JAYLYN BELL

First and foremost, I really enjoyed the group of students in this class! Many people were active participants and brought about some very interesting points of conversation.

I contributed to the learning of others by taking part in every class discussion and facilitating many of the breakout room discussions as well. I would call on those who hadn’t yet participated and make sure they had a chance to share their thoughts. When we would return to the group, I shared with the class many times the ideas and perspectives my group had. When we had extra time after talking about our assigned question, I would try to deepen my connections by asking people where they are at in terms of pre-internship or out in the workplace.

I also made many positive comments on a variety of different blogs and types of posts while asking questions pertaining to the technology side of learning.

When questions were asked in the discord chat, I would answer them about 75% of the time.

Discord Screenshots:

I always tried my best to support and encourage everyone to actively participate and do their best work. I also had conversations with people I shared other classes with (Jerome in my EMTH) and we would help each other out with how to set up our blog and clarifying instructions from previous classes together.

I left many supportive and uplifting comments to people within the community and also received many great ones! It was very fun to go on these new journey’s together and to see and hear about everyone’s weekly progress!

Some Example Blog Post Comments:

Kenzie Behrn’s Intro LP Post:

Jules Van Der Berg Intro to LP Post:

Angela Fahlman’s Intro to LP Post:

Makenna Henry Intro to LP Post:

Briana Lebel’s Intro to LP Post & About Me

Kamden Lahti’s World of Wonder Post:

Amie’s Learning to be a Pro in French Post:

Morgan’s Moving Towards Mindfulness Post:

Elyse Woodward Week 1 LP Post:

Kade’s Kitchen Intro Post:

Olivia Brenner’s Art of Home Cooking Post:

Miranda Hammett Week 2 LP Post:

Rob Huber’s Relationship with Technology Post:

Elyse Woodward’s Relationship to Tech Post:

On the final day of class, we completed a blooket quiz to test our knowledge and I was able to earn second place. My understanding of the course with Katia’s instruction was a very important factor in helping others understand the course and its purpose as well.

The structure of this course was very rewarding because even though it was online, there was still so many ways to connect with each other! I loved seeing the projects of others and reading about their experiences, I know I will always look back fondly on this course it has changed my digital literacy completely.

 

“In a “post-truth” era where people are increasingly influenced by their emotions and beliefs over factual information, fact and fiction can be difficult to distinguish, and fake news can spread rapidly through mainstream media sources and social networks. Moreover, fake news is often meant to do harm, by tricking us into believing a lie or unfairly discrediting a person or political movement.”

The paragraph above sums up exactly why we as teachers have an imperative part to play in acquiring the skills required to recognize what is fake vs real. Helping students develop a critical lens of the content they are consuming is an essential skill in the interest of their well-being.

Ways to Implement Digital Literacy in Your Classroom

I intend to work with middle years students – they are likely familiar with social media, advertising, and scammers.

Some potential strategies are:

• Focus on teaching students investigative techniques that involve using information verification websites like FactsCan, Snopes, as well as tools such as Google’s “search by image” feature or resources like VerificationHandbook.com. Additionally, students can explore professional fact-checking methods, such as reading laterally—cross-referencing multiple websites instead of delving deeper into a single site.

 

• Teaching students how to check for: copyright, website credibility, the publishing date, whether or not the information is realistic and matches what they already know, and how to verify the information across multiple different sources.

• Teaching them WHEN it is appropriate to ask Google a question and HOW to identify a credible website that is secure, not sponsored, and from a real source that uses research or is written by someone who has expertise in that field.
  • For example: A survey from Northwestern University showed that about 100 college students went online to answer questions that matter to them like: “how to advise a female friend who’s desperate to prevent pregnancy after her boyfriend’s condom broke.”
    • The biggest factor in deciding which website to choose was the placement in the search results.
      • That means students ignored the sponsoring organization and the author completely, putting blind trust into assuming that the “top result is best”.
      • The students are not to blame for these mistakes, rather we must teach them the proper strategies to critically examine the information they are reading to help eliminate these problems from reoccurring.
  • Teaching them how to choose their news
    • Starting from the beginning, explain how the news was initially started and how we’ve ended up where we are now where absolutely anyone can act as a reporter online from their own personal media outlet.
      • To find information that is true (or at least close):
        • Show them how to find the actual materials and judge for themselves (rather than a politican’s speech, or a scientific article
        • For current events – follow reporters on social media

• • • • • During major events, newscasters and bloggers will post updates and recordings from people actually on the scenes of the events
          • Rather than reading the polished versions of the stories that are interpreted by the editors.

