Simple ‘Mindshifts’ Toward Digital Well-Being

Sometimes a simple mindshift can do wonders for a learning environment.

That’s the latest message from the Center for Digital Thriving — a research and innovation lab housed at Project Zero — which wants to help educators adapt to and better learn from technology while helping their emotional well-being.

Launched in 2023, the center strives to offer evidence-backed resources to support teens in a technology-filled world. Grappling with whether to ban cell phones in the classroom, to embrace or fight against the seismic impact of artificial intelligence and large language models, and helping students avoid burnout are just some of the struggles inside the modern classroom. And one of the best ways to support students, researchers argue, is helping the educators they learn from navigate that world for themselves.

"Educators already wear countless hats — and now they’re expected to be 'phone police' and 'AI blockers' too,” says Carrie James, co-founder of the Center for Digital Thriving and co-director of Project Zero. “But without clear, sustainable approaches, those roles can feel overwhelming.”

Later this summer, the center is offering a professional development course, 8 Mindshifts for Teaching Digital Well-Being, to address those rising conflicts in the classroom and help support educators as they learn to amplify youth voices.

Here are some tips from the course that can help an educator’s own mindset in the classroom as they guide students in an increasingly technology-filled world. 

“Reframe” the Approach

Educators can make simple adjustments to their approach — mindshifts — that open up new avenues for conversation and learning. Moving from “assuming” to “asking,” for example, is a simple way to be more curious and open about new technologies and how students use them. Another of the course’s eight mindshifts asks educators to change from a “tech centered” to a “student centered” focus, not zeroing in on potentially unfamiliar things like AI and, instead, on the students and educators that may use it. 

The goal, says James, is to “help educators move from reacting to tech to thoughtfully guiding students through it.”

Start With Values

Meaningful conversations about technology don’t start with the tools themselves, but about values: who we are, what we are experiencing, and what we value. “Values sorting” helps students reflect on who they are and what they care about, teeing up conversations about the alignment between their values and the choices they’re making.

The center has designed an app to help teachers sort out and prioritize those values in their teaching. The center also collaborated with Common Sense Education to create a free classroom lesson plan (grades 6–12) that can help lead group discussions about how our values connect to technology. 

Focus on Support 

Educators often struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of change as classrooms evolve with the introduction of new technologies. James and her team hope that by using evidence-based tools and foundational knowledge about youth development, educators can create opportunities for their students to provide their own insights and help them focus on what adults often miss.

The goal is not just to survive the implementation and uncertainty of new technology as it arrives, but to gain skills to help support students as they navigate their own digital challenges as they learn and grow.

You can learn more about the Center for Digital Thriving’s professional development course here.