It was during this time that one of the students started talking about being on Instagram at 3am.
This came as a bit of a shock; again, these were some of the high achievers in the class. When I told the student that being on social media at 3am was really not appropriate, especially with school the next day, I was told that everybody does it and that their parents knew what they did. I must say, I am quite sure the parents were not aware of the 3am social media visits. I also found at that many students had also been playing Fortnite all night, which I am sure to many readers comes as little surprise. Of course, all this information was promptly shared with the class teacher, but we now certainly had an explanation for why many of the students were arriving so tired to school every day...
My Own Life
Both of the previous stories concerned other people, but I have my own negative experiences with technology. In fact, similar to the students in the previous story, I have struggled greatly with social media. I have found that it has been a lot more difficult ever since I had a mental breakdown last year. Ironically, at the same time I had been telling students how inappropriate it was to be using social media at 3am, I had spent many nights up at 2am watching YouTube. This has been a continuing struggle, including this semester, where I have accidentally found myself losing three hours watching YouTube videos when I have intended to do work. I have even found myself updating the YouTube home page several times three hours into watching videos, trying to find a new video to watch.
This could potentially come as a surprise. I am young, sure, but I am educated, from a well off background. I have plenty of experience with technology and understand how it works. I have been educated about the risks of social media, and understand how it sucks you in.
Yet I was, and continue to be, sucked in. And I am not alone.
Lessons
Anecdotes may be the lowest form of evidence, but they teach us lessons about the human experience. What are the lessons to take away from the stories I have shared with you? You may each have your own interpretations of the stories and the lessons we can learn from them, but let me share with you mine.
The first story reminds us that we learn about the world through living in it; we are not born knowing. I have heard many similar stories from the people around me, for example of children not understanding that the bacon on their plate was once the pig they saw on their farm visit. I have heard from fellow teachers that using farm animals to teach sounds does not work so well anymore, as children don't know what sound a rooster makes, or a sheep, or a cow. We can not replace experiences lived in this real, physical world with experiences in the digital realm. They are just not the same. We must give our children, our students experiences in the real world, experiences outside. Children have to run around, they have to explore, they have to get dirty and fall over and hurt themselves. That is part of growing and part of living in this great, beautiful world we live on. This is even more serious when we realise that people who enjoyed the outdoors as a child are more likely to care about the environment and fight for its protection. In an age where climate change threatens the existence of our very species, I can think of nothing more important.
What are the lessons from the other two stories? Technology can make life better, but it can also make life a lot worse. We have to remember that companies that sell these products to us - or more often the case, we sell ourselves to access - are first and foremost seeking profit. Although they may have the best of intentions, decisions are made based on the dollar value. We must be extremely careful then as teachers when we decide to bring these technologies into our classrooms. That does not mean we should not, merely that we have a very specific and well thought out purpose for their use. We must also be aware that these products are designed to hijack the human psyche, and no matter how educated we are about this topic, we are still very susceptible. We must not, we can not, be complacent.
My Ideal Home/Classroom
So what will I do with this information as a teacher, and maybe one day a parent? I've talked to many parents who are facing these dilemmas right now, and there is no simple answer. Some of these parents give their children devices, arguing that whether we like it or not, these devices are here to stay and are the future. I agree with these parents. Other parents are keen to keep devices as far away as possible from their children for as long as possible, wanting them to experience the real world and develop real world skills. I agree with these parents too.
I guess the main thing for me is to ensure children experience the real, physical world. I think it is important to take students outside, to have them complete their work and join in play outside. Although music teachers (including myself) often deride how much more attention and funding sport gets, sport is vital to healthy living. In music lessons, begin with the physical act of making sound, ideally with acoustic instruments but physical synthesizers work too (see my blog post about additive synthesis for information about this). Let students explore sound like our ancestors did, and then bring in the theory. Share music from around the world, so students can experience and understand a wide array of sounds and cultures. Encourage them to play outside during breaks, rather than sitting on their phones. Encourage students to take up opportunities such as the Duke of Edinburgh, or weekend sports. Go outside and join them, and experience the benefits.
Some Closing Remarks
A few final words on this topic, if I may. Firstly, we have looked at this topic very much from an urban perspective. Certainly, technology and the connections it allows can be extraordinarily helpful for those in remote areas, and so not all of the points I raised apply in those circumstances.
Secondly, there are other aspects of technology that can be unhealthy just besides the social aspects. Light pollution is a serious problem, as is the disposal of electronic devices which we so often replace in our modern world. Many of the rare earth metals that go into our devices are toxic and mined in conditions that negatively affect workers and the environment. There are many negatives that surround technology besides social disruption, and it is important to be aware of these downsides even as technology improves our lives in many great and very real ways.