Curriculum Ties

• From the SK Curriculum, Grade 8 outcomes & indicators that point to digital literacy are:
  • CR8.4: “View critically and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of visual and multimedia texts including videos, television broadcasts, informational presentations, dramatic presentations, websites, and news programs to locate and interpret key messages and details, to develop conclusions, opinions, and understanding, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the text.“
    • Demonstrate ability to navigate and process information when viewing websites, films, videos, and presentations.
    • Identify the different techniques (including data displays) used in different media works (including digital) to impact viewers.
  • CC 8.2: “Create and present a group inquiry project related to a topic, theme, or issue studied in English language arts.“
  • AR8.1: “Use information gathered in self-assessment and teacher’s assessment to develop and work on goals for improving viewing, listening, reading, representing, speaking, and writing.“
  • If we begin by teaching them the strategies listed above, then allow them to actually create something, as well as pose an assessment on how well they did so.

NCTE Framework

• “The world demands that a literate person possess and intentionally apply a wide range of skills, competencies, and dispositions. These literacies are interconnected, dynamic, and malleable.“
• NCTE addresses a number of important points to incorporate into our classrooms:
  • Participating Effectively and Critically in the Networked World
    • Showing our learners how to be a part of the digital world positively in a social way by building connections with people, information, and ideas.
    • How to work together to find reliable information and critically consume it together.
    • When creating my lessons and assessing the students, I will ask questions such as:
      • “Do learners select, evaluate, and use digital tools and resources that match the work they are doing?”
      • “Do learners analyze information for authorial intent, positioning, and how language, visuals, and audio are being used?”
      • “Do learners find relevant and reliable sources that meet their needs?”
  • Explore & Engage Critically Across a Wide Variety of Modalities
    • Help students acquire the knowledge and understanding of the wide variety of texts and tools available and how to use them intentionally.
    • Giving them the confidence and skills to make choices and use texts and tools in ways that match purpose.
    • When creating & assessing, I can ask questions such as:
      • “Do learners seek out texts that consider multiple perspectives and broaden their understanding of the world?”
      • “Do learners critically analyze a variety of information and ideas from a variety of sources?”
      • “Do learners use tools to deepen understandings, to share ideas, and to build on others’ thinking?”
  • The National Council of Teachers of English is undoubtedly an amazing resource to sum up the Who, What, When, Where, and Why Questions we may have when it comes to asking these questions about digital literacy.

 

Photo References:

https://the.ismaili/mozambique/how-can-we-be-more-digitally-literate

https://www.needpix.com/photo/download/256333/google-question-online-search-search-web-page-web-address-internet-search-engine-www#google_vignette

https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/digital-literacy-communication-tips

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-choose-your-news-damon-brown#watch

https://www.ictcertified.com/ict-for-schools/grades5-8.php

 

Hi everyone!

AI is a relatively new phenomenon to me. I remember the first time I learned of it was about a year ago when I ran into a problem I was asking a friend about. I needed to send a message to someone I didn’t know very well, but I was going to be looking after their dog. As I was asking my friend about it, he said “Are you getting paid?”, “I’m not sure”, I replied. He suggested I ask that question but I felt it was a bit awkward and maybe intrusive – I didn’t want to sound like I was assuming, but I was curious. I remember him saying – why don’t you ask chatgpt? I was like “Huh? What is that?”, “It’s an AI online tool that you can ask questions and it’ll write it for you”. Hmm I thought, how weird. I did not take his advice at the time as I thought it was kind of ridiculous.

