{"id":16998,"date":"2016-11-18T07:11:32","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T12:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/mom-dad-im-bored-how-digitization-affects-our-childrens-education\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T07:11:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T12:11:32","slug":"mom-dad-im-bored-how-digitization-affects-our-childrens-education","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/mom-dad-im-bored-how-digitization-affects-our-childrens-education\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMom, Dad, I\u2019m bored!\u201d \u2013 How Digitization affects our Children\u2019s Education?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kids today are growing up in a far different world than we were just a few years ago. In the Digital Era, kids are already \u201cconnected\u201d at a very young age; according to a research conducted during 2016, the average age for getting a first smartphone is 10.3 years and 50% of kids have social media accounts by the age of 12 (1).
\nMany researches are held in order to understand how this new world affects our children; We cannot ignore the benefits of children being exposed to new ideas, global social experiences, access to information and knowledge as well as technology skills. However, many concerns are rising regarding the damage\u00a0to interpersonal communication skills, negative effect on health as well as decrease in attention span and learning abilities (2).<\/p>\n

Kids spend a significant part of their day at school. However, while children habits have changed, most of schools classrooms seem very similar to what they were 10-20 years ago. Moreover, there is a major \u201cdigital gap\u201d between how educators view their use of technology in class and how the students themselves perceive it, a survey conducted in U.S. schools shows that while 75% of teachers claim they regularly use technology in the classroom, only 40% of students report that technology is used in their classroom. In Addition, 86% of students report they use more technology outside of school than in it (3).<\/p>\n

We can argue the extent to which a change needs to be done, but one will find it hard to argue the importance of this matter. As for U.S. department of education, during the recent years, the conversation has already shifted from whether<\/strong> technology should be used in learning to how<\/strong> technology can improve learning to ensure that all students have access to high-quality educational experiences (4).
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Is digitization of education just inevitable? Or can it actually be an opportunity to enhance learning and curiosity in a system already blamed to destroy children creativity?<\/em><\/p>\n

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Google for Education<\/strong> is an ecosystem of digital tools dedicated to provide\u00a0students and teachers\u00a0education via digital platforms and innovative technology.<\/p>\n