How Did We Get Here?

Sometimes I really wish we could bring back computer labs, in educational spaces!

You may be thinking, “Wait, don’t you homeschool? Why do you care about computer labs?” Yes, I do homeschool! But I used to teach in a public school classroom. I also attended public schools K-12, and remember my own “computer lab” time as a student with fondness.

When I was a teacher, I taught middle school Spanish, and then Spanish-immersion kindergarten. I left the classroom in 2016, when I had my eldest son. Back then, my district had recently acquired a few carts of iPads for our school to use. I didn’t use them much, because I didn’t see the need. If I had only known what was coming down the pike!

As you probably know, when Covid hit, districts scrambled to find ways to enable every child to continue learning from home. In order to make sure all students had access, most districts around the country purchased tablets for every single student. In the years succeeding, it has been hard to “undo” this new norm.

Without going into the nitty-gritties of technological dangers in this post, I’ll get to the point. I do homeschool, but I still care about what is going on in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools across the country. I miss the days from my own public school experience, where we received instruction from a Computer Lab Teacher, in the School Computer Lab, once a week or so. We learned loads of important skills: typing, PowerPoint presentations, internet safety & discretion, how to research topics, etc. BUT! Computers weren’t sitting in our desks all day long. They weren’t being stowed in our Lisa Frank backpacks, and accompanying us every waking moment. Smart phones weren’t pinging with notifications as we grabbed our Lunchables out of Keroppi lunchboxes. No one had a personal device. They simply didn’t exist.

We could still be kids (and later, teens).

We were free.

Tech Literacy In Homeschool

I’m trying to cultivate a healthy attitude towards technology in my home, while homeschooling. Our world is filled with screens, and there isn’t a lot we can do about it–apart from getting off the grid completely.

Savoring childhood, limiting addictive screen time, and delaying smart phone & social media use are huge priorities for our family. I know these are tricky topics, and every family has different convictions, preferences and practices. If you haven’t already read The Anxious Generation by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, I would highly recommend you do so!

With that said, I have been searching for ways to teach my kids about technology consistently. Similar to the “drip drip” method that Birds & Bees suggests for body safety topics, I want to teach them in a slow but steady way. I want to give them information consistently, so that it is part of everyday conversation. I also want to give them information with caution so that they can grasp topics at age-appropriate times.

Goals for Tech Literacy in Homeschooling

Here are my top goals for myself AND my kids, teaching tech literacy in homeschooling:

• Model tech literacy, discretion and self-control in my own life
• Understand how online content can entice & addict people
• Recognize marketing techniques that big companies use to pull us in
• Study how app creators make their content addicting
• Analyze how companies use us as their product
• Be cautious in sharing personal information, even with standard apps or companies that are mainstream
• Examine examples of positive input and negative input, and notice how certain content makes us feel (positive, negative, neutral)
• Learn about visual stimulation, online social behavior, dopamine and addiction
• Discern credible sources and non-credible sources
• Understanding concepts like clickbait, highlight reel, rage bait, outrage culture, etc.
• Learning what to believe, and not believe, online
• Have integrity with how we present ourselves, comment, and interact with others online

Homeschool Technology Curriculum

Ok, so, you may be thinking, “Cait, that’s too many goals.” Maybe so! But I always think big. I love “brain dumping,” (aka morning pages) each day, and getting thoughts down on paper. I have always been a planner, and my brain is constantly buzzing with new things to teach and model to my kids. One of my favorite things to do is to create my own curriculum–even just tiny pieces of a bigger picture.

After a lot of brainstorming, and testing ideas, I created something really special! Right now, I have it available for free on my Teachers Pay Teachers storefront. It is part of a set that I will be working on this spring and summer. You can take a peek at it here, and download your copy free!

I will be working on a set of these for Instagram, and blogposts to accompany. I would love to hear what technology topics are tricky for you, or what resources you would love to see!

Send me a message here if you have big thoughts on this!

Cait