September 26, 2023 • 26 mins
This week, we are chatting about technology use with students and how parents can best support that at home. We will share a little bit of our own struggles as parents and also some ideas that we have as educators to help support families.
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Featured Content
**For detailed show notes, please visit our website at https://edugals.com/132**
- How Technology Influences Student Thinking - E125
- This Week In Ontario EduBlogs - Stephen Hurley and Doug Peterson
- Technology use has exploded - how much should kids be using it?
- Limiting screen time (focus on educational apps, limited time/devices, TV time, require activity before screens, get outdoors)
- Getting off task while on technology (virtual or remote learning, YouTube, lack of focus)
- Canadian Paediatric Society screen time recommendations
- TV watching time as a family activity
- Too much screen time can affect mood, sleep, etc - decide how much time is right for you, your kids, and your family
- Parental controls (chromebooks, e-readers, iPads)
- Teaching digital citizenship skills (share weekly resources in your classroom newsletter)
- Balance screen time, social activities
- Cell phones - when do you start? Safety, maturity
- Smart watches for kids - Apple Watch, other brands
- Educator Tips:
- Tech breaks (25 min focus, 5 min tech break)
- Open lines of communication home with parents
Connect with EduGals:
- Twitter @EduGals
- Rachel @dr_r_johnson
- Katie @KatieAttwell
- EduGals Website
- Support the show
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rachel (00:41):
In this episode, we revisited technology use with
students and how parents canbest support that at home.
Katie (00:49):
We will share a little bit of our own struggles as
parents and also some ideas thatwe have as educators to help
support families.
Rachel (00:56):
Let's get started.
This week Katie and I aretalking about technology and
students and the role ofparents.
Katie (01:12):
Yeah, talk about a loaded topic.
Rachel (01:14):
Yeah.
Katie (01:16):
it came up as a result of episode 1 25, and Doug and Steve
mentioned it and.
Said they'd love to hear ourtake on it and what we think the
role of parents is and how itkind of plays into daily life
and life at home, et cetera.
So we're taking on thatchallenge.
Rachel (01:36):
So yeah, when Katie mentions Steve and Doug, she
means Steven Hurley and DougPeterson, and they do a weekly
podcast called This Week inOntario, ed Ju Blogs.
And so they talked about ourepisode and I always love
listening to their conversations'cause uh, it's, it's kind of.
(01:56):
Some of the only feedback we, wehear a lot from, from listeners,
so it's, it's really kind ofneat to hear someone's take on
what we're saying.
And so yeah, we, we talkedabout, this was part of our book
study to go along with why don'tstudents like school?
And it was a chapter all abouttechnology and how it influences
(02:17):
student thinking and how you canuse technology to enhance
student thinking.
Katie (02:22):
Yeah.
And.
It's a loaded topic becausetechnology use has really
exploded probably in the last,well, particularly since the
pandemic, but even in the last10 years or so.
and there's kind of mixed ideasor beliefs in terms of how much
or how little, kids should beusing technology.
(02:45):
And we took a bit of a differentstance in my family.
So we were kind of, we didn'tstart screens too much until
probably the pandemic because wekind of were forced to in that
sense because well, onlinelearning, like it or not, it's
there.
And that's when my kids werekind of exploring more, like
YouTube and things like that.
(03:05):
prior to that, Maybe like alittle bit of TV shows or a
movie, but, uh, we weren'treally doing too much.
Rachel (03:12):
I am trying to think back to when my son was young as
well.
We didn't do a whole lot oftechnology with him either.
We really wanted to keep him offthe screens and.
I think we did download someapps that were learning based
apps.
So there, I remember one, therewas like an alphabet one that he
(03:32):
would like to go through, andevery time you touch the letter,
like it would be letter A andwhen you touched it, it.
I don't know, had some sort ofanimal or something related to
the letter A and then it made asound and he really, really
enjoyed that.
So, you know, we, we reallyfocused on only educational type
(03:52):
apps and we stayed away from anyof the games because honestly,
knowing that addiction was goingto come sooner or later,
Katie (04:00):
We didn't even do apps.
We didn't even own an iPad untilthe pandemic.
And so my kids never got to usemy phone or an iPad and, and I'm
not saying there's a right orwrong, but I think that was for
us because even with tv, mykids.
But like eyes were trained, ifthere's a screen on, they're
looking at it.
And, and so I didn't want toencourage that or to have them
(04:21):
feel like screens were somethingthey needed, if that makes
sense.
And, and I don't know if it'sjust'cause that's my kids and
that's kind of, they're veryattracted to screens and, and so
we were trying to avoid it.
I, I, I don't know.
Rachel (04:34):
we did know, like we wanted to limit how much time,
and we still put limits on howmuch screen time there is now
over the pandemic.
That kind of all went out thewindow because my son did
virtual school for a year and ahalf, so he was on screens for
the entire duration of a schoolday.
I mean, doing schoolwork, sofine, but towards the end of
(04:56):
that, he was, Getting really offtrack and he was doing things
like playing games or on YouTubeand not on task with what he
should be doing.
And that was part of the reasonwhy we transitioned back to
in-person school, part of partlythat, partly because he asked to
go back and partly because he islike, I'm vaccinated now.
(05:17):
I feel safe.
So, you know, we kind of.
Took all of that intoconsideration and, and decided
to shift him back to in-personlearning halfway through the
school year.
Katie (05:27):
Yeah, that makes sense.
My kids, my son, I don't know ifI've told this story.
I probably have, I was teaching,so I had to be online with my
students and then, uh, during abreak I went and checked on him
and his teacher was talking inthe background, but he was
watching YouTube and I was like,what is happening?
So, um, I was glad when remotelearning, like he was never in
(05:48):
virtual school, but I was gladwhen remote learning was done
because.
For, for my kids anyhow, it'sextremely distracting and
they're not on task and theywere getting really tired, and
just had a hard time focusing.