I have since come around to this “new” phenomenon that is ChatGPT.

I decided to start with a very basic question 😉 …

HOW CAN I USE CHATGPT AS A TEACHER? 

Take a look & see for yourself the 10 main ideas it shared:

It seems as though ChatGPT is pretty confident it can help me in many ways. Out of the 10, let’s break down 3 of my favourites a bit further.

1. Student Engagement

• Interactive Activities like quizzes and trivia
  • I LOVE the inquiry approach and giving students something to DO rather than to simply observe – this sounds like a great idea to use in my classroom.
• Creative Learning Tools like storytelling or comics
  • Having students write using their imagination and about things that are interested in is so key in having them be engaged. Many times, students will be applying cross-curricular knowledge to these topics (ex. science) without even knowing it because they are passionate about the writing.

2. Lesson Plans

• Structuring Lessons 
  • The structure of every lesson is important – knowing that students typically remember what was said first and last is also something to be mindful of.
  • When it comes to time, I have some work to do on managing it and knowing when to move forward – I tend to slow down while making sure that all students are understanding.
  • With ChatGPT, I can begin with a better structure and use timers for each part of my lesson to keep me on track and not lose the students who begin to lose interest because the lesson may be too slow for them.
• Engaging Activities
  • My favourite part of teaching is giving the students an activity to do – so they can learn whilst also having fun!
  • ChatGPT can help me “brainstorm interactive activities like group discussions, games, or project-based learning tasks, develop creative assignments, quizzes, or challenges to enhance student engagement.”
    • In the interest of ethics and also creativity, I also want to make sure I don’t become reliant on ChatGPT – it is made to ASSIST and support me – NOT to do the work FOR me.
    • Part of the reason I decided to become a teacher is because it involves a lot of creativity – it’s important that we are still using our own ideas. The internet and AI are certainly helpful TOOLS, but our lessons will be much more personal and effective if we make them OURS 🙂
• EXAMPLE: 
  • As you can see in this video, ChatGPT does a great job of laying out a template for a lesson plan according to the topic, grade, and time you have.
    • It does not provide the specific materials or resources but gives you an inspiration of how to structure it!

• Assessment Tools
  • ChatGPT can help to create rubrics for grading projects and written work that can then be edited and adjusted to fit our given assignments.
    • Here is an example for an essay:

• • It can help create questions intended for formative assessment
    • Asking questions is one of the most important ways to check for student understanding – this can be through verbal answering, written through an exit slip, or demonstrating through their activities.
    • It is important to always ask questions so the students are thinking for themselves and not learning to rely on you telling them the answer
    • Having a solid list of questions going into every lesson will make it much more effective.

3. Administrative Support

• Scheduling & Time Management: this is by far, the MOST important and helpful way for me to utilize ChatGPT.
  • Teaching includes an extremely high amount of organization in order to keep up with reminders, deadlines, constant scheduling and re-scheduling, maintaining efficiency, creating timetables.
  • ChatGPT can help me keep organized by allotting appropriate time windows to each task.
    • One of the I (and many others I know) struggle with is …. procrastination. AKA – needing a deadline in order to have the motivation to get something done. When the urgency is low, I either won’t complete something until I absolutely have to or I will spend way too long on something that should take a tenth of the time it needs to 😂.
    • This way, you can keep your days as consistent as possible so I have time at work and also time for myself & a social life!
  • SOLUTION: CHATGPT + GOOGLE CALENDAR
    • ASK CHATGPT to organize my week every Sunday to set my week up for success
    • INPUT the schedule into Google Calendar
      • This is the KEY to having a balanced life.
      • Google Calendar allows you to:
        • Manage and Create your schedule
        • Collaborate and Share with others
          • Integrates with all other Google apps and other third-party apps like Zoom and Slack
        • Turn on notifications and alerts
          • Reminds you of an event at the time you request
        • Create separate calendars for work and personal events
          • Colour coding to visually categorize events
        • Task & Goal Management
          • Add tasks and to-do lists and mark complete
        • Accessibility
          • Sync events across all your devices

As we can see, ChatGPT provides many ways to enhance our classroom experiences by making them more engaging, helping us plan them out, and eliminating a lot of the more administrative tasks freeing up time to focus on other tasks that require our full attention and cannot be completed through AI!

