#UseTech4Good Stories
This is a curated collection of uplifting, inspiring, service-minded examples of youth making a positive difference in our world.
Please join our community by sharing any stories you know of youth who #UseTech4Good.
Taking STEM to the next level for Northern Utah Kids
Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) isn’t the realm of just boys any longer. According to girlswhocode.com 74% of middle school girls express an interest in engineering, science, and math. Dozens of Northern Utah businesses were encouraging all kids to explore STEM subjects as they hosted several busloads of sixth and seventh graders on November…
Read More
Robots – Kid-Friendly Innovation Coming to a Children’s Hospital Near You
Technology is helping children with chronic conditions to express their emotions and handle their treatments better. Robo-Duck For instance, US-based Sproutel has built a robo-duck that lets kids undergoing cancer treatment to tap a “feeling card” on the duck’s chest which relates to a specific feeling. The duck expresses that emotion for the child. “This…
Read More
Study Shows Technology Causes Conflict Between Parents and Teens, But it Can Be Avoided
The rise of digital technology causes conflict between parents and teens, according to a new study. Surprisingly, both sides claim the other spends too much time on their devices. With many teens and parents admitting to arguing daily over cell phone use, it leaves one to wonder what can be done? The Study A study…
Read More
Teenager creates an app to make it safer to walk alone
From hackathons to competitions, opportunities for students abound to use technology to solve everyday problems. When put to the test, many students not only boost their resumes, but create apps or other solutions to pressing problems. Medha, who at age 16 developed an app called “Safe Travel,” thought nothing of a competition when she sat…
Read More
Inspirational Thoughts with Technology
When life gets tough or complicated, many people find inspiration and motivation in a simple quote. Inspirational thoughts shared with others help bring light and positivity into their day. A quote as simple as, “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison can encourage those who feel like…
Read More
Uplifting Quotes on Snapchat
Thanks to Sydney Alexander for bragging about her friends to us! This short, but sweet post shows how simply starting off the day sharing something positive can make a difference. How do you start your day? Sydney sent this in, “My friends Megan and Missy use technology for good every day! Every morning when they…
Read More
Student creates app to save water
Student creates app to save water I had so much fun interviewing this amazing 12-year-old, who just so happens to live down the street from me! Mollie loves to play competitive soccer, sew, and do creative projects. She also happens to be developing an app to save water. A Young Entrepreneur Learning about a field trip…
Read More
Why do you hire your iPhone for the day? {Jobs to be Done theory}
Everything you buy serves a purpose in your life. When you buy things, you buy them to make your life easier, to entertain you, to feed you, etc. What does your iPhone or Smartphone do for you? Did you buy it for entertainment, for connection, for status? Does it actually help you connect with people,…
Read More
Be Kind Online – One Student Uses Twitter for Good
Be Kind Online “I’d like to start out with a little known fact that it costs exactly $0 to be kind.” What has started this movement of youth using technology for good? Well, Hayden says, “Why not?” Senior, Hayden Webb, shares how easy it is to be kind online and uplift others from the comfort…
Read More
Digital Citizenship Day at School
Alicia Vesely, former student at Maine-Endwell high school (located in upstate New York) shares how she raised awareness of digital citizenship at her school. She promotes reaching out and serving in your community and knows how to do it using technology. Students and teachers worked together to host their own magnificent summit at their own…
Read More
Gen Z Shares How to Use Social Media for Good
Gen Z and Social Media Generation Z or the “iGen” is a unique generation of kids that came after the Millennials, born in 1997–Present (0–21 years old). The main difference between the two, besides age, is that unlike most Millennials, Gen Z had smartphones in early childhood. They grew up with iPhones in their hands…
Read More
Youth teach adults how to use technology