So, I don't know, like it's,it's kind of a double-edged
sword'cause technology's allaround us and it's not going
anywhere and it's something theyneed to know how to use, but
(06:11):
it's that question of.
As a parent, how much isappropriate and how do you
ensure they're using itproperly?
And I guess that's what we'retalking about today.
Rachel (06:20):
that's a great question.
I think it's probably veryindividual for every single
family.
Katie (06:26):
100%.
Rachel (06:27):
I know that we can still get away with limiting our son
to an hour a day.
He gets an hour a day onwhatever device he wants to play
on.
So sometimes he chooses the PSfour and he plays Minecraft on
there.
Sometimes he goes on hisChromebook to do, I don't know
what on there.
Sometimes it's the iPad, likeit, it sort of depends, but.
(06:51):
He gets an hour total ofelectronics time and he is not
allowed to even do that untilhe's at least being outside for
an hour and, and active orplaying with friends or
something.
So he usually, you know, it, Idon't know.
I guess it's, it's a way for usto get him out and active.
But he's kind of just doing it alittle bit begrudgingly, right?
(07:14):
He's like, I'm going outside toride my bike now.
And you know, he's only goingout there to ride his bike for
an hour because he wants to playon the PSS four.
Katie (07:23):
Yes.
and, and we, we do similar.
I think sometimes it ends upbeing longer'cause I just stop.
I'm not paying attention to thetime.
Um, we have kind of relaxed it alittle bit more I think in the
last year, but, um, It's usuallyan hour, maybe two, depending on
if they can get away with it.
and then making sure it's evenfor both.
(07:43):
Because if they're playing avideo game, then my daughter
will go into her room and read.
She's like, I don't wanna watchthe video game'cause that's
screen time, so I have to go inmy room and remove myself.
Uh, and then they kind of swapout like that.
But, um, it's hard.
Rachel (07:58):
It's very hard.
Katie (08:00):
I love the summer because when we go on our camping trips,
they're not asking for screens.
And so it's phenomenal becausewe get like really good
unplugged family time, andthere's not that request,
there's not that temptation.
It's just us spending timetogether and it's.
It's amazing the difference intheir moods when we are out and
(08:20):
about and doing these, thesetrips together versus when we're
at home and they just want TV orthey just want a screen.
So I notice a big difference asa parent.
So for me, limiting time, I, Ithink it's something that we
have to make sure we do becausemy kids are much happier without
them.
Rachel (08:36):
they're, and I do see big differences with my son too.
Like he is much happier when heis not on screens.
Like if we go camping or away orsomething, or we're out for the
day, he's not even thinkingabout it.
Katie (08:49):
No.
And so, uh, the Canadian PDIPediatric Society for, in terms
of their guidelines, they'resaying if a kid is under two
screen time is not recommended.
Obviously, that's very familydependent, two to five limit to
less than one hour a day andolder than five.
Less than two hours a day.
(09:10):
and I think that's a good,recommendation, I guess a
guideline to kinda help youfigure out.
But it's hard as parents becauseit can be really easy to put a
screen in front of a kid to helpthem calm down or to distract
them so you can get things done.
And I understand that temptationand that need to keep kids busy.
Rachel (09:29):
Now we do watch TV together, but we do it as a
family.
And so usually we'll watch somesort of show after we have
dinner for half an hour to anhour, depending on what it is.
You know, some of the, the bigones we watch right now are
things like Master Chef.
He loves Master Chef and theAmazing Race.
And you know, like, like showslike that or, um, Right now
(09:52):
we're taking him through Friendsin the Big Bang Theory.
So, you know, things that wewatched that we really loved.
And it's funny'cause he'sstarting to like understand all
the jokes and stuff like thatnow'cause he's getting older.
and then on weekends sometimeswe have movie
Katie (10:08):
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And I think that's fair.
One show, I don't know if you'veseen it or not, I think it's
called, is it Cake?
Have you heard of that?
So my daughter loves this show.
It's actually quite fascinatingto watch.
So a bunch of bakers arecompeting and they're given an
everyday object that they haveto make a cake that looks like
(10:29):
it.
And then there are judges whohave to say which one is cake
versus which one is the itemitself.
Rachel (10:34):
Ooh.
Katie (10:35):
And it's all, it's really neat and it's like super
creative.
'cause I'm like, mine would notlook like the object Uhuh, but
they do an awesome job.
It's a neat one.
Yeah, it's fun, but definitelymindless.
Not educational, but, um,screens, so.
Hmm.
How, how do we even approachthis?
(10:57):
I feel judgy when I talk aboutit because I don't wanna be
judgy of other people and whatthey do with their families.
But there's a lot of researchout there that shows that too
much screen time and, andtechnology for children leads to
some pretty terrible things forkids, whether it be mood, sleep
problems, et cetera.
And, I think it's reallyimportant as parents that we.
(11:18):
Know the effects of it and tryto find ways to ensure we're
setting our kids up for success,so to speak.
Rachel (11:25):
Yeah, it's almost, you have to decide how much time is
right for, for you, for yourfamily, for your kids, and that
is going to differ from familyto family.
Katie (11:35):
And I think the other thing that I.
I think hit me pretty hardduring the pandemic was if we're
going to let them use phones oriPads or Chromebooks or whatever
it is, we need to make surewe're sitting down with them so
that they understand how to usethem and what they should and
should not be using, and thereneeds to be some parental
controls in place to keep themsafe if we are not going to be
(11:57):
with them when they're on thosescreens because YouTube, et
cetera, like it's a minefield.
There are so many things outthere that can be extremely
harmful or that can expose themto perhaps parts of the world
we're not quite ready to exposethem to at that age.
Rachel (12:11):
And that's where it gets a bit challenging, like if
you're using a Chromebook.
And it's managed by your schoolboard.
So like not even the Chromebookitself, but when you log in with
your school account, it ismanaged by your school district.
And so you can't really put intoplace a lot of those controls
and parental controls that youwould want to when it's managed
(12:32):
by the school board.
And I find that reallyfrustrating actually as a
parent.
