In Michael Wesch’s video An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube he talks quite a bit about how things are connected on the internet. How things kind of move through the many different cyber scenes (YouTube or websites) without too much trouble. One of the unique things about the internet, is that it is very easy for anyone to post something. As Wesch mentioned, his video went to number 1 without any expensive production. This is one of the nice things about the internet, that anyone can use it, however this can be used negatively just as much as it can be used positively. Unfortunately, because anyone can post anything, it means that it makes it quite easy to cyberbully and spread things that are just not true. It can also be used in a positive way, like sharing resources or raising awareness on a specific topic.
One thing we were talking about in class is posting about personal things on social media. Things like posting about someone’s death, a marriage proposal, or a pregnancy announcement. It becomes very important to know who your audience is and teach students what is appropriate to post and what is not, especially considering that kids are being exposed to social media at a younger and younger age.
I think because of the pandemic, teachers are going to rely on technology to be the main tool to teach in the future. It is also important to recognize that technology is not a substitution for teachers. As I was looking at twitter the other day, I saw a tweet by Nicholas Ferroni that said “This pandemic has proven that technology can’t replace teachers. Technology is a teaching tool, but not a teacher.” This tweet especially got me thinking about the fact that teachers do so much more than just teach the content and cannot just be replaced by any kind of technology. It also got me thinking about relying too much on technology in teaching. It seems like even when I was in high school if the technology didn’t work we couldn’t do anything. It’s honestly scary that we are getting to the point that we need the technology to teach, and when it’s gone we can’t do anything.
Good Morning Sarah,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about technology and teaching. I agree, technology is a tool and teachers do so much more than teach content. It is modelling, asking the deeper thinking questions, facilitating, guiding, etc. I am so glad I am taking this course and learning more about how to effectively use technology In the classroom and find the right balance.
Hi Tracey,
Thank you! I agree, this class teaches how to effectively use technology, and this was the first class that actually taught me about technology.