We are in a technological revolution that started in the late 90’s. Technology is everywhere. When the kids leave school, they go home to their own devices. They are surrounded by phones, computers, video game consoles, and so on. This immersion is going to continue. It may change forms, but it is unlikely to subside. That means that schools must take an active lead in helping children use these different forms of technology well.

Over the last 25 or so years, schools have paid lip service to technology. They brought computers into schools, taught students how to type, and asked students to hand in printed essays instead of handwritten ones. But for the most part, technology integration is lacking, whether it is because teachers don’t have the skills, people are afraid of the technology, or it is being banned from the school, we aren't doing enough to prepare students for the technological world they live in.

Cellphones are currently banned in schools from Kindergarten to grade 8 and limited in high schools. Our Premier, Wab Kinew, is considering a ban on social media and AI until age 16. When do the students learn how to use these things appropriately if we wait until they are almost adults to allow them to use it at all? Is responsible use of social media and AI learned by osmosis on a student's sixteenth birthday? When are schools going to start teaching these skills?

Using a smartphone to text your friends is not the same thing as using Google to find relevant, accurate information on a given subject. We spend hours in schools teaching students how to navigate the library. We spend very little time teaching students how to navigate Google. Using a search engine is a task with specific skills, no different than trying to find books in a library. Given that we are in a technological age, we should be spending equally appropriate amounts of time teaching students how to navigate search results. If we don’t do this, we should not be surprised when students use an opinion based blog as evidence to support their essays because they have not been taught the difference between a blog, a news article, or an academic article. Without that knowledge, they may use Wikipedia or a blog instead of credible sources.

The Manitoba English Language Arts curriculum is fairly generic in terms of the types of texts it asks teachers to use. But without enough skills, teachers will naturally default back to the things they know. If those things include mostly print books found in libraries, then the students will be lacking the integrative technology skills they need.

We can no longer treat technology education as a separate class that happens after the “real work” is done. It is no longer a treat or an add-in. It is a foundational part of education that must be taught explicitly in the classroom starting in Kindergarten, with age-appropriate lessons and child friendly tools designed to create Internet literacy and awareness from the very beginning.