Children and young people use mobile phones, computers, social media, and the internet on a daily basis, including when they are in school. The truth of technology usage in education and recreation has moderated worries about the dangers of excessive screen time or internet activity for children and young people.

The pandemic experience, during which much learning and socialising took place online, has also altered attitudes on technology use. According to the U.K. communications watchdog Of com, just a small percentage of kids and teenagers did not use the internet or had access to it in 2020.

When it comes to evaluating how children and young people use technology, such as mobile phones, and the impact it has on them, teachers are in a unique position. They observe how youngsters utilise technology for learning and socialising, as well as how it impacts their interactions with others.

I conducted extensive study with eight instructors from various origins, ages, and types of educational institutions around the U.K. with the help of colleagues. We questioned the instructors about their observations of kids’ and teens’ use of technology, including how they believed it influenced their feelings, actions, and ability to learn both before and during the epidemic.

The teachers discussed the value of technology as a tool for teaching and learning as well as the chances it offers for creativity. It is what the kids are used to, and it engages them more, as one teacher put it. It is a wonderful tool that may enhance our teaching.
empowered by technology

We also discovered that educators were upbeat about the potential of technology to empower kids and teenagers. Even children who are reserved in class find it simpler to express themselves online, the commenter said. They utilise social networking sites to learn from one another and to share their opinions.”

They believed that through observing their own emotions and technological usage behaviours, kids and teenagers may learn to comprehend and identify the warning signals of harmful technology use. This includes paying attention to how they and others are feeling and demonstrating empathy and caring.What educators believe about young people’s usage of technology One educator said that youngsters were becoming more sympathetic and lending a hand to pals who were displaying indications of hardship in their online posts.

However, several educators voiced worry about how using social media negatively impacted children’s and adolescents’ social abilities. They lack the skills to engage in appropriate discourse with their pals, according to one instructor. Because it’s simple to be cruel behind a computer and not have to deal with it, they don’t know how to settle anything.

Another questioned the impact of technology on play. They said, “You will literally see crowds of them around a phone, they don’t know how to play.”

Teachers also emphasised the difficulties of giving up technology use. According to a teacher, parents struggle daily to keep their kids away from screens, and the next day they are worn out.The kids are so exhausted that it’s tough to get them to school.

Teachers talked about how they pushed their students to play team sports to promote interpersonal interaction and dispute resolution. The instruction on how to live with technology, be resilient in the face of problems, and utilise technology in a balanced way may be more explicitly taught, even though Some facets of internet use and online safety are taught in schools.

The PHSE Association, a national organisation for personal, social, health, and economic education, provides recommendations on online safety and skills for the curriculum, such as the potential risks of pornography, but there is still room to develop a more comprehensive strategy for promoting healthy technology use. This might be accomplished in the classroom by simply practising how to make wise digital choices, such as exercising caution when speaking with strangers online or recognising when spending a lot of time online. To help children and young people be aware, critical, and resilient about information they are likely to view and interact with, it might involve utilising social media posts as examples from the real world.

Teachers believed that included internet safety in the curriculum would be beneficial, as would giving children and teenagers the chance to discuss their use of technology and personal experiences with it. What educators believe about young people’s usage of technology There are predators out there, an instructor once said. My children and I do talk about internet safety problems, but some information ought to be covered in the curriculum and available to parents as well.

The instructors emphasised the need for additional help in their technological literacy and urged that this be included into teacher training more. We need to stay up with the times, and if this epidemic taught us anything, it’s that not all of us are, one instructor remarked. One-time training is insufficient; instead, schools should invest in ongoing, technology-related professional development initiatives.

Technology provides many advantages for kids and teenagers, but it also has certain hazards. An excellent strategy to assist kids and teenagers in understanding and balancing their internet time is to pay more attention to how instructors may handle this in the classroom.