Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Imagine a world without social media. No likes. No status updates. No notifications. Those of us born before 2000 can remember life before social media, but I’m not sure how many of us would actually want to go back to those days for any length of time, especially when we start to weigh the advantages and disadvantages that social media platforms have given us in both our personal and professional lives. Those born after 2000, of course, have grown up in a world where social media is as commonplace as eating, sleeping, and breathing. They are now beginning to enter a workplace that has laid the groundwork for social media to be the foundation for how future generations will interact and engage with each other in our global marketplace. We are at a unique time in our human existence --- one where teachers and students are learning, together, how to navigate this brave new digital world. How can teachers make sense o...

As our world becomes more and more digital, our classrooms continue to become transformed through technology. The series of curriculum binders in the back of the teachers classroom have been replaced with a shared “Drive.” The whiteboard at the front of the room seldom has dry erase marking on it because students know their agenda and their notes will always live in the “Cloud” and that the whiteboard is really a way for the teacher to project the Google Classroom on the wall. There is an app for everything --- literally. As we continue to see the rise of screen time among children, coupled with the rise in mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, one can’t help but wonder what, if any, correlation may exist between the two. My wife and I, both educators, try to apply this same logic to our own five children, all under the age of fourteen. As with most parents, we believe in finding a healthy balance with screen time so that our kids can learn to self-regulate with ...