Katie (12:36):
So my daughter has a Chromebook, but we created a
personal Gmail for her and Imanage it through Google
parental controls, and that hasbeen good because I get to see
what she's looking at.
Rachel (12:48):
Yeah, and I think that's great and I wish there was a way
that the education accountscould work with parents in order
to be able to allow some ofthose controls from the parent
end.
Katie (13:01):
Agreed, because I, I do think it should be a partnership
between schools and parents.
I know depending on age, theeducational accounts do kind of
limit for the younger kids whatthey can look at and what they
can do.
But I mean, if a parent wantsthem to be able to do a little
bit less than that becausethey're still not comfortable,
that should be permitted.
Rachel (13:19):
I totally agree.
so we bought my son a Cobo,which is an e-reader, a type of
e-reader, and we bought him thatfor either Christmas or his
birthday, I can't remember whichone, a couple years ago.
And he loves to read on it.
We went with Akobo because it,uh, can connect to our public
library.
(13:39):
And so he can take out all thebooks he wants and read them on
his Cobo.
And so that's great.
And then I think about sixmonths ago, we realized that he
can not only get on the web Bbrowser there, but he can play
like whatever video games fromwhatever websites on his Cobo.
Katie (13:59):
Oh, Oh, no.
Rachel (14:01):
So there is a way to like add in the parental
controls and add in the pa, likea password protection to
basically shut off anything, anyaccess to the internet.
But the problem with that devicenow is if you shut off the
access to the internet, he canno longer connect to the public
library.
So we have to sit down with himnow, and anytime he wants to
(14:22):
look for books, we have to takethe parental control off and
then let him look for books, andthen we shut it back down
afterwards.
So it's a bit, I don't know,it's a bit time consuming, a
little annoying.
I wish there was a little bitmore control in order to kind of
do that.
Katie (14:38):
We have Kindles for our kids, which is the Amazon, I
guess, version.
And there's an Amazon kidaccount for Kindle where it's
unlimited reading, but theparent sets the age range in
terms of books that the kids canaccess.
That has been really neat.
But then at the same time, if,if things are categories, like
my daughter absorbs books, sheloves to read and she's, I
(15:00):
wouldn't say she's reading ather grade level.
She's probably into books thatare much older than, not much
older.
She's 11, maybe like 14, 15 interms of content and things
she's interested in reading.
so I had to set it up a littlebit higher for her.
But, um, it is tough, but shecan't access the internet when
it's, when her Kindle is set upin, parent mode.
(15:21):
And so it's just accessing theinternet for the books that she
can get from there.
Um, then she can download andread the ones there.
I do find it, it becomes limitedin terms of what she can read
after a while because she doesread so quickly.
But, um, I am comfortable withit at this point, and then we'll
see where things go as we gowith whatever's next,
Rachel (15:41):
I mean the, like iPads and other devices like that, I
find iPads are great.
Like there's lots of leeway interms of how much you can
control and how much you canturn on and turn off.
So that's kind of really nice.
Katie (15:54):
so I do think it is, you know, look at the parent
controls and see what you can doto limit exposure to anything
and everything that's out there.
Like you don't want them toaccess everything.
and then the hard part isteaching.
So, and I find it hard because.
When I was growing up, I didn'treally have that until maybe
high school.
And so then I was learning as itwas happening and I had to
(16:18):
intentionally learn, but kidsare exposed to it from such a
young age that they don'tnecessarily have to learn how to
use things, but they don'tnecessarily have that knowledge
or understanding of the impactand how much is out there.
And so there is some intentionalteaching that I have to do with
my kids, but.
It's harder for me to thinkabout, if that makes sense.
Rachel (16:37):
the, I think there's lots of really great resources
that parents could access or aseducators we can share with
parents out there.
So if you do a search foranything around digital
citizenship, you know, maybeeven if you do a newsletter
home, Uh, you could include alink every week of some sort of
different sort of aspect ofdigital citizenship.
(17:00):
I think that would be really,really helpful.
Whether parents open it or not,like it's still something that's
there that they could explore.
Katie (17:07):
and I do think it's a balance.
So making sure, yeah, screensare there, they're inevitable,
but balance that out with otheractivities that are more social.
And maybe physical and in personso that they're, they're still
getting a good mix of people andtechnology because I don't know
about you, but I found that whenwe came back from the pandemic,
(17:28):
these teenagers in our schoolsreally didn't know how to
socialize and speak with otherpeople.
Like it was a bit of a weirdsituation where it's like, we've
forgotten how to be human.
Rachel (17:38):
It still is a bit weird,
Katie (17:40):
Yes, yes it is.
But it's like, it is strange.
I you wouldn't think thathowever long it was, what, two
years, a year and a half,something like that, that that
would have such a lasting impacton how we interact with one
another.
But it has changed.
Rachel (17:58):
It is, it is huge in terms of the interactions I see.
And, and the students that we'regetting into our schools
compared to say even like fiveyears ago.
Katie (18:09):
Yeah.
And so it's almost frighteninghow quickly we forget.
and it takes a long time toretrain our brains and, and get
students comfortable with theseinteractions in person again,
and knowing how to speak to oneanother.
And.
Appropriate language etiquette,all that great stuff.
so it screens have a huge impactour humanity.
Rachel (18:32):
Shall we talk cell phones?
Katie (18:34):
Oh man.
I don't even know what to sayabout that.
My daughter keeps asking, whencan I get one?
When can I get one?
And the line has been when youget a job and can pay for it.
However, I know that probablywon't last'cause that's like 16
or 17 and I feel like in thisday and age that's actually
quite late.
Rachel (18:52):
we ended up getting, so my son's 11, he'll be 12 in
December, so like, he's almost12.
And my mother-in-law had areally old flip phone.
Like this thing, you make phonecalls on it.
You still have to text whereyou, where you take the, the
number and you have to tap itlike the three times to get the
(19:15):
third letter.
Uh, it's so
Katie (19:17):
or something?
T nine word or something.
