youthspeakoutint.orgActive vs. Passive Technology Use
When you think of how today’s young people interact with the digital world, it’s easy to imagine a child clutching their device, their eyes glazed over as they fail to process the video or images that come across their screens. We think of hours wasted in front of a device, when that child could have been doing something creative and new.
But that is an oversimplification of the issue of technology overuse. Of course, regardless of what you’re doing in life, it’s important to have balance. Children and teens shouldn’t be chained to their devices all day. But what they’re doing on that device– whether they’re building a world in Minecraft or scrolling through YouTube videos– is incredibly important. Scrolling through YouTube videos or watching a TV show represents “passive” use of technology. Children aren’t being asked to interact with the media in any way– they are consuming rather than creating, discovering, building.
But in “active” technology use, people engage with the programs they use. This could be something like recording a video, building a virtual world, or writing a story on their laptop. While passive technology use can be an unhealthy brain-drain, active technology use can be a great tool for learning and discovery.
At Youth Speak Out, we engage our students through active technology use. We give them access to iPads, which they use to do research on digital citizenship and record a PSA with their classmates. These exercises require students to use critical thinking skills, work together as a team, and create something new.
The overuse of technology is an important topic of conversation. But when we explore the issue, it’s important to dig deeper. It’s not enough to look at how much young people are using technology. We also must ask what they are doing on those devices, and if those activities are helping them learn and grow.
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