Techie Kids in a Non-Techie School System

Technology plays a huge role in my everyday life. I will almost never be without either my laptop or my tablet. I need to be able to connect to something larger than my phone, despite the fact that I have a current generation smart phone. My entire life is built on technology; it is how I communicate in a variety of different roles. I need to email some people regarding my RA responsibilities, then I have to post on Facebook about uniform ordering for the Ultimate Frisbee team, and next I must tweet an advertisement for an RSA event. I am looking at a screen at almost all times throughout a given day. My calendar is also something that I do entirely electronically. I utilize Google calendar a great deal. Every facet of my life is set using this resource; if that calendar service disappeared I would be utterly lost.

            The connection that can be forged between technologies can be incredible. People with an interest in technology and an understanding can easily engage one another in conversation. By being “tech-savvy” a youth worker can ensure that they are up to date on what is important to their youth. Having an understanding of what technologies and resources that youth use can help a youth worker to better understand what youth are doing and build a connection based off a common interest. This common interest can also ensure that youth use technology wisely because they understand that their youth workers will likely see anything that they do on social media or any other form of the Internet.

            Technology can be a tremendous aid in both classrooms and youth work. Student’s are fascinated by all things technology and are interested in using new technologies. It can be extremely useful to hide learning into some kind of technological game, whether it be a literal video game, social media based, or even research based. As was evidence by the experiment of teaching CAD to engineering students, it can often be difficult for educators to latch on to these ideas. Youth workers must be on the forefront of this change in education. The youth look to youth workers to be their outlet, away from the classroom. But if workers cannot provide an understanding of the interests of youth, then they are not providing a complete experience.

Youth workers have a special opportunity when it comes to technology because this section of educators must adapt to technology first. Technology is the way of youth and it is something deeply engrained in their everyday life. Educators are often difficult to change, but youth workers can be fluid in their technics. Those who work with youth, in settings other than the classroom, are often expected to be more understanding of student’s changing interests and learning styles. This is one of the most important aspect of youth development, being adaptable to the ever changing face of the YOUTH.