Addicted to Electronics? Lesson Plan

9-12^th grades

Three engaging lesson plans to help students consider the ramifications of technology use.

The Collage – Lesson Plan 1

Objective: Students will form an opinion on the following prompt after viewing the video clip, “Is several hours a day of technology use helpful or harmful to teenagers?” Students will create a collage depicting their point of view. Collages will creatively illustrate either the pros or cons of the issue.

The Persuasive Essay — Lesson Plan 2

Objective: Students will write a persuasive essay explaining and defending their position on the following prompt, “Is several hours a day of technology use helpful or harmful to teenagers?”

The Survey Lesson — Lesson Plan 3

Objective: Students will survey their peers to prove or disprove the accuracy of the statistics included in the Hooked on ‘Tronics video clip. Students will create a chart or graph depicting the results of their survey.

Discussion Guide

Additional Resources:

Teen Media Consumption Soars to Almost 8 Hours/Day, PC Magazine, 20 January 2010.

Study: Teens Don’t Spend Too Much Time Online, Maximum PC, 20 November 2008.

Games are Good for Learning, Too. Examiner.com, 11 January 2010.

Teens Fueled by Caffeine Use Too Much Technology and Don’t Get Enough Sleep, PhysOrg.com, 20 July 2009.

New Gadgets Leave Mini Generation Gaps, Deccan Herald, 29 January 2010.

Additional Resources for Global Issues in Context Subscribers:

The Internet and the family 2000: The View from Parents—The Vew From Kids, in Family in Society: Essential Primary Sources, 2006.

Teen Girls and Technology: What’s the Problem; What’s the Solution, in Adolescence, 22 March 2009.

Is 2 much txtng bad 4 u? Staying connected can take a tort–on your thumbs and on your mind, in The New York Times Upfront, 5 October 2009.

Caught in the Web: teen Internet addiction is a growing problem, in Current Events, A Weekly Reader Publication, 28 September 2009.