The last two years I have noticed a difference with the majority of my students in the classroom — one that I anecdotally attribute to social changes due to COVID-19. My students, even the best and most self-aware ones, are tied to their phones even more than they were before. Most can articulate how this is happening and why it is not healthy for them, but it as if they are powerless to stop this.

Now I will be addressing strategies for classroom technologies in future posts. But if I am honest, my usage has also changed since the spring of 2020. It has become easier to reflexively respond to the phone and mindlessly scroll through posts. Perhaps that is true for you as well.

To address this issue I decided to perform a technology/social media audit. I will share the results and strategies I identified and am implementing in tomorrow’s post, simply to keep each entry shorter and more focused.

For now, here are the premises under which I operated for the audit:

• Fundamentally, I believe that technology is a gift from God designed for service in His Kingdom and for enjoying the life He has given us on this earth.
• Like any gift that God has given, we have the challenge to use it to His glory and not to damage His Kingdom and others.
• The nature and potentially addictive nature of specific technological tools and services allows for Satan to easily hijack these tools for the purposes of evil.
• Being strategic and intentional about technology usage is essential in this modern age.
• None of us will fully succeed in using technology in ways that build up the Kingdom, so we all need both accountability and grace.
• If I cannot model these strategies well, how can I expect my students to model them?

Do you agree with all of those premises? Are there some that you would add or take away? Feel free to share your thoughts as a comment to this post. For a discussion of the strategies I have adopted through my audit, check out this blog again tomorrow where those will be listed.

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash