“Teenagers have adopted this technology very aggressively, in part because it’s inexpensive now, and it’s mobile. Everything a teenager does is about being mobile and untethered….with the complexity of our world and the scheduling kids have compared with twenty-five, thirty years ago, it’s a newer way of connecting socially.”  (Philip R, 2007, 75)

Even beyond connecting socially, technology has become a great classroom resource for engaging students. I had a sea of excited parents on open school night when I explained the apps and online resources I worked with in the classroom: Kahoot.it, Remind, Google Classroom, etc. This has helped my students get more excited about what we do in class and also increase productivity. For example, the app “Remind” allows my students to opt in to receiving messages from me (totally private with no exchange of actual phone numbers). Every day, I send out a message at the end of the school day reiterating what the homework is. They get my message as a text message or email, and we know our students will always check their text messages! Because of “Remind,” I have a 100% homework average for every single one of my students. I have found not a single issue in using this service and the students love it! However, we must not assume that all students are  connected. I was lucky in that all my students have the means to participate in my “Remind” messages through either cell phone or email. In schools in low-income neighborhoods, students may not have access to cell phones or computers at home so we cannot rely on this technology. For example, I remember when I was in high school, my teacher would give us a vocabulary list for a book we were reading and she would say, “Use your phones to get the definitions.” The room would fall silent as students got on their phones. At the time I did not have a data plan on my phone, but I wasn’t going to be the only person in the class to raise my hand and explain this, leading to embarrassment. So the class period would be lost to me as I tried to think about what the words might possibly mean, while at the same time becoming stressed out that I would be called on to give a definition and have it look like I didn’t care about the assignment. We have to be mindful of our students’ backgrounds, home lives, and resources and make sure that everyone can participate if we are using some sort of technology in or out of the classroom. No one should be singled out in your classroom. Technology is a great classroom tool but if you are going to use technology in your classroom, but you should make sure you can provide the technology for everyone.