And then it has like, does it dothe predictive?
As you're like hitting yournumbers.
Rachel (19:23):
I don't think it even does that.
So it's, it's like an old phone.
And so she gave us that and thenwe got one of those really,
really cheap cell phone plansfor him.
It's like$15 a month orsomething like that.
And the reason we decided to dothat is because he wanted to
start.
(19:43):
Going to his friend's house downthe street, or when his
friend's, a couple doors downfrom here wanted to go down to
the shopping plaza.
We just, we wanted a way for himto be able to contact us or to
call for help if he needed to.
Like, especially because he's anonly child.
(20:04):
Uh, now he goes down to hisfriend's house, which is like a
few blocks away from here, and.
It's been so handy to be able tojust like quickly text him and
say, Hey, come home now.
Or, you know, how are you doing?
You still okay?
You know, just that, that sortof check-in, but he cannot
access anything else on it.
Katie (20:24):
There's also, I wanna say, there are some watches you
can get that do the trackingthing, and then I think there's
also one where you can set it upso that it calls a specific
number if there's an emergency.
Rachel (20:37):
Yeah, so you can get an Apple watch, uh, and you can put
it on like a family plan.
I have not done that or, orlooked into setting that up yet,
but you don't have to have acell phone.
You can just get the watch.
You can make phone calls on anApple watch as well.
So as long as it's sort of setup that way, that's sort of a
(20:59):
great option for parents to beable to get in touch with their
kids and know where they are andbe able to call them or text
them without needing a phoneeither.
Katie (21:09):
Yeah, and it doesn't even have to be Apple Watch because
those are silly, expensive, butthere are other ones out there.
I'll see if I can, um, find alink.
I was actually talking to a momof one of my daughter's friends
and she was telling me about onethat she has, and I was like,
Ooh, that's neat.
And it's much cheaper.
It's like in the one 50 to 200range, and I'm like, that's way
more affordable than.
Looking at an Apple watch andthen going from there.
Rachel (21:31):
yeah.
Katie (21:32):
yeah.
I'll see what I can find.
Rachel (21:33):
Yeah, I only mention Apple Watch because I'm Apple.
Everything's Apple.
So like it would just fit intoour ecosystem so well.
Katie (21:40):
I also have one of those and so it's, but it's like, I
don't wanna get that for my kidthat's high.
That's a lot of money and it'sprobably gonna get destroyed
pretty quickly.
Rachel (21:48):
Yeah.
You, you gotta think aboutdurability.
Katie (21:50):
Yeah.
Yep.
Rachel (21:51):
Now my husband is getting, he's updating his,
iPhone and so he's got a reallyold iPhone, so we're thinking
about giving him that one andthen like really locking it down
in terms of what he can do onit.
Basically only allowing phonecalls and text messages.
Really.
Katie (22:10):
and
Rachel (22:10):
that makes sense.
Yeah.
Katie (22:11):
I don't know if I'm there yet, though.
Rachel (22:12):
Yeah.
And the only reason we did thatis because we just, we wanted a
way to be in touch with him whenhe wanted to go out with his
friends.
And, you know, he's a reallyresponsible little kid and so,
uh, it seemed like the bestsolution.
Katie (22:26):
Yeah, I get it.
I, I totally get it.
Rachel (22:29):
yeah.
Katie (22:29):
It's a struggle.
Things I never thought I'd haveto worry about.
But, uh, so there are thingsthat are out there, there are
ways to do it.
And I know safety is important.
I just, I won't get her a newphone yet.
I don't want her to have all ofthat distractions.
And I see what it does toteenagers.
Like they're so addicted totheir phones.
And, and that's one of my bigfears.
'cause I know that my kids willprobably be just like them.
(22:52):
They'll be addicted and staringat their screens all day long.
Rachel (22:54):
So I guess the question is then what can we do as
educators to support parents?
Katie (22:59):
So a lot of my parents for newcomers, I don't know if
it's the same in otherclassrooms, but a lot of them
keep on saying to me, can youjust take their phone away?
And while that's a great shortterm solution, and I will do it
if they're super distracted,I'll have them put it on my desk
and then get it at the end ofthe class.
But I don't think it's along-term solution because we're
not teaching them anything.
(23:19):
And so one thing that I.
I did, for quite some time, andI haven't done it since the
pandemic because it kind of wasoutta sight, outta mind.
But I used to do tech breaks, sophone breaks, and so I'd get
them to put their phones down infront of them if they needed it
to be, and then every 25 minutesor so, I'd give them a few
minutes to kind of get theirfix.
And then after those few minutesand I'd set a timer, they'd put
(23:42):
the phone back down and we'd goback at, a sustained activity
for the next 25, 30 minutes orwhatever it was.
and these tech breaks I actuallydid find made a big difference
because they knew it was coming.
They could get the time theyneeded to kind of go through
whatever app it was they wantedto look at.
and then, They knew it wascoming again, so they were more
willing to put it down.
I feel like that might besomething I go back to and give
(24:05):
that a try this year, becauselike between TikTok and Snapchat
and all these other things thatis, that are taking over their
attention that need to dosomething.
Rachel (24:14):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's a great strategy.
I think also having that likeopen lines of communication home
with parents is key.
So you are doing that in theclassroom, but then also sharing
that back with parents, whatyou're doing in the classroom in
hopes that they can support youand maybe kind of work on those
strategies at home as well.
Katie (24:36):
But yeah, so screens.
Difficult conversations and, andyou can't judge because
everybody has differentcircumstances, different
privilege, different needs,different everything.
Right?
And so I think we're all justkind of doing the best we can,
but if we can control it and ifwe have the option, it's
certainly, as parents, I think,important that we try to limit
and keep our kids off screensand interacting with one another
(24:58):
as much as possible.
Rachel (24:59):
Yeah.
So on that note, I think that'sa great place for us to wrap up
our conversation here today.
So what we'll do is we'llinclude any of the links or
resources we talked about heretoday in our show notes.
