Teen Tech Week 2011
March 6-12 is Teen Tech Week. This is not an event aimed at celebrating that every teen we encounter now seems to have at least two electronic gadgets attached to their fingers and ears, but instead one geared towards promoting intelligent use of all sorts of technology.
Librarians, at one time nervous that the internet spelled the end for libraries as we know them, soon came to realize that we’re the perfect resource for instructing others in its use. This comes easily for us when teaching adults how to search the internet, use a Nook, set up an email address, or manage digital pictures. Which one of those things do you think teens need help with? Right—none of them. For teens we hope to offer something else: ethics, safety, and good judgment.
When doing school work, the Internet is the primary source of information for teens. They spend one-third of their day either on a computer, playing video games, watching television and movies, or reading. Sometimes it seems like they’re doing all of those things at once. While they may be digital natives in figuring out how the gadgets work, their judgment in how they should use them is not fully developed, so don’t let them fool you. It is important that any adult with a teen (or pre-teen) in their lives take part in teaching them the non-hardware skills needed to survive. And it is a matter of survival, because it is nearly impossible to avoid technology while earning a degree or searching for a job.
Ask your teen to unplug one of those earbuds long enough to have a discussion on technology. Ask questions about how they search the internet, how they determine what to believe and not believe. Talk about the ethics of using someone else’s images, or copying and pasting their words into your report. Talk about how much time we budget to spend on Facebook, and what is appropriate to post. This is just as important as the “Just Say No” and sex talks, and a lot more fun, because you’ll probably learn something, too!
Librarians, at one time nervous that the internet spelled the end for libraries as we know them, soon came to realize that we’re the perfect resource for instructing others in its use. This comes easily for us when teaching adults how to search the internet, use a Nook, set up an email address, or manage digital pictures. Which one of those things do you think teens need help with? Right—none of them. For teens we hope to offer something else: ethics, safety, and good judgment.
When doing school work, the Internet is the primary source of information for teens. They spend one-third of their day either on a computer, playing video games, watching television and movies, or reading. Sometimes it seems like they’re doing all of those things at once. While they may be digital natives in figuring out how the gadgets work, their judgment in how they should use them is not fully developed, so don’t let them fool you. It is important that any adult with a teen (or pre-teen) in their lives take part in teaching them the non-hardware skills needed to survive. And it is a matter of survival, because it is nearly impossible to avoid technology while earning a degree or searching for a job.
Ask your teen to unplug one of those earbuds long enough to have a discussion on technology. Ask questions about how they search the internet, how they determine what to believe and not believe. Talk about the ethics of using someone else’s images, or copying and pasting their words into your report. Talk about how much time we budget to spend on Facebook, and what is appropriate to post. This is just as important as the “Just Say No” and sex talks, and a lot more fun, because you’ll probably learn something, too!
posted by SGroskurth at 10:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home