Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash
This week we had a guest speaker, Jesse Miller, who came and spoke to the class about personal mobile technology in the classroom, balancing use and regulation and navigating professional boundaries.
I was quite impressed to hear about Jesse’s resume. He sounds like a very accomplished professional in a world that is changing and evolving extremely quickly.
The discussion surrounding personal mobile use and how we are responsible creators both inside and outside of the classroom was very interesting and a bit of a scary reminder that as educators we must remain extremely careful with what we post, how we post, where we post and who we are posting to.
At one point Jesse asked what terrifies us about 2025. I commented that I’m not sure I’m terrified but the rapid pace and feeling of uncertainty around AI and social media is quite scary to me on multiple levels. As an educator, we speak about the positive and negatives surrounding technology, including AI and social media, often.
Although Jesse was quite convincing and I could tell he was a passionate supporter of technology and AI, I have a bit of a different opinion about the benefits.
I belelive there is a direct correlation between the usage of social media and AI with our societal mental health issues. The development of technology came on too fast and too strong with little to no legislation on how to navigate it. I’ve read various articles and I’ve done research in other classes that have pointed to the negative effects of AI on our youth. It’s scary! And social media is no different. It’s not empowering our society. It’s not something I want to encourage our youth to spend time with or on.
Now in saying this, I do understand the importance of balance and I do understand this is the way the world is going. And I do see benefits of technology when it’s being used as a tool or for creating community and connections. But it’s being relied on too heavily and we are seeing this within our world. Humans are no longer developing social emotional skills and although they are connected online, they are drastically disconnected from their lives. Educating and giving our learners the skills to be successful is important and I’m hopeful that maybe one day, stricter laws, legislation, protection and navigation surrounding technology will be in place to protect every individual using it but in the meantime I’m skeptical.
Jesse’s reminders about protecting ourselves as an educator really hit home though. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the hype and want to be part of a larger online community but I know I need to protect myself and my learners.
Lastly, Jesse brought up a tool for educators called DIFFIT. It’s a site that has resources, tools and teaching materials for educators. It looks really great and I’m going to continue to check out what it has to offer.
Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash