Embrace Change! Hang On For The Ride of Your Life!

"Change is an opportunity to do something amazing!"                       - George Couros

Watching my grandkids interact with their iPad made me reflect on some of the concerns I hear parents and educators struggling with as we all navigate a time of increasingly rapid change due to the exploding growth in technology use.

Many are afraid to let students fully utilize the amazing opportunity to learn that is at their fingertips. Some feel the best thing to do is to "ban" technology in the hopes they can control this rapid change.

Many long for the "good old days" and lament that technology will be the downfall of  the next generation. During this time of rapidly expanding access to knowledge and the world it would be easy to just retreat from it. But is that how we mentor those who will shape the world once we are gone?

I believe we owe it to ourselves and our kids to embrace and engage our changing world in order to help shape the future! Wisdom and experience can bring richness to the discussion of how to use technology to make the world a better place. We can help build a bridge between the values of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow. We can provide the voice for purpose and balance in use of technology. We can become learners side by side with our kids, helping safely guide their journey into unknown destinations.

The kids you see in the picture above are deeply engaged with the technology at their fingertips. They draw on it, listen to books, play games, and learn new things. But these same kids spend hours outside helping their father care for a large dairy herd. They play with a roomful of toys that are often scattered all over the house. And like most of us did, spend some time watching their beloved cartoons on TV. They live a balanced life - learning from technology, books, experiences, and most importantly their parents. Their life is full of learning opportunities at every turn.

So it would seem to me that the best way to embrace change as we are seeing with technology use is to intentionally create opportunities for balance in all of our lives. We must model for our kids how to use technology to connect us with others and make the world a better place. We need to show they how to do amazing things with the endless tools they have access to in the 21st century. We need to join in and help our world change for the better. Hang on tight it is going to be an amazing ride!