Guided Technology is Integral to a Good Education

Children make mistakes.  They make mistakes with pencil and paper, and they make mistakes with computers. Some fear children's tech mistakes. They mostly fear these errors because of their reach and often because the adults are not familiar with the tech tools. We can't let fear of tech and tech's reach hinder students' tech education including digital citizenship. If we fear tech so that we quickly close down advantageous, educational, and entertaining sites, we will not have the chance to guide children's use of these sites with care. Instead children will be left to navigate these sites on their own with errors that have much more potential for grave result.

Hence, rather than quickly closing down sites and chastising students' tech error, I suggest the following:

• Work with colleagues to design learning that embeds technology in worthy, inviting ways.  Then work together to troubleshoot, revise, and educate with regard to the technology.
• Talk to students regularly about tech use. Be aware of the tech they are using everyday in their lives, and keep the conversation and coaching a regular part of the teaching schedule.
• Work with family members and others to coach and monitor tech use. This will send a positive message to students, and help everyone to stay educated.  

Technology integration in school is relatively new and constantly changing.  There will be error and there will debate. How this error, debate, and integration is handled will make a significant difference in students' ability to navigate and use technology wisely.  Waiting too long to begin tech integration has the potential to separate children from the advantageous learning and practice possible when guided tech is employed.