{"id":1019,"date":"2021-08-30T16:41:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T16:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/?page_id=1019"},"modified":"2021-09-01T20:02:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T20:02:06","slug":"tips-for-introducing-new-technology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/tips-for-introducing-new-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Introducing New Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/\" onclick=\"gtag('event', 'conmar', {'event_category': 'fttn', 'event_label': 'fttn2020_tipsfornewtech_parentslandingpage'});\">&lt;&lt; Back to Family Tech Talk page<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"row section-container\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/0820-fttn-virtual-logo-tagline-landing-page-300x85.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"fttn-wp-image-465 size-medium alignleft\" style=\"margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px;\" width=\"300\" height=\"85\" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 10px;\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"sponsored-by-text mb-0\"><span style=\"font-size: smaller; font-weight: bold;\">Sponsored by<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/09\/TM_logo_red_.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"size-full wp-image-567 alignnone\" width=\"182\" height=\"62\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p>Is it almost time for your daughter to have her own phone? Will your son download an app you\u2019ve never heard of for distance learning? Here are some common-sense steps to help your family introduce new technology and instill good habits from the start, before they spend time online with their own devices.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Help your kids get ready before they get their first smartphone\/tablet<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. Talk about the ground rules.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Set family rules for how often the device can be used, for example, an hour a week or 20 minutes at a time after homework is completed.<\/li>\n<li>Set guidelines for what is allowed to be done on the device, for example \u201conly texting or video chat, with family.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Have all family members sign an Internet safety agreement, and discuss what to do if anyone sees or reads something that makes them uncomfortable.<\/li>\n<li>Have all family members sign a privacy and balance pledge, and discuss the importance of respect for other people both online and in real life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Let your child use your device with you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use the device together, with your child in the driver\u2019s seat\u2014for example, working on a school assignment, typing in a text message, starting a video chat.<\/li>\n<li>Review any plan limits on the device, such as minutes or texts that can be used each month, and how much time was used.<\/li>\n<li>Let your child see how the device helps with other functions, such as adding appointments to a calendar or using a timer for doing an activity or managing school assignments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Let your child use your device independently, with review.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agree on a process, such as asking permission at an appropriate time, using the device, then showing you what they did.<\/li>\n<li>Reinforce guidelines for what is allowed to be done on the device and how much time can be spent.<\/li>\n<li>Review your child\u2019s activity right afterward.<\/li>\n<li>Repeat this with new activities on the device until you feel that they\u2019re responsible enough to have their own device.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>When to give your kids their own smartphone\/tablet<\/h2>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s less about age and more about need\u2014as well as responsibility level.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your child can give you a rational argument for why they want a device (other than \u201ceveryone else has one\u201d).<\/li>\n<li>Your child needs a phone to reach you regularly, such as if they travel to or from after-school activities unsupervised.<\/li>\n<li>Your household doesn\u2019t have a landline and your child might be at home without someone else present who has a connected device.<\/li>\n<li>Your child is mature enough to take care of a device, keep it charged, and follow house rules for using it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Decide what kind of plan and device features you need<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. If the main purpose is for your child to stay in touch with you:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Look for a basic phone that makes and receives calls; no special smartphone features needed.<\/li>\n<li>Prepaid cell phone plans can help you manage a budget and limit nonessential conversations.<\/li>\n<li>Consider programming the phone to dial and accept calls only from approved numbers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. If your child is in middle school or above:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider getting a device and plan that allow for unlimited texting.<\/li>\n<li>Reinforce house rules for when the device must be turned off and put away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. If your child is pushing for a smartphone or tablet:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure you\u2019re comfortable allowing full access to content creation apps, social networking sites, and the Internet as a whole.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure your child is responsible enough to use the technology wisely.<\/li>\n<li>Review school policies and curricula around technology; access to a phone or tablet might help support in-class learning and be used to complete homework assignments. (Depending on the school, your child might also need a dedicated device for distance learning.)<\/li>\n<li>Compare pricing for plans, and consider setting a monthly contribution from your child\u2019s allowance to help pay for the device.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>After your kids get their own smartphones\/tablets<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. Reinforce the family ground rules.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This includes usage guidelines, Internet safety agreement, and privacy and balance pledge.<\/li>\n<li>Set the expectation that devices will be charged outside their bedroom at night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Throughout the first few months, talk with your child about their contact list. Have them ask permission to add new people.