Thinking and Writing about Digital Media Assigment

For me, Instagram and Snapchat are the types of personal media that I consume daily. It is interesting, because I like to see what everyone is doing with their lives at that moment or see beautiful pictures, but in a way, it does not bring me pleasure. Sometimes I can easily fall into Satan’s trap of comparing my bad days with others good days. I also feel that Facebook and Instagram are a way to stay update with my friend’s personal lives, and being able to find out when they are engaged, having a baby, etc. I will occasionally read The Wall Street Journal and certain news articles when I receive a notification on my phone. This now allows me to stay up to date on the world around me. In today’s world, media is always in reach at any given moment. My phone is constantly with me, my laptop is always being used for homework assignments or for note taking, and it is quite easy to open another tab and dive into different forms of media to escape the world for a few moments. Also, the fact that we can now view forms of media on our watches is incredible to me. Though media can be very informative, it can also be very distracting. I have a problem with focusing as it is; I must turn my do not disturb buttons on my personal devices, and then I must hide my apps in different locations then where they normally are just so it is not so easily accessible for me to navigate towards them when I feel that I deserve a study break.

Though I feel like I am using different forms of media far too often, I feel as if I am much better off than those younger than me. I am a nanny and I look after an eleven-year-old boy. Him and his friends are constantly on their personal devices while being in the same room, and it worries me so much. By the time I can be a teacher, media consumptions will be through the roof and I worry that my students’ attention spans will be the size of the newest IPhone (which actually might be pretty big). However, in my student teaching class last semester I loved seeing teachers interact with their students using different forms of media. Some classes had an Instagram group where the students could discuss homework assignments or ask questions about class notes. One teacher had students create a blog and that is where all their assignments were held for the year. Google forums and questionnaires were created to help the teacher better understand how his students were processing the information given in class. Using technology and certain media sources in class definitely helped some of the students learn better and retain information. I believe that if we use media in an uplifting and knowledgeable way, then our students will use it for good, rather than as an addiction.