#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.
A New Way for Kids to Learn How to Code
Theo, an 8-year-old student, was trying to learn how to code and was becoming frustrated with the process. He happens to be visually impaired, and the standard tools intended to encourage kids to code depend mostly on visual elements. However, in the course of the most recent year, he’s been a beta tester for something…
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What Parents Need to Know about Safety on School-provided Technology
Digital learning is becoming more of the norm as technology becomes cheaper and easier to access. Kids are being exposed to more technology in school and some of it is starting to come home with them. Without proper guidance and monitoring these devices can carry the dangers of the internet with them but with a…
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8 Tips for Parenting Tech-Savvy Kids
Almost every parent struggles to keep up with technology while kids seem to know all the latest gadgets and apps on the market. Keeping track of all the new developments can seem like a daunting task, especially when your kids are young and are using tech in ways their parents never thought of. Staying ahead…
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Meet the 13-year-old Tech Wiz with His Own Software Development Company
Being an entrepreneur comes with a unique set of challenges that can be difficult to overcome but that didn’t stop 13 year old Aadithyan Rajesh from doing it anyway. The 7th grader is a year into the launch of his software development company named Trinet Solutions and already has 3 employees, his 11th and 12th…
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What is Digital Citizenship? Why Does it Matter?
What is Digital Citizenship anyway? The term Digital Citizenship has exploded in recent education discussions in the recent pushes to have it taught to students from Elementary to High School. Some Districts require Digital Citizenship to be taught as a core to student development. So, what does this term even mean and why is it…
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New Technology Means Less Pain for Kids in the Hospital
No one likes getting jabbed by a needle while visiting the doctor, or worse having one inserted during a hospital stay. It’s even more difficult and stressful when the patient is a kid. Healthcare workers have a hard time with the veins of young patients which results in multiple tries, more crying and the need…
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Kids are Terrified of Medical Treatments- VR to the Rescue!
For kids, medical treatments can be horrible. The root of their fear seems to come from uncertainty and from the expectation of pain. Several tech organizations have thought of approaches to help. How Virtual Reality (VR) relieves children’s fear of the needle Getting vaccinated saves lives, yet kids fear the needle. One project started using…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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,…
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#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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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