Using Technology to Develop Social/Emotional Learning and a Culture of Kindness

The terms technology and social emotional learning (SEL) often come up together during conversation, especially when it comes to the world of education. Unfortunately, they are also usually associated through a negative connotation.

In the Psychology Today article “How Technology Lowers Emotional Intelligence in Kids,” Sean Grover, LCSW, discussed how five key qualities related to emotional intelligence are negatively affected by technology dependence. He explains that the ability to self-regulate has diminished and social skills are disappearing with the increased use of technology over the past couple of generations. Children and adolescents are losing basic skills vital to their social/emotional well-being. As our kids become more in tune with technology, they also become more out of tune with the world around them. There is no doubt that there is a direct link between the decline of social/emotional learning and overuse of technology. Research indicates that, over time, technology has had a detrimental impact on social/emotional learning. The question then becomes, how do we counteract all of these negative impacts on our kids?

Unfortunately, research exploring the positive aspects of using technology to develop social/emotional learning is minimal. Chances are, if you google “technology and SEL”, you will find many write-ups that are focused on technology as the cause of social emotional deficits in children. This is not one of those articles.

My focus isto show how school counselors can embrace technology and use it to promote and develop social/emotional learning. Through direct and indirect student services, we can use technology to positively impact students’ self-awareness and self-management, develop social awareness and relationship skills and model responsible decision making.

Instruction
Gone are the days of lecture as the sole means to target mindsets and behaviors during school counseling lessons. There is a plethora of free resources and tools available to create innovative, interactive lessons that allow students to be active participants in the curriculum we deliver. These technological platforms for content delivery inevitably immerse and engage students in the curriculum while still allowing the school counselor to be a facilitator of learning. Every student has the chance to share their thinking, feelings and comprehension in a non-threatening, safe way. Using technology during instruction can teach kids how to be socially responsible, encourages healthy self-expression, and results in the development of self- and social awareness in the school setting.

Campus-Wide Initiatives
In addition to using technology in classroom and small-group instruction, school counselors can use video editing apps and programs to showcase school-wide initiatives and build campus culture. Each year at our school, I have spearheaded a video project to promote kindness and unity among our students and staff. When I first started this tradition, my intention was only to create a feel-good type of event that would serve as a happy memory for our stakeholders. At the time, I would never have predicted how powerful these videos would become in advocating for our school counseling program and emphasizing the role our students can play in making the world around us a better place.

Over the years, our video projects became more purposeful and intentional. We slowly increased the involvement of students in creating our videos and, as a result, they began to take more ownership of the kindness initiatives that were at the root. Before I knew it, parents were watching our videos on YouTube and becoming active participants in our kindness initiatives, too. Our videos became teaching and advocacy tools that made outside stakeholders want to become more involved. More important, they promoted a culture of kindness and connectedness at our school.

The opportunities are endless for developing SEL and promoting a positive, kind campus culture through technology. The world we live in today, our children’s world, is nothing like the world in which we grew up. As leaders and advocates for our students, it is up to us to use technology in innovative ways so that our kids become the change we want to see in this world. Through innovative use of technology in our school counseling programs, we can play a vital role in creating systemic change through our students.

Amanda Bustamante is a school counselor in El Paso, Texas. Follow her on Twitter at @ABustamante_PDN