You can access our show notesfor this episode@edugss.com
slash 1 3 2.
That's edu g a ls.com/ 1 3 2.
Katie (25:20):
And if you like what you heard today, then feel free to
share it with a colleague or afriend.
And don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast app so
that you don't miss out on anyfuture content.
Rachel (25:30):
And as always, we'd love to hear from you.
So if you have any ideas onmanaging screens, How to support
parents, anything related totechnology with students and
their addictions, uh, we'd loveto hear it.
So you can go onto our flip atedu gals.com/flipgrid and leave
us a video message there.
(25:52):
Or you can go onto ourwebsite@edugals.com and leave us
a written response.
Katie (25:57):
Thanks for listening and see you next week.
In this episode, we revisited technology use with
students and how parents canbest support that at home.
Katie (00:49):
We will share a little bit of our own struggles as
parents and also some ideas thatwe have as educators to help
support families.
Rachel (00:56):
Let's get started.
This week Katie and I aretalking about technology and
students and the role ofparents.
Katie (01:12):
Yeah, talk about a loaded topic.
Rachel (01:14):
Yeah.
Katie (01:16):
it came up as a result of episode 1 25, and Doug and Steve
mentioned it and.
Said they'd love to hear ourtake on it and what we think the
role of parents is and how itkind of plays into daily life
and life at home, et cetera.
So we're taking on thatchallenge.
Rachel (01:36):
So yeah, when Katie mentions Steve and Doug, she
means Steven Hurley and DougPeterson, and they do a weekly
podcast called This Week inOntario, ed Ju Blogs.
And so they talked about ourepisode and I always love
listening to their conversations'cause uh, it's, it's kind of.
(01:56):
Some of the only feedback we, wehear a lot from, from listeners,
so it's, it's really kind ofneat to hear someone's take on
what we're saying.
And so yeah, we, we talkedabout, this was part of our book
study to go along with why don'tstudents like school?
And it was a chapter all abouttechnology and how it influences
(02:17):
student thinking and how you canuse technology to enhance
student thinking.
Katie (02:22):
Yeah.
And.
It's a loaded topic becausetechnology use has really
exploded probably in the last,well, particularly since the
pandemic, but even in the last10 years or so.
and there's kind of mixed ideasor beliefs in terms of how much
or how little, kids should beusing technology.
(02:45):
And we took a bit of a differentstance in my family.
So we were kind of, we didn'tstart screens too much until
probably the pandemic because wekind of were forced to in that
sense because well, onlinelearning, like it or not, it's
there.
And that's when my kids werekind of exploring more, like
YouTube and things like that.
(03:05):
prior to that, Maybe like alittle bit of TV shows or a
movie, but, uh, we weren'treally doing too much.
Rachel (03:12):
I am trying to think back to when my son was young as
well.
We didn't do a whole lot oftechnology with him either.
We really wanted to keep him offthe screens and.
I think we did download someapps that were learning based
apps.
So there, I remember one, therewas like an alphabet one that he
(03:32):
would like to go through, andevery time you touch the letter,
like it would be letter A andwhen you touched it, it.
I don't know, had some sort ofanimal or something related to
the letter A and then it made asound and he really, really
enjoyed that.
So, you know, we, we reallyfocused on only educational type
(03:52):
apps and we stayed away from anyof the games because honestly,
knowing that addiction was goingto come sooner or later,
Katie (04:00):
We didn't even do apps.
We didn't even own an iPad untilthe pandemic.
And so my kids never got to usemy phone or an iPad and, and I'm
not saying there's a right orwrong, but I think that was for
us because even with tv, mykids.
But like eyes were trained, ifthere's a screen on, they're
looking at it.
And, and so I didn't want toencourage that or to have them
(04:21):
feel like screens were somethingthey needed, if that makes
sense.
And, and I don't know if it'sjust'cause that's my kids and
that's kind of, they're veryattracted to screens and, and so
we were trying to avoid it.
I, I, I don't know.
Rachel (04:34):
we did know, like we wanted to limit how much time,
and we still put limits on howmuch screen time there is now
over the pandemic.
That kind of all went out thewindow because my son did
virtual school for a year and ahalf, so he was on screens for
the entire duration of a schoolday.
I mean, doing schoolwork, sofine, but towards the end of
(04:56):
that, he was, Getting really offtrack and he was doing things
like playing games or on YouTubeand not on task with what he
should be doing.
And that was part of the reasonwhy we transitioned back to
in-person school, part of partlythat, partly because he asked to
go back and partly because he islike, I'm vaccinated now.
(05:17):
I feel safe.
So, you know, we kind of.
Took all of that intoconsideration and, and decided
to shift him back to in-personlearning halfway through the
school year.
Katie (05:27):
Yeah, that makes sense.
My kids, my son, I don't know ifI've told this story.
I probably have, I was teaching,so I had to be online with my
students and then, uh, during abreak I went and checked on him
and his teacher was talking inthe background, but he was
watching YouTube and I was like,what is happening?
So, um, I was glad when remotelearning, like he was never in
(05:48):
virtual school, but I was gladwhen remote learning was done
because.
For, for my kids anyhow, it'sextremely distracting and
they're not on task and theywere getting really tired, and
just had a hard time focusing.
So, I don't know, like it's,it's kind of a double-edged
sword'cause technology's allaround us and it's not going
anywhere and it's something theyneed to know how to use, but
(06:11):
it's that question of.
As a parent, how much isappropriate and how do you
ensure they're using itproperly?
And I guess that's what we'retalking about today.
Rachel (06:20):
that's a great question.
I think it's probably veryindividual for every single
family.
Katie (06:26):
100%.
Rachel (06:27):
I know that we can still get away with limiting our son
to an hour a day.
He gets an hour a day onwhatever device he wants to play
on.
So sometimes he chooses the PSfour and he plays Minecraft on
there.
Sometimes he goes on hisChromebook to do, I don't know
what on there.
Sometimes it's the iPad, likeit, it sort of depends, but.