Supporting Different Learning Styles:

I decided to go ahead & ask ChatGPT how we can support ALL of our students by incorporating different learning styles?

It provided a breakdown of each type of learner and the activities/assignments that correlate with each type! Have a watch 🙂

• This is one of the most important things I have learned throughout my classroom experience
  • Every student is so unique and it’s important that we give our students an opportunity to complete assignments and activities to showcase their skills in the best way!

ChatGPT is a really exciting and wonderful tool that welcomes so much more creativity, connection and contingency to the lives of teachers and our students!

 

My Cybersluething Mission

Today I had the pleasure of “cybersluething” one of my classmates, Robin Kinnee.

This was a fun experience, nothing quite like trying to figure out as much as you can about a complete stranger based on the way they present themselves online.

Robin & I have never met in person, only over zoom! So the little background knowledge I have about her just based on class discussions is minimal.

Okay, onto the digging. I began with a simple Google search of ‘Robin Kinnee’ and found her blog posts to have the top results. The rest of the results on the first page of Google were unrelated to her. The first image (left) that shows up is of her, the middle image is someone else with the same last name (maybe a relative?) and the third image (right) is of her dog (Roxy) – as posted on her About Me page of her blog.

The first simple search was so perfect, I figured I better get a little more gritty. She mentioned in her post that she follows Dr. Lori Frieson on Instagram and Facebook.

Based on this post, I knew she had a Facebook & Instagram account, but I started wondering why it didn’t show up when I searched for it.

The accounts found had a different spelling (Robyn) of her first name than she uses at school (Robin).

I decided to take a look at these accounts and see if I recognized any photos of her.

When I opened it up, I immediately recognized the profile picture – it was the same one of her dog with the shades on from her blog! I also recognized her cover photo on her highlight story as her face from class!

If I were to put myself in the shoes of a future employer doing research, I would ask her the following questions:

Why is your username “@vanillabunny21”?

Why is your name is spelt with a y instead of an i on social media? What is the proper spelling?

I then explored her Facebook profile, and noticed it also was spelt “Robyn Kinnee”.

I knew it was her profile based on the photos she had posted, I recognized her and her dog from the blog posts I had previously seen.

All of these factors has me wondering if the UofR potentially made an error when they entered her name in the system, or if it’s due to another reason I’m unaware of.

One other source I found was her LinkedIn profile – which was also consistent with the spelling on the rest of her social media accounts.

In regards to the content on her Facebook and Instagram, it definitely showcases her personality as being very creative, artistic, and enthusiastic as she described herself in her blog! Some of my favourite of her posts we’re the showcasing of her beautiful artwork as shown below.

Another major component of her profiles were photos of herself and her children smiling and looking happy overall. Overall, the content on her profile seems positive and personal – her profile has a real human and sort of “casual” feeling to it which I think is a great example to set for our students.

Based on her online personality, she appears to be a trustworthy person who loves her family and her friends. Her blog also explains that she has been in the education system in different forms for about the last 10 years – which tells us that she knows her way around the classroom and understands some of the ins and outs of being a teacher.

She also shared her I Believe statements in her blog under Educational Philosophies where she shares many powerful quotes. Some that stood out to me were:

• “Every person is unique and has their own style”
• “To me, reconciliation is also honoring and acknowledging the land that we live on and share together”
• “Children come to us with their own gifts, not empty vessels open for learning. They all have something to offer” – Charlene Bearhead
• “Give students something to do not something to Learn; and doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, that learning naturally results” – John Dewey

Overall, you can tell she has a belief in inclusivity, acceptance, and a growth mindset for children. All of those are incredibly respectable values that are essential as an educator.

