Teaching and Media Technology (Plus Introduction)

    Hello readers! I'm Holly F, a senior level student at CSUN studying English teaching. My entire life, I've been very influenced by media technology and now as a potential teacher, I frequently find myself wondering what role it plays in education. Especially after the COVID pandemic, where many students found themselves sequestered at home going to class online, teachers and parents have become concerned about what methods to best employ in order to teach effectively in coordination with our newfound online world. Most of the classes I have taken at CSUN (Especially as a veteran of Online-Only classes) have had many components of media technology as a part of the course. We regularly analyze videos, websites and movies in our assignments and I remember being assigned similar assignments as early as middle school. Making video presentations and PowerPoints as a part of a group is a common assignment in secondary and higher education. 

    I think that preparing students to be a part of a technology-heavy society is very important - students regularly complain about school not teaching them things that they will "not really use" as an adult. Encouraging students to produce media of their own analyzing movies and books can build their confidence as well as develop important skills. Because these assignments often have some element of group work, they also help to promote social skills, public speaking and leadership. Having students create blogs, for example, about the subject matter being studied in class requires them to use their creative and organization skills while studying the subject matter. 

    After discussing things like phones and social media with my peers and in various classes through my degree, I've come to realize that the problem of media technology is far more complicated than it originally seems on the surface. Children need to learn the skills to operate in a media-heavy society when they grow up, but there's also more and more clear evidence every year that increasing technology use is having a very detrimental effect on children's psyche and social abilities. I very much like the idea of phone-free schools, which was just implemented all across LAUSD (most likely my future school district). I am of the idea that children absolutely need phone free spaces in order to build their social skills and have some time away from the screen to interact with the real world around them. 

    Thanks for reading my first blog post - here's to many more!