(06:51):
He gets an hour total ofelectronics time and he is not
allowed to even do that untilhe's at least being outside for
an hour and, and active orplaying with friends or
something.
So he usually, you know, it, Idon't know.
I guess it's, it's a way for usto get him out and active.
But he's kind of just doing it alittle bit begrudgingly, right?
(07:14):
He's like, I'm going outside toride my bike now.
And you know, he's only goingout there to ride his bike for
an hour because he wants to playon the PSS four.
Katie (07:23):
Yes.
and, and we, we do similar.
I think sometimes it ends upbeing longer'cause I just stop.
I'm not paying attention to thetime.
Um, we have kind of relaxed it alittle bit more I think in the
last year, but, um, It's usuallyan hour, maybe two, depending on
if they can get away with it.
and then making sure it's evenfor both.
(07:43):
Because if they're playing avideo game, then my daughter
will go into her room and read.
She's like, I don't wanna watchthe video game'cause that's
screen time, so I have to go inmy room and remove myself.
Uh, and then they kind of swapout like that.
But, um, it's hard.
Rachel (07:58):
It's very hard.
Katie (08:00):
I love the summer because when we go on our camping trips,
they're not asking for screens.
And so it's phenomenal becausewe get like really good
unplugged family time, andthere's not that request,
there's not that temptation.
It's just us spending timetogether and it's.
It's amazing the difference intheir moods when we are out and
(08:20):
about and doing these, thesetrips together versus when we're
at home and they just want TV orthey just want a screen.
So I notice a big difference asa parent.
So for me, limiting time, I, Ithink it's something that we
have to make sure we do becausemy kids are much happier without
them.
Rachel (08:36):
they're, and I do see big differences with my son too.
Like he is much happier when heis not on screens.
Like if we go camping or away orsomething, or we're out for the
day, he's not even thinkingabout it.
Katie (08:49):
No.
And so, uh, the Canadian PDIPediatric Society for, in terms
of their guidelines, they'resaying if a kid is under two
screen time is not recommended.
Obviously, that's very familydependent, two to five limit to
less than one hour a day andolder than five.
Less than two hours a day.
(09:10):
and I think that's a good,recommendation, I guess a
guideline to kinda help youfigure out.
But it's hard as parents becauseit can be really easy to put a
screen in front of a kid to helpthem calm down or to distract
them so you can get things done.
And I understand that temptationand that need to keep kids busy.
Rachel (09:29):
Now we do watch TV together, but we do it as a
family.
And so usually we'll watch somesort of show after we have
dinner for half an hour to anhour, depending on what it is.
You know, some of the, the bigones we watch right now are
things like Master Chef.
He loves Master Chef and theAmazing Race.
And you know, like, like showslike that or, um, Right now
(09:52):
we're taking him through Friendsin the Big Bang Theory.
So, you know, things that wewatched that we really loved.
And it's funny'cause he'sstarting to like understand all
the jokes and stuff like thatnow'cause he's getting older.
and then on weekends sometimeswe have movie
Katie (10:08):
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And I think that's fair.
One show, I don't know if you'veseen it or not, I think it's
called, is it Cake?
Have you heard of that?
So my daughter loves this show.
It's actually quite fascinatingto watch.
So a bunch of bakers arecompeting and they're given an
everyday object that they haveto make a cake that looks like
(10:29):
it.
And then there are judges whohave to say which one is cake
versus which one is the itemitself.
Rachel (10:34):
Ooh.
Katie (10:35):
And it's all, it's really neat and it's like super
creative.
'cause I'm like, mine would notlook like the object Uhuh, but
they do an awesome job.
It's a neat one.
Yeah, it's fun, but definitelymindless.
Not educational, but, um,screens, so.
Hmm.
How, how do we even approachthis?
(10:57):
I feel judgy when I talk aboutit because I don't wanna be
judgy of other people and whatthey do with their families.
But there's a lot of researchout there that shows that too
much screen time and, andtechnology for children leads to
some pretty terrible things forkids, whether it be mood, sleep
problems, et cetera.
And, I think it's reallyimportant as parents that we.
(11:18):
Know the effects of it and tryto find ways to ensure we're
setting our kids up for success,so to speak.
Rachel (11:25):
Yeah, it's almost, you have to decide how much time is
right for, for you, for yourfamily, for your kids, and that
is going to differ from familyto family.
Katie (11:35):
And I think the other thing that I.
I think hit me pretty hardduring the pandemic was if we're
going to let them use phones oriPads or Chromebooks or whatever
it is, we need to make surewe're sitting down with them so
that they understand how to usethem and what they should and
should not be using, and thereneeds to be some parental
controls in place to keep themsafe if we are not going to be
(11:57):
with them when they're on thosescreens because YouTube, et
cetera, like it's a minefield.
There are so many things outthere that can be extremely
harmful or that can expose themto perhaps parts of the world
we're not quite ready to exposethem to at that age.
Rachel (12:11):
And that's where it gets a bit challenging, like if
you're using a Chromebook.
And it's managed by your schoolboard.
So like not even the Chromebookitself, but when you log in with
your school account, it ismanaged by your school district.
And so you can't really put intoplace a lot of those controls
and parental controls that youwould want to when it's managed
(12:32):
by the school board.
And I find that reallyfrustrating actually as a
parent.
Katie (12:36):
So my daughter has a Chromebook, but we created a
personal Gmail for her and Imanage it through Google
parental controls, and that hasbeen good because I get to see
what she's looking at.
Rachel (12:48):
Yeah, and I think that's great and I wish there was a way
that the education accountscould work with parents in order
to be able to allow some ofthose controls from the parent
end.
Katie (13:01):
Agreed, because I, I do think it should be a partnership
between schools and parents.
I know depending on age, theeducational accounts do kind of
limit for the younger kids whatthey can look at and what they
can do.
But I mean, if a parent wantsthem to be able to do a little
bit less than that becausethey're still not comfortable,
that should be permitted.
