EDTECH: If intentionality is key to effective use of educational technology, how can educators apply this in practice?
HIRSH-PASEK: The question is not as much about the gadget and gizmo as it is about what’s the best way to teach. These things offer tremendous opportunities, but at the same time we have to understand that teaching evolved for a reason, and I mean “evolved.” It’s been around forever. We all know the story of Socrates. We all know that in ancient Rome and ancient Greece, we had great teachers. Why were they so important, even in biblical times? Because humans relate to other humans.
Teaching is a relationship between two people. Finding the balance between the amount of information given, its delivery system, and relationships that support learning is the name of the game.
Our job is to figure out what works well and what does not. Active, engaged, meaningful and socially interactive learning is good. Passive, distracting, not meaningful and solo make something worse. Now we can create a profile and judge it along these criteria, along with how well it meets its prospective learning goal.
EDTECH: Some educators have concerns about potential negative effects of screen time. Are these concerns legitimate?
HIRSH-PASEK: My sense from watching kids in front of technology is yes. They’re like glue.
Personally, I’m a chocoholic, and I’m not giving up my chocolate. In the same way, kids shouldn’t give up their screens. But you negotiate when they’re going to be on it and when they’re going to be off it, and we abscond our responsibility when we don’t regulate.
Let’s take the analogy of dessert. Our kids love dessert. Dessert is addicting. Would we let our kids have chocolate cake for dinner? No. The best thing to do is to understand that nothing is an absolute in the world, and certainly nothing is an absolute with young children. Nobody minds if you have chocolate cake after dinner, but let’s make sure you have the right food first.