Edtech in the Classroom, and at Home

Hi, I’m Matt Morelli, the director of business development with U-PIC Insurance Services, and School Device Coverage. I’m the father of a pre-teen, who has been using educational technology devices in the classroom for the past few years.

I like to think I am rather young, though my joints may tell a different story. But I understand the need for these devices in the classroom, for no other reason than this is where the world is going. Scratch that, this is where the world is now.

Our textbooks, newspapers, and magazines are this newest generation’s iPad or Chromebook. Where we may have had to go to the library, search for resources, and read carefully to find the data we need — our children simply open an app in the back seat of our cars, type in what they’re looking for, and have rivers of data flowing their way. 40 lb. backpacks full of textbooks are slowly being replaced by 4 lb. messenger bags with an iPad and a recycled bottle of organic, fat free, non-GMO Himalayan spring water.

This is our world, now.

So how do we best deal with it as parents?

In my personal opinion, we should embrace it. We should be aware of it, how it is utilized, what the educational expectations are, and take an active role in it with our children. They will grow up in a world that looks far different than the one in which we grew up. Their opportunities as they enter adulthood will be far different than the opportunities that were presented to us, when we did. These opportunities will mostly be centered around technology — either building upon it, or utilizing it to get a job done. And we need to understand this. School districts that shun technology will produce young adults who are ill-equipped to function in the career marketplace before them. Meanwhile, many low-skill jobs will be, or are already being replaced by technology.

As parents, we must make sure that our children are far ahead of the curve.

My daughter uses her iPad(s) frequently, for school and for personal use. When I review her usage, I see volumes of research into things that interest her. Geological content, meteorological content, Minecraft (of course, and I still have no idea why — in typical adult fashion, I literally don’t understand it at all), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) because she wants to work for them after she graduates, and so forth. I love this! I love this path she is traveling on, and she is able to do it because her school has embraced Educational Technology. Never, as a child, would I have had the ability to do what she is able to do.

A new trail is being blazed, the children are at the helm, and they are using technology to guide themselves. Get on board before it’s too late!