Rachel (13:19):
I totally agree.
so we bought my son a Cobo,which is an e-reader, a type of
e-reader, and we bought him thatfor either Christmas or his
birthday, I can't remember whichone, a couple years ago.
And he loves to read on it.
We went with Akobo because it,uh, can connect to our public
library.
(13:39):
And so he can take out all thebooks he wants and read them on
his Cobo.
And so that's great.
And then I think about sixmonths ago, we realized that he
can not only get on the web Bbrowser there, but he can play
like whatever video games fromwhatever websites on his Cobo.
Katie (13:59):
Oh, Oh, no.
Rachel (14:01):
So there is a way to like add in the parental
controls and add in the pa, likea password protection to
basically shut off anything, anyaccess to the internet.
But the problem with that devicenow is if you shut off the
access to the internet, he canno longer connect to the public
library.
So we have to sit down with himnow, and anytime he wants to
(14:22):
look for books, we have to takethe parental control off and
then let him look for books, andthen we shut it back down
afterwards.
So it's a bit, I don't know,it's a bit time consuming, a
little annoying.
I wish there was a little bitmore control in order to kind of
do that.
Katie (14:38):
We have Kindles for our kids, which is the Amazon, I
guess, version.
And there's an Amazon kidaccount for Kindle where it's
unlimited reading, but theparent sets the age range in
terms of books that the kids canaccess.
That has been really neat.
But then at the same time, if,if things are categories, like
my daughter absorbs books, sheloves to read and she's, I
(15:00):
wouldn't say she's reading ather grade level.
She's probably into books thatare much older than, not much
older.
She's 11, maybe like 14, 15 interms of content and things
she's interested in reading.
so I had to set it up a littlebit higher for her.
But, um, it is tough, but shecan't access the internet when
it's, when her Kindle is set upin, parent mode.
(15:21):
And so it's just accessing theinternet for the books that she
can get from there.
Um, then she can download andread the ones there.
I do find it, it becomes limitedin terms of what she can read
after a while because she doesread so quickly.
But, um, I am comfortable withit at this point, and then we'll
see where things go as we gowith whatever's next,
Rachel (15:41):
I mean the, like iPads and other devices like that, I
find iPads are great.
Like there's lots of leeway interms of how much you can
control and how much you canturn on and turn off.
So that's kind of really nice.
Katie (15:54):
so I do think it is, you know, look at the parent
controls and see what you can doto limit exposure to anything
and everything that's out there.
Like you don't want them toaccess everything.
and then the hard part isteaching.
So, and I find it hard because.
When I was growing up, I didn'treally have that until maybe
high school.
And so then I was learning as itwas happening and I had to
(16:18):
intentionally learn, but kidsare exposed to it from such a
young age that they don'tnecessarily have to learn how to
use things, but they don'tnecessarily have that knowledge
or understanding of the impactand how much is out there.
And so there is some intentionalteaching that I have to do with
my kids, but.
It's harder for me to thinkabout, if that makes sense.
Rachel (16:37):
the, I think there's lots of really great resources
that parents could access or aseducators we can share with
parents out there.
So if you do a search foranything around digital
citizenship, you know, maybeeven if you do a newsletter
home, Uh, you could include alink every week of some sort of
different sort of aspect ofdigital citizenship.
(17:00):
I think that would be really,really helpful.
Whether parents open it or not,like it's still something that's
there that they could explore.
Katie (17:07):
and I do think it's a balance.
So making sure, yeah, screensare there, they're inevitable,
but balance that out with otheractivities that are more social.
And maybe physical and in personso that they're, they're still
getting a good mix of people andtechnology because I don't know
about you, but I found that whenwe came back from the pandemic,
(17:28):
these teenagers in our schoolsreally didn't know how to
socialize and speak with otherpeople.
Like it was a bit of a weirdsituation where it's like, we've
forgotten how to be human.
Rachel (17:38):
It still is a bit weird,
Katie (17:40):
Yes, yes it is.
But it's like, it is strange.
I you wouldn't think thathowever long it was, what, two
years, a year and a half,something like that, that that
would have such a lasting impacton how we interact with one
another.
But it has changed.
Rachel (17:58):
It is, it is huge in terms of the interactions I see.
And, and the students that we'regetting into our schools
compared to say even like fiveyears ago.
Katie (18:09):
Yeah.
And so it's almost frighteninghow quickly we forget.
and it takes a long time toretrain our brains and, and get
students comfortable with theseinteractions in person again,
and knowing how to speak to oneanother.
And.
Appropriate language etiquette,all that great stuff.
so it screens have a huge impactour humanity.
Rachel (18:32):
Shall we talk cell phones?
Katie (18:34):
Oh man.
I don't even know what to sayabout that.
My daughter keeps asking, whencan I get one?
When can I get one?
And the line has been when youget a job and can pay for it.
However, I know that probablywon't last'cause that's like 16
or 17 and I feel like in thisday and age that's actually
quite late.
Rachel (18:52):
we ended up getting, so my son's 11, he'll be 12 in
December, so like, he's almost12.
And my mother-in-law had areally old flip phone.
Like this thing, you make phonecalls on it.
You still have to text whereyou, where you take the, the
number and you have to tap itlike the three times to get the
(19:15):
third letter.
Uh, it's so
Katie (19:17):
or something?
T nine word or something.
And then it has like, does it dothe predictive?
As you're like hitting yournumbers.
Rachel (19:23):
I don't think it even does that.
So it's, it's like an old phone.
And so she gave us that and thenwe got one of those really,
really cheap cell phone plansfor him.
It's like$15 a month orsomething like that.
And the reason we decided to dothat is because he wanted to
start.
(19:43):
Going to his friend's house downthe street, or when his
friend's, a couple doors downfrom here wanted to go down to
the shopping plaza.
We just, we wanted a way for himto be able to contact us or to
call for help if he needed to.
Like, especially because he's anonly child.
(20:04):
Uh, now he goes down to hisfriend's house, which is like a
few blocks away from here, and.
