My Values & Tech PDF

GRADE TIME 6–12 45 mins. TOPICS & SUBJECTS Media Balance & Well-Being Health & Wellness My Values & Tech What are my values, and how do media and tech impact them? In this lesson, students explore their own values and consider how today's technologies make it easier or harder to live out diff...

GRADE TIME 6–12 45 mins. TOPICS & SUBJECTS Media Balance & Well-Being Health & Wellness My Values & Tech What are my values, and how do media and tech impact them? In this lesson, students explore their own values and consider how today's technologies make it easier or harder to live out different values. They also learn about how making choices that align with their values can promote a greater sense of well-being. This is one of four lessons in our digital well-being collections for middle school and high school. If time permits, we recommend teaching all four lessons, in the suggested order, to maximize impact. Students will be able to: - Reflect on their personal values and what's most important to them. - Consider how different values are supported and/or compromised by tech. - Learn about connections between our values, behaviors, and well-being. Vocabulary: Subscribe to our newsletter! values Get free resources and keep up with the latest principles or personal rules that are important to usmedia and are by our andinformed tech trends for experiences, educators. identities, cultures, and much more [email protected] digital well-being experiencing media and technology in ways that support one's mental, physical, social, and emotional ZIP code I'm not in the U.S. health Sign me up What You’ll Need Some resources below are available in Spanish IN CLASS - Lesson Slides - My Values Sort Handout - Values Posters - Virtual Values Voting LESSON PREP Part 1: My Values Sort — Preview Part 1 of the lesson and choose how you want to facilitate the activity (handout or values cards) Optional: If time and resources permit, you can create a deck of the values cards for each student using Page 1 of the Values Posters. They can use the physical cards to complete the sorting activity. Part 2: Tech's Impact on Values — Prep the class voting activity in advance: Printable option: Print out the Values Posters and place them on a wall in the classroom. Have something students can use for voting, each with two different colors (e.g., sticky notes, stickers, or Subscribe to our markers). newsletter! Digital option: Use the Virtual Values Voting slides and have students vote virtually. Get free resources and keep up with the latest media and tech trends for educators. Lesson Plan I'm not in the U.S. Part 1: My Values Sort 20 mins. 1. Ask: What are values, and how are they formed? What are some examples of values? (Slide 4) Invite students to share out. Then define values as principles or personal rules that are important to us and are informed by our experiences, identities, cultures, and much more. (Slide 5). 2. Say: We all hold our own values. Our values are informed by our personal experiences, identities, cultures, and much more. There are two important aspects to think about regarding values. 1. We don't all value the same things, and even if we do, we may prioritize them differently. For example, we may both care about honesty and kindness, but you may feel like kindness is more important than honesty, while I could hold the opposite view. 2. Our values can shift and evolve over time as we learn and grow. What you care most deeply about right now may be different from what you valued most a year ago, or what you may value a year from now. 3. Say: Today, we are going to reflect on our individual values and how we can act in ways that feel aligned with who we are and who we want to be. We're going to start by reviewing a set of 14 values. Just note that these are listed in alphabetical order, not in order of importance. Project Slides 6–10 and review all of the values. As needed, talk through definitions. Then, project Slide 11 and ask: Are there any values that you think are missing from the list? 4. Have students complete the My Values Sort activity. - Printed: Distribute the My Values Sort student handout for students to complete individually. 5. Project Slide 12 and have students share their reactions to completing the Values Sort with a partner: - What did you notice? - What were you thinking? - How did you feel? Subscribe to our newsletter! Get free resources and keep up with the latest media and tech trends for educators. Part 2: Tech's Impact on Values 20 mins. 1. Say: Now that we have a better idea of what we value, let's consider how growing up in a technology-centric world makes it easier or harder to live by our values. I'm not in the U.S. 2. Have each value poster hung up on a wall of the classroom and give each student either: - A set of circle stickers in two colors (five of each circle color; ten circles per student) - Two different color markers (e.g., each student gets one blue, one orange) Digital option: Share the Virtual Values Voting slides with students (the same link for all students) and facilitate steps 3–4 virtually. If students feel strongly about 1–2 additional values being added to the list, you can add those as part of the activity. 3. Invite students to walk around the room and add blue dots (or whatever first color you've provided) to values that they think are supported by technology, including social media and smartphones (Slide 13). Tell students they can each add five orange dots, and they can distribute them however they'd like (e.g., five all on one value, one each on five different values, two on a value and three on another, etc.) 4. Say: I know you may be tempted to discuss what you're seeing here, but first, we're going to repeat the same exercise using the orange (or whatever second color you've provided) dots to the values that you feel technology makes harder or worse. 5. Have students stand back and look closely at how the group voted. Discuss their observations (Slide 14): - What do you notice? What does this activity spark in your thinking? - Which values have mostly or only orange dots? Which have mostly or only blue dots? Are there values that have mixed orange and blue dots? - How do our phones support values that are important to us? How do they make it harder or interfere? - Subscribe to our Think about the apps you use most. How do theynewsletter! support or hinder your values? Get free resources and keep up with the latest media and tech trends for educators. Wrap-Up: Well-Being Connection 5 mins. 1. Say: Did you know that when we act in ways that are out of step with our values, it can leave us feeling all I'm not in the U.S. kinds of negative emotions? For example, if one of the values that's really important to us is authenticity, and then we find ourselves making posts on social media that don't feel genuine to us, we may end up feeling disappointed in ourselves, uncomfortable, or even guilty. If we care about being kind and considerate, but we post something that we know will probably hurt someone else's feelings, we can end up with these same negative emotions, too. 2. Say: We can support our well-being by reflecting on our values, and taking steps to make sure our behaviors line up with the values we think are important. Project Slide 15 and define digital well-being as experiencing media and technology in ways that support one's mental, physical, social, and emotional health. 3. Have students complete the reflection on Part 3 of the My Values Sort handout (Slide 16). Call on students to share their responses, or have them place their reflections on sticky notes around the classroom and do a gallery walk. *If students completed the Values Sort online, they can share those reflections now. 4. Say: Technology has both good and bad implications for our values. Starting to think more about the ways we use tech, and how it connects with our values, helps us ultimately act in ways that are more aligned with the things we care about. And that, in turn, helps our overall well-being. © Common Sense Media. Lessons are shareable with attribution for noncommercial use only. No remixing permitted. View detailed license information at creativecommons.org. Lesson last updated: June 2023 Subscribe to our newsletter! Get free resources and keep up with the latest media and tech trends for educators. I'm not in the U.S.