Is There a Brake on that Freight Train?

I have been reading articles, blogs, and opinion pieces lately which focus on the good, bad, and questionable when dealing with the new Digital Age and our children.  YouTube is peppered with videos showing babies engaged with the computer, iPhone, and iPad - engaged, not just watching the screens. We don't need videos to spotlight how much more intense that commitment becomes in direct proportion to the age of the child. What may have started out as listening to music, playing alphabet games, identifying animals and sounds, and reading downloaded books, quickly turns to gaming, texting, video conferencing, social and school/homework portals. All in all, it "becomes" the identity of the user.

Teachers' and district administrators' inboxes are filled with alluring ads for the next greatest tool to make teaching or learning bulletproof. Companies are springing up like dandelion on an untreated lawn (longing for spring here), and we can't run the risk of not checking out as many as possible for fear of indeed missing something phenomenal, life-changing, education-altering. Download that app and get busy!

I am guilty. I am writing this blog under the subtitle "Online Teacher Underground," tweeting the newest and best tool to followers with that in mind, and capturing relevant and cutting edge suggestions via ScoopIt! and Pinterest boards. I am excited about everything I see and everything I will see. There has never been a time quite like this - ever!

However, I do worry. No matter how the prognosticators wrap the package, we are not sure where this revolution is headed and how we stop it if we suddenly figure out it is not as good as we think.

I didn't watch television as a child. We had one, but it wasn't on very much. I spent a large part of my childhood doing creative and athletic things. I have had conversations with parents who have made a decision to not allow technology to be central in their family's life and they share how much harder it is to take it away once the children have had it. Also, critically hard to cut the power cords at home when schools use, push, and have expectations for technology, especially in this era of flipped classroom thinking. The whole conversation around completely online education from nursery school through terminal degrees is for another time.

Each generation is a product of their upbringing. Do we see ambitious and brilliant adults in their forties, fifties, sixties who were raised without the benefits of online accessibility? Yes indeed. What does that tell us? Are we learning from the past? Can we harness the best of all this tech availability and keep the wild-eyed, frantic, shotgun pellet approach to a minimum? I am not sure we can at this point. You know how the pyramid of exponential growth works. One user tells one more, and then they each tell one more which makes 4 who know, then 8, 16, and on to a cast of millions. Welcome to technology gone viral.


So what do you think? Here are my questions:

• Is technology good or bad? (fundamental query)
• Should young children (under two) be exposed to the Internet, online games, and more?
• Can we turn back? Should we? 
• If not, how do we make sure we are in charge of this movement and not the other way around?

Perhaps you think this is too big an issue for a simple conversation, but I maintain we need to keep an eye on this new era, one person at a time. Or maybe you think it's a moot point - we can never change the trajectory of this digital evolution. The train has left the station and we can never get it back.

Let me hear your voice. I welcome your thoughts, and this topic isn't just for teachers. Please share!