Home, Education and Technology Worlds. Fully Integrated?
22 August 2022
Recent action by Apple to keep unwanted activity out of its systems reminds us of the need to update technology to stay safe regularly. These security issues are well publicised by the BBC and others. Irrespective of the technology provider, we need to spend our time applying updates.
There is huge power where the worlds of Home, Education and Technology intersect. Many technical problems are too big to be resolved by updating hardware or software. The number of people owning a smart mobile phone is approximately 7 billion. Over 90% of the world’s population.
Basic phones are enjoying a resurgence. New phones with a similar specification to my Nokia 3210 of the late 1990s are now being made. Texts and calls only. Continual internet access is not life-improving for all. Many need a break.
There are forums and advice pages for those with mobile phone addiction. Many are deciding to ditch their phones, as reported by the BBC and others.
Connection with real people can suffer, replaced by connection with virtual people augmented to look superior. Comparison between the real and virtual worlds can be alarming and leave people of all ages feeling inferior, unlucky, unpopular, unattractive, poor and disenfranchised.
It can be unsettling and time-consuming to exist simultaneously in real and virtual worlds. One world can be enough of a challenge for many. How many apps must I use to keep up? How much time do I need for this?
Should we be surprised by the alarming increase in depression amongst adolescents and the number of psychosocial treatments being administered to young people? Mental health and social anxiety can be made worse and better by technology. We must carefully choose how to use it.
Keeping children safe in Education (May 2022) is statutory guidance issued under various Acts as described on page 3 of the publication. It comes into force on 1 September 2022. The terms “must” and “should” are used throughout the guidance. It is neither brief nor light reading. Like technology, the depth can be drowning. A team approach is required to understand and address the complexities.
The word Technology is used 12 times. The broad range of issues are categorised by the four C’s of Content, Contact, Conduct and Commerce. (p. 35)
“All staff should be aware that technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues.” (p. 10)
“An effective whole school and college approach to online safety empowers a school or college to protect and educate pupils, students, and staff in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms to identify, intervene in, and escalate any concerns where appropriate.” (P. 35)
Good and bad are mixed up in technology deployment. We must not just focus on the positive benefits of technology and unguardedly allow the negative to be accepted as the norm.
Given the extent to which technology can impact our ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, I found the updated Keeping Children safe in education document completely engaging. It is not entirely enjoyable, as a good book may be. Apparently, post-pandemic, the popularity of books has increased significantly.
Old phones are making a comeback, and so is vinyl. I recently listened to the album “Iron Man” by Pete Townsend based on the well know story by Ted Hughes.
Topic teaching continues to provide an enjoyable context for the learning of value in the real world. In the sleeve of my LP, I found a copy of the January 1990 “Child Education” magazine, which featured The Iron Man. It offers ideas to support the learning of Shape and Space in Maths, Energy in Science, and more … Old attainment targets in the early national curriculum.
The relationship between young Hogarth and The Iron Man was key. How The Iron Man was perceived by people evolved and changed. His desire to eat metal of all varieties caused some understandable rejection. But there was good with the bad. When the Space Dragon came,… no spoilers here.
The relationship between machines and people is explored in a vast amount of fiction, such as The Terminator, Star Wars (C-3P0, R2-D2…) and more recently, The Orville with a Kalon Android crew member. These were not part of my primary school curriculum planning in the 1990s.
Like it or not, for the majority of people, the integration of man and machine is developing with science fiction increasingly science fact. There are a growing number of wearables and implants. We already have Artificial Intelligence and numerous virtual realities. The recent Meta/Facebook changes were driven by the concept of a metaverse. A virtual space where users can come together via Artificial Reality, Virtual Realities and cryptocurrency.
If education is about preparing children for their future and not just the next assessment, do we give the relationship between technology and people enough attention? We must consider the safe use of technology and should promote sources of joy, with and without it.