“Come volunteer for Cyber Seniors!” Bethany calls out to any youth listening. What is Cyber Seniors? Cyber Seniors takes digital natives and pairs them with older adults. The youth teach the seniors how to connect digitally and to use other technology. Read more about Cyber Seniors here. The atmosphere is one of friendship between youth…
Read More
More Reasons to Love & Share Technology
John is a magician who learned magic from the internet and connects with clients and other magicians online. He also ran a project similar to “Cyber Seniors” where he spent time teaching technology to seniors and helped them get connected. John needed to complete his Eagle Project, and decided to do it a little differently.…
Read More
Learn a new skill using the Internet
How to learn a new skill Gabe, a sophomore in high school, watched his brother juggle and couldn’t wait to try it out himself. His brother tried to teach him, but it’s a complicated skill to teach. Therefore, Gabe turned to YouTube for help learning this new skill. After watching videos and learning different tricks,…
Read More
Student-founded nonprofit connects low-income students to scholarships
Scholarships are hard to find. With an expected 3.6 million students to graduate from high school this year, students search high and low for scholarships to help them through college. The National Center for Education Statistics reports there are 750,000 scholarships available for qualified students. Often, students from low-income and first-generation homes lack the resources needed to find…
Read More
Online Learning is Revolutionizing the Rules of Education
Instead of watching movies or updating social media accounts, Mary chooses to deliberately spend time online learning. My Teacher Quit Shockingly, two months before school was out, one of Mary’s teachers quit. The sub assigned to that class seemed unmotivated to prepare lessons. So, during that hour, the class sat back and enjoyed a movie…
Read More
Music can change the world
The intertwining relationship between culture and music is undeniable. Culture and music flow together. Ludwig van Beethoven said, “Music can change the world.” Over the years, popular music mirrors the society listening to it or does the culture mirror the music? Culture & Music Regardless of which one influences the other, there is a clear…
Read More
Eagle Eyes – the technology allowing those paralyzed and unable to speak to communicate
Faced with the burden of not being able to communicate verbally or even physically leaves children feeling helpless and often, alone. Many only being able to nod a simple yes or no in response to questions asked. Eagle Eyes is the revolutionary technology allowing these children to communicate for the first time in their lives.…
Read More
I was terrified of giving my child an iPod, but now I’m glad I did
Your child’s birthday is coming up soon, you want to give your child an iPod. They have been begging for one. You feel excited about surprising them by giving your child an iPod or iPhone, yet anxious that they are not quite old enough. What do you do? Erin hesitantly bought her child an…
Read More
Using Tech to Serve – A simple web search leads to serving people across the world
Have you ever used technology to serve others? You probably have used tech to serve, even if you didn’t directly recognize it. Technology has opened up the world to us. We can help people we never would have known about without technology. The simplest form may be texting, calling, or posting something kind or uplifting…
Read More
The Piano Gal – Uses Tech for Fun! #UseTech4FUN
Just barely a teenager, Sara Arkell has made a solid digital footprint sharing her musical talents on YouTube. Known internationally as The Piano Gal, Sara loves sharing her music with the world. She has loved playing the piano since age five. Recently, she traveled all the way across the globe to Japan to perform her…
Read More
Inspiration, Learning, and Kindness with Tech
Meet Eliza, a sweet 16-year old girl, who runs an LDS inspiration account. She jokes that it’s the exact same thing all other Mormon girls are doing. Which makes me wonder, what if all students were writing and sharing inspiring quotes or posts? I wonder how the atmosphere at school might change. Eliza says, “when…
Read More
The Opposite of Cyberbullying – Meet CyberKindness
How many times have you heard the phrase “Cyberbullying?” As I was pondering today about cyberbullying, I started thinking… what’s the opposite of cyberbullying and why doesn’t THAT have a name that is so commonly shared? Meet CyberKindness. #CyberKindness Cyberbullying is using technological means to intimidate, spread rumors/slander, harass, threaten, or otherwise use digital media…
Read More
Tech is a tool – It’s an amazing time to be a Maker!
