Teachnology: Positive or Negative...Hmmm

Technology is a huge part of our lives in the 21st century. Now in days not only teens, but also very young children have smart phones, tablets, computers, and smart watches. These devices can be used for multiple reasons, especially for education. The negative and the positive truth about education technology. First, many schools switch to a laptop / tablet instead of using books. The student does not have to carry many books for each class, but rather one product. A laptop now has many things to advance a student's education, but there's also something called the Internet.  If you look in classrooms at the students' screens; Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Netflix are likely to be found. School administrations are trying to block these websites, but students are constantly find ways to break those codes. It is difficult for a student to remain focused when they have a machine in front of them that will do countless things. Since, teachers can't be checking the students screen every second, there is no telling what they can get into. Also, One example I have from my own classroom, is the students all created emails.  Their assignment was to send each other one email writing about their favorite hobby.  All worked out well with that activity. But now when the students need to be on either IXL or A to Z, I have students approaching me that so and so has been sending them tons of emails with nonsense stuff in it.  So, I believe we have to explain to the students the important technology rules and consequences before allowing them to use any of the devices.