Students today live in an on demand culture full of seemingly endless digital options. With a few swipes on their smartphone or tablet students can download a new game, learn a skill on YouTube, “like” a friend’s post, or send a video message out into the world. Instant access to information and the ability to communicate from nearly any location has become the norm. How does this affect the classroom?

While statistics regarding the amount of time students spend on devices can be concerning, it remains important that we consider the reality of our students’ daily lives when designing learning experiences. What is it that draws students to their devices again and again? What motivates them to keep a phone or tablet by their side as often as possible?

Choice & Control – A personal device gives students a plethora of apps, tasks, games, etc. to select from. And they are in control of their own experience. They decide how they will use the device for entertainment, information, or communication. The neuroscience of Universal Design for Learning speaks to the motivating nature of choice. Individuals who have faced trauma (many have argued that COVID19 placed all students in states of uncertainty and that we have experienced collective trauma as a culture) gravitate toward that which they feel in control of – to counteract the instability they have faced.

How might we leverage this in the classroom?

• Provide students a list of tasks to be completed and allow them to decide the order in which they will complete them. (Be sure to have students cross tasks off the list as they complete them, as this will release dopamine in the brain, the chemical that activates motivation.)
• Create a digital space to house numerous resources about the content you want students to explore. Allow them to investigate these resources in a self-paced matter. (Great apps for this are Google Sites, Padlet, Jamboard, and Wakelet.)
• Encourage students to share their learning of content using a digital methods of communication that they are familiar with. Provide a choice of a couple of the ideas below, which include but are not limited to:
  • Create a meme to demonstrate a key idea from an article, inferences regarding a character’s feelings, etc.
  • Write a sample messaging conversation between two individuals either from history or from a text read.
  • Create a tik tok type video (you can use flipgrid for a safe platform for school). The tik tok style video can teach a concept, tell a story, or role play an event.
  • Ask students for their own ideas! Their creativity may surprise you, and will validate them as empowered learners.