Digital Identity

Digital identity is an extremely interesting part of our life. As we read in an ESPN article “Split Image”, it is clear that someone may “appear” one way online and be feeling something completely differently internally. As we read about the young athlete Madison Holleran, Instagram posts don’t always paint the full picture. Social media doesn’t typically display or highlight many of our difficult and painful experiences as humans. This story was so incredibly impactful as a way to show our students a true example of how social media can be a false implication of what we may be dealing with.

As discussed in the TedTalk with Monica Lewinsky, the feelings of shame, confusion, sadness, and humiliation can be detrimental to humans, especially without the right support. As humans, we are all flawed and make mistakes – it can be extremely difficult and a lonely feeling with people online piling those feelings on.

It is important for us to be aware and intentional of our own digital identity, as a way to be a role model for our students and show them the ways it can affect us physically and emotionally.

A little over 10 years ago, it seems like technology really took the world by storm. It felt like one day we were using T9 word on our Samsung flip ones, and the next we we’re dishing out multiple Instagram posts a day. Needless to say, the use and power of technology continues to grow at an exponential rate. As it continues to grow, we as educators have a responsibility to help our students understand how to keep digital experiences safe, positive, and purposeful. The digital side of our world is so prominent, and I plan to teach my students many of the ways in which they can have good digital citizenship.

Digital citizenship, is defined by Mike Ribble as “the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.”

An article written by ACSD called Character Education for the Digital Age, discusses the importance of emphasizing ethical behaviour and critical thinking in students as they explore online spaces. The main points I took away from this article we’re focusing on core values & integrating these lessons into daily life.

 

As educators, it’s important for us to continue encouraging and modelling ethical principles like respect, responsibility, and fairness. These values are essential for guiding students’ everyday life, including online interactions. We want to help them discern credible information, and fostering positive digital engagement with others. It is important that we explain to them that digital identity is NOT a separate entity, it’s part of who they are. As we incorporate these character-focused discussions and practices into everyday classroom activities, we can help our students internalize these values more effectively.

Additionally, another article discusses the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship outlines the key skills and behaviours necessary for navigating technology responsibly. Each element is uniquely important and I want to share some ideas as to how I can a few of them in my class in the form of lesson plans! These plans can be found in further detail from the following websites: Common Sense Education, Tech & Learning, & Book Widgets.

Many of these lesson plans can be cross-curricular as we often rely on technology in many different subjects and are fortunate that we live in a place where we can do so.

1. Digital Access: Distributing technology equally to provide everyone in the classroom and in your community a fair opportunity to access resources at home.
   • Lesson Plan Ideas:
     • Teach equity by having students brainstorm solutions to digital access gaps in their own community.
     • Have students compare resources in different communities, researching statistics and discussing strategies to promote equitable access.
     • Ask students to complete a task without using technology (i.e. requiring them to use books, ask elders questions, etc.) then reflect on the challenges and the value of accessibility we have in Canada.

1. Digital Commerce: The way to responsibly use money in the digital space through spending, saving, investing, banking, or using money digitally in any way.
   • Lesson Plan Ideas:
     • Introduce financial literacy through lessons on online shopping safety, avoiding scams, and understanding payment platforms.
       • Have students go on a “virtual shopping trip” using online stores to complete a monthly shopping list while staying within a set budget.
     • Create or find case studies about recognizing legitimate versus fake e-commerce sites through provided links.
       • Ask/show students ways and clues to help easily identify website security.
     • Show students how digital commerce works by having them create their own small online business.
       • Can use apps like Platzi, SquareSpace (free trial)
2. Digital Communication & Collaboration: The sharing of information, thoughts, and ideas electronically with others in a way they can understand.
   • Lesson Plan Ideas: 
     • Assign projects requiring teamwork like shared editing and virtual discussions (i.e., Google / Microsoft applications). Teach students how to work efficiently and appropriately together on the same projects at the same time, and the etiquette for effective communication with group members online. 
     • Provide examples of professional emails, social media posts, and text messages. Examine how tone differs across platforms and practice rewriting a message for different audiences (e.g., formal email vs. text to a friend).
       • Option to include an activity with emojis to analyze how they change
       • each message when added or used in  different combinations.
3. Digital Etiquette: The norms of responsible, respectful, and considerate behaviour when using technology and interacting with others online.
   • Lesson Plan Ideas:
     • Collaboratively create a list of norms for technology use in the classroom, emphasizing respectful interactions and staying on task.
     • Present scenarios where students must decide the most respectful way to respond to messages or posts.
     • Have students design posters in groups outlining respectful online behaviour to display in class and at home.
     • Review a series of real or hypothetical social media posts. Have students categorize these posts as appropriate or inappropriate, and provide an explanation for why.