It's been so handy to be able tojust like quickly text him and
say, Hey, come home now.
Or, you know, how are you doing?
You still okay?
You know, just that, that sortof check-in, but he cannot
access anything else on it.
Katie (20:24):
There's also, I wanna say, there are some watches you
can get that do the trackingthing, and then I think there's
also one where you can set it upso that it calls a specific
number if there's an emergency.
Rachel (20:37):
Yeah, so you can get an Apple watch, uh, and you can put
it on like a family plan.
I have not done that or, orlooked into setting that up yet,
but you don't have to have acell phone.
You can just get the watch.
You can make phone calls on anApple watch as well.
So as long as it's sort of setup that way, that's sort of a
(20:59):
great option for parents to beable to get in touch with their
kids and know where they are andbe able to call them or text
them without needing a phoneeither.
Katie (21:09):
Yeah, and it doesn't even have to be Apple Watch because
those are silly, expensive, butthere are other ones out there.
I'll see if I can, um, find alink.
I was actually talking to a momof one of my daughter's friends
and she was telling me about onethat she has, and I was like,
Ooh, that's neat.
And it's much cheaper.
It's like in the one 50 to 200range, and I'm like, that's way
more affordable than.
Looking at an Apple watch andthen going from there.
Rachel (21:31):
yeah.
Katie (21:32):
yeah.
I'll see what I can find.
Rachel (21:33):
Yeah, I only mention Apple Watch because I'm Apple.
Everything's Apple.
So like it would just fit intoour ecosystem so well.
Katie (21:40):
I also have one of those and so it's, but it's like, I
don't wanna get that for my kidthat's high.
That's a lot of money and it'sprobably gonna get destroyed
pretty quickly.
Rachel (21:48):
Yeah.
You, you gotta think aboutdurability.
Katie (21:50):
Yeah.
Yep.
Rachel (21:51):
Now my husband is getting, he's updating his,
iPhone and so he's got a reallyold iPhone, so we're thinking
about giving him that one andthen like really locking it down
in terms of what he can do onit.
Basically only allowing phonecalls and text messages.
Really.
Katie (22:10):
and
Rachel (22:10):
that makes sense.
Yeah.
Katie (22:11):
I don't know if I'm there yet, though.
Rachel (22:12):
Yeah.
And the only reason we did thatis because we just, we wanted a
way to be in touch with him whenhe wanted to go out with his
friends.
And, you know, he's a reallyresponsible little kid and so,
uh, it seemed like the bestsolution.
Katie (22:26):
Yeah, I get it.
I, I totally get it.
Rachel (22:29):
yeah.
Katie (22:29):
It's a struggle.
Things I never thought I'd haveto worry about.
But, uh, so there are thingsthat are out there, there are
ways to do it.
And I know safety is important.
I just, I won't get her a newphone yet.
I don't want her to have all ofthat distractions.
And I see what it does toteenagers.
Like they're so addicted totheir phones.
And, and that's one of my bigfears.
'cause I know that my kids willprobably be just like them.
(22:52):
They'll be addicted and staringat their screens all day long.
Rachel (22:54):
So I guess the question is then what can we do as
educators to support parents?
Katie (22:59):
So a lot of my parents for newcomers, I don't know if
it's the same in otherclassrooms, but a lot of them
keep on saying to me, can youjust take their phone away?
And while that's a great shortterm solution, and I will do it
if they're super distracted,I'll have them put it on my desk
and then get it at the end ofthe class.
But I don't think it's along-term solution because we're
not teaching them anything.
(23:19):
And so one thing that I.
I did, for quite some time, andI haven't done it since the
pandemic because it kind of wasoutta sight, outta mind.
But I used to do tech breaks, sophone breaks, and so I'd get
them to put their phones down infront of them if they needed it
to be, and then every 25 minutesor so, I'd give them a few
minutes to kind of get theirfix.
And then after those few minutesand I'd set a timer, they'd put
(23:42):
the phone back down and we'd goback at, a sustained activity
for the next 25, 30 minutes orwhatever it was.
and these tech breaks I actuallydid find made a big difference
because they knew it was coming.
They could get the time theyneeded to kind of go through
whatever app it was they wantedto look at.
and then, They knew it wascoming again, so they were more
willing to put it down.
I feel like that might besomething I go back to and give
(24:05):
that a try this year, becauselike between TikTok and Snapchat
and all these other things thatis, that are taking over their
attention that need to dosomething.
Rachel (24:14):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's a great strategy.
I think also having that likeopen lines of communication home
with parents is key.
So you are doing that in theclassroom, but then also sharing
that back with parents, whatyou're doing in the classroom in
hopes that they can support youand maybe kind of work on those
strategies at home as well.
Katie (24:36):
But yeah, so screens.
Difficult conversations and, andyou can't judge because
everybody has differentcircumstances, different
privilege, different needs,different everything.
Right?
And so I think we're all justkind of doing the best we can,
but if we can control it and ifwe have the option, it's
certainly, as parents, I think,important that we try to limit
and keep our kids off screensand interacting with one another
(24:58):
as much as possible.
Rachel (24:59):
Yeah.
So on that note, I think that'sa great place for us to wrap up
our conversation here today.
So what we'll do is we'llinclude any of the links or
resources we talked about heretoday in our show notes.
You can access our show notesfor this episode@edugss.com
slash 1 3 2.
That's edu g a ls.com/ 1 3 2.
Katie (25:20):
And if you like what you heard today, then feel free to
share it with a colleague or afriend.
And don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast app so
that you don't miss out on anyfuture content.
Rachel (25:30):
And as always, we'd love to hear from you.
So if you have any ideas onmanaging screens, How to support
parents, anything related totechnology with students and
their addictions, uh, we'd loveto hear it.
So you can go onto our flip atedu gals.com/flipgrid and leave
us a video message there.
(25:52):
Or you can go onto ourwebsite@edugals.com and leave us
a written response.
Katie (25:57):
Thanks for listening and see you next week.
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