I am very excited and grateful to be a part of Cohort 21. Meeting all the participants at our face to face session was motivating and refreshing.
My professional goals for this year. First, I would like to introduce an interdisciplinary study between physical education and science departments. I would like to do this by educating the students on the links between scientific research (the why) and the mental illness/behaviour issues (the effect) of misuse of technology. I would like to create a workshop for the middle school students to educate them and then have them complete a task for them to learn by “doing”.
Pedagogy, belonging and wellbeing (7-12) is where I would like to focus. I feel that what is urgent right now is educating students about the misuse of technology and how it is effecting their developing brain. This is important because the choices and habits they are building at this age will create long lasting and dangerous effects.
Questions I have are:
- How can I make this engaging and meaningful for the students
- Age group to mainly focus on. Grade 7 and 8?
- Where to find the most appropriate resources.
Tanja, one of our high school science teachers does something similar with his grade 12 kinesiology course. He runs it like a book study using the book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” by Peter Attia. If you like, I could put him in contact with you to discuss.
That would be fantastic! Thank you so much 🙂
@tness
Thank you for sharing your goals and vision for the year! Your enthusiasm for Cohort 21 and your commitment to addressing such a relevant and impactful topic—technology misuse and its effects on mental health. Your interdisciplinary approach of combining physical education and science is a powerful way to provide students with both the “why” and the “how” in a meaningful context.
Questions to Push Your Thinking:
1. Engagement and Meaningfulness:
• How might you make the workshop interactive and student-centered? Could you use role-playing, case studies, or simulations to allow students to explore real-life scenarios and their outcomes?
• How will you connect the topic to students’ everyday experiences with technology to make it feel relevant and personal? Could you incorporate activities like tracking their screen time or reflecting on how certain apps affect their mood or focus?
2. Student Agency:
• How could you give students ownership of their learning in this workshop? For example, could they design their own mini-campaigns or educational materials to share with peers?
• Could you integrate peer-to-peer teaching, where students create and deliver content for younger grades, reinforcing their learning while broadening the workshop’s impact?
3. Resources and Research:
• Where will you source credible, age-appropriate resources? Have you considered reaching out to local experts, such as psychologists or neuroscientists, to collaborate on content?
• Could you leverage multimedia resources like videos, infographics, or apps to make the science behind the topic more accessible and engaging?
4. Assessment and Impact:
• How will you assess the success of the workshop? Could you use pre- and post-surveys to measure changes in students’ awareness or attitudes about technology use?
• How might you create a follow-up plan to reinforce the learning? For example, could you integrate periodic check-ins or projects related to this topic throughout the school year?
Your focus fits beautifully within the Pedagogy, Belonging, and Wellbeing (7-12) strand. By addressing technology misuse, you are tackling a pressing issue that affects students’ cognitive and emotional development while providing them with tools to make better choices. The experiential and interdisciplinary nature of your workshop also aligns with this strand’s emphasis on engaging and supporting learners in meaningful ways.
Justin
Justin,
Thank you so much for this! Your questions are getting my mind rolling again.
I really like the idea of the pre-assessment.
Super appreciate the help!
@tness – I’m excited to see where you take this project. We are doing similar work at UCC as we try and figure out the best ways to engage students in conversations to boost their self-awareness about health tech us. Our technology coaches have been using Common Sense Media to provide thematic focus for the lessons and the wellbeing team is reading the tech solution by Dr Shimi Kang. Let’s keep each other posted on our progress! @jmartin. @ljensen
Thank you, Tina!
I will look into both these resources 🙂
Hi Tanja – this sounds like such an interesting project! Have you also thought about reaching out to your ICT team at your school? Our ICT teacher in the past has done some really great work with our Grade 8 students about how social media targets specific audiences and how easy it is for their algorithm to be influenced. Just providing another perspective to the topic! I’m looking forward to seeing how this project develops over the year!
Denise,
Thank you for the advice. In conversation with the Head of Middle School, we thought this would be a great initiative to do with the advisor groups.
This is a timely and very important initiative! I admire your focus on connecting science, physical education, and technology’s impact on mental health. For engagement, consider real-life scenarios or hands-on activities to make the topic tangible. Grade 7 and 8 are ideal for forming healthy habits, but scaffolding for older grades could deepen the discussion.
I am no pro in this area but did a quick search to see if I could assist you:
MediaSmarts- https://mediasmarts.ca/
As a parent and as a teacher, I have used Common Sense Media to help guide students to appropriate resources (also good to check if a movie is appropriate for a child!)
I’m excited to see how this develops, it aligns with many conversations taking place in our schools at present.
Gareth,
Thank you for the resource. I will be sure to look into this!