Each week students at Irene Reither Elementary School visit the tech lab. The tech lab is supported by instructional coach Cynthia Richardson and technology education support specialist Tami Anderson. Lessons are centered around digital citizenship and digital literacy, and are created in relationship to the OSPI technology education standards.
Provided by the 2020 technology levy, students are assigned district-issued one-to-one devices. Students in kindergarten and first grade are assigned iPads, while students in grades second through fifth grade are assigned Chromebooks.
One of the most important aspects of the tech lab is learning what it means to be a good digital citizen. Meridian uses Common Sense Media’s K-5 curriculum to support this learning in addition to Google’s Be Internet Awesome (grades 3-5) and iKeepSafe’s Faux Paw: The Internet Safety Cat Stories (TK-2). Digital citizenship includes lessons on these themes: media balance and well-being, privacy and security, digital footprint and identity, relationships and communication, cyberbullying, digital drama and hate speech, and news and media literacy.
“When we talk about digital citizenship, we talk about how our words can be taken the wrong way when we are on a device. It is important to always be kind and always ask before getting on a device. Make good choices and balance your time by not being on your device all the time. Don’t talk to strangers,” Anderson said. “But ultimately it’s about keeping ourselves safe, by not sharing our personal information with others we don’t know or even those we do know as it can be stolen. What type of information is okay to share and what isn’t.”
Students also focus on age appropriate technology skills. Students in grades third through fifth focus on typing about 15 minutes per week using the program Keyboarding Without Tears. The program introduces the home row, finger placement and keyboard awareness. Students in grades 2-5 engage in lessons from the TechnoKids curriculum to support learning the programs in Google Suite such as slides, docs, sheets and drawing. Transitional kindergarten and first graders use apps like Starfall to support learning foundational reading and math skills. All students have been able to participate in learning to code this year through the courses on Code.org.
One concern often heard when discussing technology in the classroom is that students have too much screen time. Richardson explained there is a difference between students being consumers of technology, like scrolling on social media or watching YouTube, and being creative innovators with their technology like coding, problem-solving and collaborating.
“I would say the concern about too much screen time is valid and we are intentional about making sure our students experience both digital and tactile learning,” Richardson said, “But learning doesn’t just happen with pen and paper. We also have to consider that the world we’re preparing our students for is different than when we were in the school system. In order for our students to lead successful lives in the local and global community, we must teach students computer skills so they can be technologically literate which prepares them for their life and career goals.”
Resources to support families with technology can be found on our website: www.meridian.wednet.edu/tech-resources/.