Shaping the New Normal for Norms

I like to people watch. This summer I dedicateda good amount of time to observing how people of all ages use technology. I observed people on the subway, the street, in groups and alone. I observed people on their bikes, walking and pushing strollers.

My stretch of sleuthing came to a perfect point the other night. It was a gorgeous summer night and I was sitting outside enjoying the summer breeze while eating dinner at a restaurant. The twenty-something couple next to me had just been served their edible masterpieces and one of them proceeds to document the meal by taking pictures of her food (her world must know!). With the best of his manners, her friend sat there salivating at the smell of his food while waiting for her to finish this sharable moment. She responded to his hungry glare with "oh, I'm almost done with my hashtags". I wanted to turn to her and say "take pictures now and post later the man is hungRY!"

All of this intake has lead me to thoughts about how technology will continue to morph our social interactions in the short and long run if we do not have open discussions about our current actions. As I begin the school year I think about our students and the role technology plays in their everyday and what we, as a collective of adults, can do to be points of influence for this ever growing crop of new social norms.

As we begin the school year I urge you to think about how use technology in your classroom and how our practices as teachers are shaping the lives of our students with some questions:

How is the technology enhancing the lesson? I don't believe technology should be the only choice in a classroom. If a student wants to write an assignment by hand because that's their preference for processing information then it should be an option. In my opinion, technology should be used when it improves the workflow of the student's thinking and adds a unique element to a lesson.

If teachers are uncomfortable about what their students could be doing on a device then norms in the classroom need to be inclusive of technology. For example, at my current school we ask students to place their screen at a 45 degree angle when someone is speaking. If students continue to type, then their screen is placed all the way down.
Assignments, especially in the elementary grades, should reflect the personality of the student. If any tool makes an assignment look too perfect then think about ways the tool can be used to personalize the student's work. Making digital collages or printing out assignments and having students add illustrations is a way to personalize assignments.

How much screen time do your students have in a typical day? If students are working on their devices for more than twenty minutes they should be taking stretch breaks and looking away from their screens. (Let's table the discussion about the computer based testing for another time).
If students are working on screens in a group there should be an agreement for any person speaking to ask the group members to put their screens down and give eye contact. One person can record while the others talk. This isn't a matter of questioning one's ability to multi-task, it is about laying the expectations and practices for conversational manners. (It is important teachers model this too.)

What is your students' digital identity? How often do you talk with your students about their digital footprint? What is the path of posts they leave behind them? Many teachers have this discussion once during the year and feel it's said and done. Many middle and high schools have 1:1 programs with minimal discussions about digital citizenship or privacy agreements. Students can be engaged in these ideas by becoming activists in their school for responsible posting. Students should know who owns their digital information once it is posted and how fast it can spread. Students should also know their intentions with digital information, such as photos and videos, can be different than the impact on the people involved. This is not a discussion to have once a year as it intersects with the lives of students every day. In my opinion it is better to be on the side of proactive than reactive.


This year I am giving active effort to thinking about how I, as a teacher, model digital awareness. I am thinking about how often students see adults check phones for information that can wait until they are not in the room. I am thinking about how adults model clear and thorough communication expectations with Email, printed assignments and commenting. I wonder if we are empowering our students with teaching them how to ask someone to put away their phone, not to post pictures or know their rights when they select "accept" after signing up for a game site or app.

The task of building responsible citizens requires an understanding of the role technology plays in the definition. It's an uncomfortable place to take ownership of the actions we don't like seeing happening and admitting we do them too. The inclusion of proactive conversations on the influence technology is having on social norms is new territory for many learning environments. However you choose to define its purpose and role, I encourage you to begin the conversation with yourself, colleagues and students.