{"id":1182,"date":"2019-10-17T20:59:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T20:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getepic.com\/learn\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2020-07-14T21:55:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T21:55:45","slug":"what-i-learned-from-techno-parenting-like-a-lizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getepic.com\/learn\/what-i-learned-from-techno-parenting-like-a-lizard\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Learned From Techno-Parenting Like a Lizard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Andrea Paganelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish my kiddos would be as excited about reading time as they are about device time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013anonymous<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might think that, as a mom who happens to be a librarian and educational technologist, I have a magic formula for encouraging my kids to read and engage in the proper use of technology. That I should have it all figured out \u2026 no. The struggle is real! As parents and\/or educators we have no pixie dust, potions or easy buttons to control the quality of reading and technology engagement our children are experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confession is good for the soul. So here it goes, I have used technology as a tool to keep my children occupied and allow me to accomplish tasks. I know, it\u2019s shocking! My use of this style of parenting with technology\u2014or techno-parenting\u2014was out of perceived necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising Kids, Not Lizards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking back, I was behaving as if I were parenting lizards. You don\u2019t see lizard moms teaching lizard children how to tie shoes, ride bikes or listen properly. Lizard children are born and the lizard mom is out of there! So, my techno-parenting skills were at lizard level. My engagement with my kiddos\u2019 technology and reading needed improving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I needed to have communication about and monitoring of my learners\u2019 use of technology and reading. One way to accomplish both of these goals was to include technology in read-aloud time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read-Aloud in the Age of Tech<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not debating if low-tech read-aloud is a societal force for the greater good\u2014it is! Read-aloud is a shared experience that can cut across boundaries of age, race, gender and economics. In the read-aloud we all come to the experience with an equal opportunity to listen and learn. We have a shared and research-supported understanding that reading aloud can positively impact a myriad of literacy development skills, motivation to read and future academic performance.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re also not debating if technology is a major influencer of life experience for our kids. It definitely is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our students, according to the Kaiser Foundation\u2019s longitudinal study, are screen time technology users at the rate of 6 hours and 19 minutes a day, to 7 hours and 38 minutes a day for those up to age 10. The screen-time technology use increases with age and tops out with 18-year olds at as much as 11 hours and 28 minutes. These statistics are alarming and compounded by the engagement being primarily passive and outside of the educational realm.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world of technology proliferation, does the traditional read-aloud experience optimally engage our tech-savvy learners?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Best of Both Worlds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube is providing our kids with a vast catalogue of oral \u201cstorytime\u201d from a multitude of personalities on a plethora of topics. The experiences of read-aloud and screen-time technology uses such as YouTube \u201cstorytime\u201d are alien to one another. The aims are drastically different, but the technology use for engagement could become a commonality. Use this dichotomy to build a bridge between quality literature and productive screen-time technology use and meet our learners in the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we address the reading and technology tug-of-war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Power of the Digital Read-Aloud <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We can combine reading and technology through the use of digital read-aloud. Combining the positive, knowledge-creating aspects of the read-aloud with the use of supportive technology can bring heightened engagement to our digital native learners. Does this engagement equal learning? It has potential. Deliberate book selections that require text quality with supportive technologies can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n