Interacting with Screenagers in Classrooms

The differences in communicating methods between teachers who have learned to study in paper based context and students who are more familiar with screen based context can cause problems in classrooms. This paper discusses issues and concerns in interacting with students who grew up surrounded by multimedia and digital devices, in other words, screenagers, in classrooms. Based on the recent projects and research findings, four key themes are discussed regarding interacting through personal learning devices, communicating with the students in the way they do using social media, appropriate amount of exposure when using audiovisual resources, and possible side effects of using personal learning devices. Finally, teachers’ roles and responsibilities in dealing with screenagers are discussed, and suggestion for using teaching models and teacher training are provided.