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!
Hi Holly, I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I relate to being a veteran of online-only classes, as I began my academic journey at CSUN during the COVID pandemic, which made me take fully online classes during the first two years. As you mentioned in your post, as a future educator and current student, preparing students to be a part of a technology-heavy society is very important since that is where the world is headed. Additionally, I also agree with how you stated that allowing students to become more comfortable with using media technology when learning can also boost their confidence and develop important social skills. However, even though technology could play a great role in the academic learning process of students, it could also be detrimental if not utilized correctly. In some classrooms, I feel as though they become too reliant on technology, and it takes away creativity from the students. For example, some educators focus mainly on lectures and showcasing videos without drawing a clear connection with their students as to why the video is relevant to what has to be learned. Although media technology could be a very positive way to enhance learning, with the rise of AI, students are becoming much lazier and motivated since technology could also be a great distraction.
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