• Sources:
• https://ideas.demco.com/blog/how-to-promote-digital-citizenship-in-the-school-library/
• https://it.wustl.edu/items/microsoft-365-m365/
• https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2017/07/apple-previews-new-emoji-coming-later-this-year/
• https://acowebs.com/impact-ecommerce-society/
• https://kharrison76.weebly.com/element-1-digital-access.html
• file:///Users/jaylynbell/Downloads/OldSchoolvsTechnologyInfographic-1.pdf
• https://teachingresources.stanford.edu/resources/norms-template-for-professors/

“As an anthropologist, I think of media maybe slightly differently than most people. I don’t think of it as content, or tools of communication. I think of media as mediating human relationships.” (Michael Wesch)

This quote stood out to be so fearlessly because it made me wonder – how does media actually mediate human relationships?

This video discusses the creation of Internet and specifically YouTube that has cascaded an entirely new form of expression and connection that does not compare to any previous media outlet such as the news or broadcasting.

Why not? Because the news is a lot like direct instruction – someone feeds you information (you likely believe they are smarter than you) and you are supposed to take that information and face value and believe it.

YouTube completely changed this dynamic – it was the first time we got to watch others just be “human” online.There was no script, no big professional words, no green screens – just people being themselves, not trying to convince you of anything or deliver a bunch of fearful stories.

One of the very first ways we all connected on YouTube was through viral dancing videos – HOW AMAZING! Wesch talks about how Gary from the “Numa Numa” video kickstarted this all. His noticeable zest for life and joyful energy spread like wildfire across YouTube were everyone began recreating videos to the same song.

Now, I’ve heard many things about the benefits of dance for your body and mind, but I’ve never known the specifics. After diving into the web, I found an article written by Harvard Medical School called “Dancing and the Brain” that discusses how dance has so many benefits for the mind and body that it’s actually being used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease. Talk about an amazing way to connect and actually improve your health! Media does things that we are incapable of – it actually allows people to make a positive impact on your life while not even being in the same room!

The power of YouTube became apparent quite quickly after Wesch uploaded his video on called “Web 2.0… The Machine is Us/ing Us” while collaborating with someone from Africa for the background music – one of the first examples of how media completely transformed our relationships as humans! We became connected in a way that now feels completely limitless.

Wesch also alluded to the fact that media causes us to rethink: copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, governance, privacy, commerce love, family, and ourselves.

As educators, this is extremely important because what we share, write, post, and interact with online is visible to everyone! It’s important to be self-aware in these scenarios because we know that “with great power comes great responsibility”.

We as teachers, are role models for young children. I think it is so important for us to utilize media in ways that are positive for children. There are so many different tools that can make class way more engaging and exciting compared to when I was in school.

For example, a simple game of Kahoot or using a Mentimeter allows ALL of your students (even the shy ones) to contribute and feel like they are a part of the conversation! During my pre-internship lesson last week – we analyzed the effects of media, specifically advertising. In order to get the students engaged, I started with a quick question that they all we’re excited to answer. Without worrying about spelling, being perfect, or having to raise their hand and wait to talk.

Here are the results:

We can use media to build community and relationships within our classrooms that previously did not exist. Many of our students will spend the day together and still continue texting, calling, Facetiming, or sharing content with each other in the evening – what a great way to build deeper friendships, share laughs together, and create stronger bonds that continue to grow without limits :).

I think this is especially important for kids who don’t have their licence yet or are unable to leave their home as freely due to parents work hours or commitments that may not allow them that freedom.