Student, Owen P., uses tech as a tool to serve others and learn new skills. It’s an amazing time to be a maker! Owen’s love for woodworking began in a woodworking class at school, a class he quickly fell in love with. Soon after, he asked his parents for a scroll saw for Christmas. He…
Read More
Preventing child hunger with an app
After discovering that 13.1 million children lived in food-insecure households in 2015, five teenage girls from New York City knew they had to do something to solve this problem. Alyssa Kapasi (age 16), Gabrielle Rich (age 18), Fiona Xu (age 16), Ivy Mao (age 15), and Emma Yan (age 13) set about to make sure…
Read More
How to become a Connected Classroom
Curran Dee, at 10-years-old, is the Chief Kid Officer of DigCitKids and wants every classroom to become a connected classroom. He represents student voice and student choice. Of DigCitKids he says, “We promote all the awesome stuff kids are doing on and offline.” Connected Classroom Curran’s hope is for all classrooms to become connected classrooms.…
Read More
How (and Why) to use technology deliberately
Such a simple and pure 2-minute video created by youth for adults to see their point of view. “Youth have grown up with technology.” It is such an integral part of their lives. There is no more real life v. online life… they are the same. Real life includes online life. Like one student says,…
Read More
#UseTech4Good Youth Extravaganza – Technology for Good
On November 2, 2017 we held a huge celebration of youth using technology for good. #UseTech4Good Youth Extravaganza Jenn Blosil (American Idol Finalist 2016) and Grace Garn hosted this fabulous event which featured performances by Jenn Blosil, The Piano Gal, and Acting UP! This was part of the 2017 Digital Citizenship Summit. Lucky for you…
Read More
Teen uses his love of baseball to create a positive digital footprint
Creating a website in sixth grade, at age 11, Devan Fink had no idea his new hobby would change the rest of his life. Devan started the blog Cover Those Bases when he was in 6th Grade, as a tribute to his grandfather. He says, “My grandfather was my inspiration. We would always talk on…
Read More
14-Year-Old Katie + Scratch = Invention
When Katie Scheutzow’s 8th grade teacher mentioned nobody had ever done a science fair project with technology before, Katie was inspired. Scratch Doing some initial research she discovered Scratch. Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations. Katie previously discovered a love for coding…
Read More
Videos spread happiness to combat haters and trolls
Looking for simple ways you can get even young students involved in spreading positivity online? Check out these simple videos! #IDOH – Students on YouTube At a different high school, students of a DigCit class created videos to spread happiness to combat haters and trolls. The teacher explains the assignment they were given and shares…
Read More
Student uplifts entire class on Instagram
This will forever be one of our favorite stories. So simple. So positive. @thebenevelontone3 – Students on Instagram A student on Instagram in Spokane, WA, complimented his fellow students all year long from an anonymous instagram account, @thebenevelontone3. He kept his identity secret as he shared something positive about every student, he revealed himself when giving…
Read More
Humans of Loara – #iCanHelp
Every student has a chance to make a difference digitally (meaning on instagram, facebook, etc.). This can be through simple, kind comments on someone’s post or through more elaborate projects to make the internet more positive. Kids have an innate desire to help and uplift others. Yesterday, I was raking the leaves in my front yard…
Read More
Youth help Seniors get connected!
The divide between digital natives today and seniors who grew up without technology has only grown as technology continues to advance. Connecting Seniors A group of inspiring teens at Magna Library decided to use their digital literacy skills to help close this digital divide. This group of students found a mutual love for technology when they met through the QSA (Queer Straight…
Read More
When texting got my kid out of a sticky situation
Technology can be so helpful and convenient in the fast pace world we live in. As a part-time working adult and parent, I appreciate the opportunity technology gives me to quickly respond to an email while waiting for the doctor, or the opportunity it gives me to send a quick text to finalize the last…
Read More
Why #UseTech4Good is revolutionizing the internet
There is no question that the digital world needs some revamping. The fear, the harsh words, the negativity is not the digital world we should be living in. We know many of you hope for a better digital world for your kids, too. It starts here and now. You and me. We are the digital…
Read More
How does your child like to learn?
Have you ever asked your child how he or she would like to learn? This is a question Curran, a 10-year-old digital citizenship enthusiast, poses. Seeking ways for your children to be excited about learning can be tricky. Meet Marialice, who seems to have found a way to her son’s heart as she listens to…
Read More
Cyber Seniors pairs youth with seniors
Cyber-Seniors classes pair youth with seniors so the youth can mentor the senior in digital literacy. These classes have been launched for the first time in Utah in Salt Lake City High Rise Center and the Provo Housing Authority and have great success thus far in creating meaningful experiences for youth and seniors. “Youth make…
Read More