Students on coping crucial situation using digital platforms

By Divina P. Coruno

Technology gave birth to several innovations and fads that have been synchronized with our daily lives. Almost everyone of all ages is engrossed and indulged ample amount of time scrolling on their respective phones getting updates from fashions, news, events, and even liking a post from one of their so-called friends. The convenience given by the famous social media platforms paved the way to more socialization behind screens and draw constructive relevance to its end users.

Another advantage of this technological era is the adaptation of digital platforms as learning tools in school settings which catered to students during the onset of the pandemic due to the immobility of face-to-face instruction. Moreover, through this, students could become adaptive and increase their technological skills by being dependent on technology to acquire new concepts and skills in the absence of their teachers.

Nowadays, digital platforms do not only aim for entertainment but companies decided to push a wider range for its utilization especially since changes and adaptations vary from time to time. Facebook, Tiktok, and Instagram, to name a few can become sources of news updates, public information and so many causes that can easily reach wider audiences. Moreover, it become advantageous enough as digital/media users are always online and can easily grasp the new trends in a second. Hence, information can easily be accessed with just a click of a screen without any hassle.

Despite the technological inclination and easy access to information, there are still vague areas that are needed for an answer. Whether we were presented with hassle-free information dissemination still, negative effects will not be an exemption and we should not turn a blind side to it.

Digitization has been recognized all over the world as it can be helpful, especially in the school setting where students were taught to be technologically inclined as it can be considered a life skill that they can use in every situation. However, the utilization of these digital platforms and too much access to the internet and gadget use may greatly affect students’ attitudes and behavior, and how they cope with different situations.

As early as toddlers, every student has acquired their phones and gadgets and can already access the know-how of the internet. However, there are some tendencies that this habitual action can greatly cause a negative effect on them. According to a study by Almojuela et al, spending more time on social media than reviewing the topics that a student has learned at school may cause them to inculcate bad habits and poor grades, leading them to feel inadequate to reach their goals and have a better career in the future.

At home, children whose phones have been confiscated by their parents will display unwanted behavior just to have their phones back. Students in classroom settings have always been called their attention due to the use of their phones during discussions. When it comes to dealing with their emotions, instead of talking to someone they would always rant their thoughts and hurtful to their social media account and would let everyone on their friends’ list comment and react to what they posted when it should remain as a personal matter. Issues would tend to be always publicized and sensationalized to gain attention and sympathy and that can result to be the talk of the town.

When it comes to academic requirements, gone are the days when students would go to the library and read a book or write their assignments and any school activities religiously. Instead, they would always make use of the internet to conveniently finish their tasks and sometimes without even recognizing the authors and sources where they get their answers.

However good the technology presented so many advantages that can suffice to learn and make life easier, it can’t still hide the fact that people tend to become overly dependent and uncontrollably hooked to its conveniences. Children nowadays preferred to utilize things online from games, books, movies, and even friends. They lack physical activities and stay indoors causing them to become obsessed and have an unbalanced lifestyle. Socialization outside and far from screen time made them have difficulty making actual friends. All this can lead them to become lazy and unable to develop other life skills.

In addition, coping with crucial situations in life is even hard for them as they would always relate what happens in real life to a drama or movie they recently watched that as if it will also happen to them.

Since change is the only permanent thing in this world and technology is always susceptible to change, what can we do from here?

We were once ignorant of technology and we experienced the feeling of exploring something new to us but now is a lot more different. Age is just a number when it comes to technology, so how do we survive this unending modernization and help our succeeding generations to flourish and become more responsible in the utilization of digital platforms?

According to Christopher McGilvery, teachers must demonstrate, guide, and help students practice appropriate and professional behavior while actively participating in authentic learning experiences using blogs, wiki spaces, learning management systems, online research, and much more. He gave tips in order to help these students to become digitally responsible. These tips start from taking care of their technology equipment so that they can use it for a long time.

Students must also know how to explore sites that are safe for learning and research. They must use the internet appropriately to prevent problems. They must also be aware of the importance of copyright law and acknowledge the resources they used properly in order to avoid plagiarism. Since freedom of expression is true for everyone, they should still remember that they can make mistakes which can lead to cyberbullying and is not good as it can tamper someone’s image. They should also be reminded that it is important to protect their self-image and not be a target of bullying and abuse.

Lastly, they still need to remember that technology and the usage of digital platforms are helpful but they should not be the only resources for learning, hence, they must think and put into consideration how will they manage and survive in the absence of these digital platforms.