As teachers, I think it is so important to encourage healthy and positive media use, and show our students things that we enjoy to continue building our connection with them while simultaneously hoping they will do the same with their friends and peers 🙂

Soooo … when I think about my relationship with tech, it reminds me of my younger years when tech played a very simple role in my life. Starting with TV when I was a kid watching things like cartoons and Family/Disney Channel.

This channel brings make so many amazing memories as it was a major a point of connection with my family. We’d all cozy up in our living room together and laugh at shows like Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny with a Chance, and Jessie!

 

 

As I got older, and further into elementary school, I got my first mp3 player.

It only had about 12 songs on it that would play over and over but I absolutely loved it. I would listen to them over and over, never getting tired of them. Anytime I hear one of those songs now, (Bad Day by Daniel Powter being the most triggering) it still reminds me of those moments on the bus or in my bedroom giving a very dramatic performance as if I actually had an audience.

 

When I got a bit older, I got my mom’s old Samsung cellphone that was a snazzy red and white combo with a keyboard that slid out. My friends and I would text back and forth all the time, which was a lot of fun!

 

 

A few years later when    , and eventually     and     started hitting the scene, everyone was getting an iPod Touch and eventually an iPhone (my first was a 6). My friends and I made the craziest music videos on an app called VideoStar  

– which to my surprise, is still up and running these days! I suppose they were AHEAD of the times.

   

I would say social media began as a place that was light, fun and pretty care free! It consisted of silly selfies with your friends or reposting memes that made you laugh.

Fast forward to now, where many people are using all these different social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, etc.) as their own personal “vlog” and also a source of income/as their career.

For me personally, I’m heavier on the consumer side of the scale vs the posting side. To be completely honest, I know social media gets a bad wrap and there are absolutely a million negative things you could say about it. But for me, I enjoy seeing what others are up to. It’s an indirect way of connecting but also staying in the loop! There are people I haven’t seen since high school that I follow, but you never know when you may run into them! I think it’s nice to know what’s going on in their life so you are able to ask them about it when you see them 🙂

A great deal of my time is also spent on my laptop focusing on school work. Somedays, it’s a battle to get it open. But once I do, I find I can get into a flow pretty easily. The hardest part for me is actually STARTING. I remember when COVID hit I was midway through my psychology degree. We ended up finishing it all online and to be honest I loved having my own time to get through the material at a quicker pace and being able to watch the zoom lectures back to make sure I didn’t miss any information the first time through the lecture. I found that I was able to manage my time well, and that I had a lot more free time to do other things I enjoyed like going to the gym and outside for walks. It also helped that my brother was starting his degree at the same time from home so we helped keep each other accountable but would also do something together outside of the house each day!

Currently, I am relying on the Outlook app a lot for all of my scheduling as well as having access to my school email on the tab beside. This makes it highly efficient and easy to add things into your calendar and make sure you are staying up to date with all the course information and questions you may have for your peers or profs in the same place. The other part of the outlook app I use is the To Do List – it helps me keep track of all the other little things I need to get done and not have so much to keep track of inside my brain. Outside of this, I use Microsoft Word for most of my note-taking and open PowerPoints for school purposes. I am now adding Canva to my repetoire as one of my main sources of tech. So far I have been using Youtube and TikTok to help me learn more about it!

In order to maintain a level of balance between academic and personal tech-use I have limited myself to half an hour on social media each day using the screen time option in settings.

Although you have the ability to override this, it comes with a lot more guilt that usually isn’t worth the extra scroll, LOL!

After I have spent that long consuming information that isn’t particularly necessary, I realize it’s time to switch to something more productive. There is ALWAYS something that could be done school wise that could help me improve my grades, get ahead of the game, or even just ask questions to ensure I am on the right track with certain assignments. I also have noticed how much better I truly feel when I am using tech for productive purposes rather than just casual consumption or scrolling. Academically, I am actually using my brain and being creative while having to think. On the personal note …. not so much – in fact it may even lead to negative or overthinking … which isn’t great either.

In conclusion, tech has it’s list of pros and cons for me – as do most things in life!