It’s a Changed World After All

I grew up at a time where technology was just beginning to become more and more advanced. Since I lived on the farm, my family and I were about one of the last ones to receive internet, cellphones, and other technologies. It was roughly 2008 before we got internet and a computer at our farm. After that, we continually upgraded our technologies, until all my family members had their own technology to use personally. Since I was still young, I was exposed to the changing digital world and all of the advantages.

We can see a new level of participation through the digital world. In my EDTC 300 class, we explored the viral videos that have been spread worldwide back when youtube had just started up, such as the Numa-Numa dance. Now we see even easy spread of information, photos, and videos through social media, such as Tik Tok, Instagram, and Twitter. Students will be exposed to this digital world and as teachers, we need to consider how these new changes impact our teaching methods and classrooms.

Digital World in the Classroom

The digital world will be in the classroom regardless of what teachers want. Students will be up to date on new technologies and will most likely discuss them with their peers. I believe that it will be easier to integrate those devices, and technologies into the classroom, then try to manage students away from them. In my future classroom, I hope to use digital technologies to help engage students in their own learning. Some examples might be through discussions of viral videos, digital identity, and proper use of tools and devices.

Schools and districts will also have to rethink policies and become aware of new forms of social media and trends. Whether this regards social media policies or educating teachers on the digital world. In EDTC class, we discussed aspects such as cyberbullying, confidentiality, and professional use of technologies. Although, I do think the teacher can teach all about these aspects. It would be beneficial to receive resources and support from the school and district on the process on which digital technologies should be integrated into the classroom. Setting up policies is important as considers the safety of the students. In regards to cyberbullying, we need policies that inform students and not hinder discussions about the topic.

Rethinking the Digital World

We need to rethink lots of areas of our schooling and education due to the changing digital world. In the Michael Wesch video, he talks about how we need to rethink all aspects of the digital world. Wesch argues that the web is about linking people. I also believe that the web is used to create a link between people from all over the world. This is important to remember when rethinking how we teach about the digital world. We need students how to understand how to use the devices, websites and recognize appropriate sources. I would be very interested in hearing any thoughts you have on rethinking the teaching the surrounds the digital world.