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This gives you an opportunity to talk about their friends and how they use their phones (and what rules their parents have for them).<\/li>\n<li>It also gives you a chance to talk about new friends they\u2019ve made, who they are, and why they want to add the new friends to their contact list.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Talk to your child about group texting. This is often the first step of \u201csocializing\u201d because kids will usually have a phone before they\u2019re allowed on social media.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss with your child the fact that not everyone has the same calling plans (data limits), so they should use it only as needed and always be kind to others.<\/li>\n<li>Let them know to seek your help if they want to exit a group chat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Set restrictions so that new apps (even those for school) can\u2019t be downloaded without permission. This action encourages frequent conversation between you and your child. What\u2019s the app, and why do they want to download it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Review your child\u2019s activity regularly so you can provide guidance or set stronger limits as needed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Review your child\u2019s account together on the monthly billing statement so you\u2019re both aware of how much data\/minutes were used in total and whether plan limits were exceeded.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Help your kids get ready before they get their first social media account<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. Set the ground rules.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agree on family rules for how often the app can be used, for example, an hour a week or 20 minutes at a time after homework is completed.<\/li>\n<li>Set guidelines for what is allowed to be done within the app, for example \u201conly photos of the dog,\u201d \u201cno in-app purchases,\u201d \u201cno accepting friend requests without permission.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Have all family members sign an Internet safety agreement, and discuss what to do if they see or read anything that makes them uncomfortable.<\/li>\n<li>Have all family members sign a privacy and balance pledge, and discuss the importance of respect for other people both online and in real life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Let your child use the app with you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Install the app together.<\/li>\n<li>Set up a profile; if it requires a profile image, use one that retains some anonymity (for example, taken from the side or turned into an emoji of yourself).<\/li>\n<li>Review the security settings together and set them to the most limited sharing settings.<\/li>\n<li>Use the app together\u2014whether it\u2019s posting an update or playing a game, do it as a team.<\/li>\n<li>If you see or read something unkind or scary, talk about how to respond and do it together.<\/li>\n<li>Talk about how to act on any information they see and how to determine whether it\u2019s legitimate or a hoax, real or clickbait, etc. (Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/namle.net\/a-parents-guide-to-media-literacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">parent guide from the National Association for Media Literacy Education<\/a> for advice on how to do this.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Let your child use the app independently, with review.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agree on a process, such as asking permission at an appropriate time, using the app, then showing you what they did immediately after.<\/li>\n<li>Reinforce guidelines for what is allowed to be done within the app and how much time can be spent.<\/li>\n<li>Review your child\u2019s activity within the app right afterward.<\/li>\n<li>Review friend and follow requests, and talk about who is and isn\u2019t allowed to be connected with your child and why.<\/li>\n<li>After your kids have their own social media accounts<\/li>\n<li>Reinforce the family ground rules, usage guidelines, Internet safety agreement, and privacy and balance pledge.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your child\u2019s account login information in a safe place; set up alerts so you\u2019ll be notified if the login credentials are changed.<\/li>\n<li>Use these apps yourself and interact with your child\u2019s accounts.<\/li>\n<li>Review your child\u2019s activity regularly, including friends and follower lists, so you can provide guidance or set stronger limits as needed.<\/li>\n<li>If any in-app purchases were made, review your monthly payment account together with your child so you\u2019re both aware of the costs that resulted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/\" onclick=\"gtag('event', 'conmar', {'event_category': 'fttn', 'event_label': 'fttn2020_tipsfornewtech_parentslandingpage'});\">&lt;&lt; Back to Family Tech Talk page<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &lt;&lt; Back to Family Tech Talk page Sponsored by &nbsp; Is it almost time for your daughter to have her own phone? Will your son download an app you\u2019ve never heard of for distance learning? Here are some common-sense steps to help your family introduce new technology and instill good habits from the start, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":1077,"parent":534,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v19.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tips for Introducing New Technology: Resources for Parents - TeacherLists Parent Corner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Common-sense steps to help your family introduce new technology and instill good habits from the start.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/tips-for-introducing-new-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tips for Introducing New Technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Common-sense steps to help your family introduce new technology and instill good habits from the start.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/tips-for-introducing-new-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TeacherLists Parent Corner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teacherlists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-01T20:02:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/0921-fttn-tips-for-introducing-new-tech-fullsize.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"406\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@teacherlists\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/tips-for-introducing-new-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teacherlists.com\/blog\/parent-corner\/techtalk\/tips-for-introducing-new-technology\/\",\"name\":\"Tips for Introducing New Technology: Resources for Parents - 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