12 tips for getting students to hate technology
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 07:23AM This generation of students, by nature it seems, loves technology. Too much perhaps. With faces in phones, they text, talk, research, read, game, photograph, and buy - having great fun in the process. Humph.
But of course all dedicated educators know that education should not be fun and allowing enjoyment of technology in school is antithetical to best practices. (I am positive there is a university study somewhere about this.) If it doesn't hurt, it probably isn't doing one much good in learning as in exercise..
Here then are a few tips for sucking the pleasure right out of those iPads and Chromebooks that your school may have issued to kids:
- Block all games (or try).
- Block all social media (or try).
- Install classroom control features that lock students into a single application.
- Block chat in all programs.
- Create complicated login procedures and demand complex passwords that need to changed often.
- Use "digital citizenship" lessons to scare the snot out of kids about predators and privacy instead of discussing common sense practices.
- Give lots and lots of online assessments - pre, post and during. No reading without a following quiz.
- Block all streaming media including YouTube, Netflix, and Pandora.
- Send reports to parents on a regular basis about students' browsing habits.
- Discourage using applications for creativity and problem-solving. Stress following instructions!
- Find ways to shame students who might damage their devices.
- Eliminate or restrict reading choices, online as well as off.
Come on, folks, let's get creative here! I brainstormed these in only a few short minutes. Add your most effective techniques for draining the joy from computing right out of school. Kids will realize in the future we were only doing it in their best interest.
Reader Comments (2)
I have allowed students to use my lab computers to play games during lunch and after school. I have found that those who do not use their time wisely realize that there time is actually limited and they normally figure out that they play too much. I only send referrals if they are playing during class time. I have also found that I get more students in the lab which is always a bonus. great article!
Hi Kenn,
I let kids play games on the library computers when they were not used by students doing school work. I always wondered why lots of libraries had board games to use in the library, but banned computer games? I also had an active Dungeons and Dragons club that met in the library after school. Great to get kids in the library!
Doug