Developing Tech Skills
Today’s devotional
A student may use a phone comfortably and still need explicit help organizing a document, checking a source, or presenting information clearly. Familiarity with technology is different from competence in a particular task. Teaching a skill carefully respects the learner more than assuming they should already know it.
Exodus describes artisans given wisdom, understanding, and skill for the work of the tabernacle. Their ability serves a shared purpose, and the passage also mentions the capacity to teach others. Craft is valued within a community where knowledge is offered for work beyond the individual’s reputation.
Digital skill can be approached with the same attention to purpose and practice. Identify what the learner needs to do, demonstrate it clearly, and provide an opportunity to try with support. Allow time for errors that reveal where an explanation was incomplete. A patient response can help uncertainty become a question instead of embarrassment.
Skill also carries responsibility. Students can learn to credit another person’s work, make a document understandable to its intended audience, and choose an appropriate tool for a task. These practices connect competence with care. Doing something efficiently does not settle whether it has been done truthfully or helpfully.
Choose one useful skill that students are expected to possess but have rarely been taught. Offer a short, accessible demonstration and ask them to explain or show the process. Let capable students support peers in ways that remain respectful. As gifts are shared, technical learning can become a modest practice of generosity, patience, and responsible participation in common work.
Adapted from Original devotion 44: Developing Tech Skills in Nurturing Hearts & Minds by Dr. R. C. Titus.
Read the Scripture
Open each passage and read slowly. Notice what these words reveal about God and the life before you.
Exodus 35:30-35 · WEBU
30Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
31He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship;
32and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,
33in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship.
34He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.
Pause and respond
For reflection
Which useful digital skill have I assumed students possess instead of teaching it explicitly?
A practice for today
Model one task in clear steps, provide a brief practice opportunity, and ask learners to show or explain the process. Include one principle of responsible use, such as attribution or audience awareness.
A prayer
Creator God, thank you for the skills through which people serve one another. Help me teach practical knowledge patiently and receive questions without judgment. Guide our use of tools toward truthful, accessible, and generous work, so competence grows together with responsibility and care. Amen.
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