Welcome to my little corner, where I discuss my thoughts. My name is Marisol Fuentes. I am a senior at Cal State Northridge, obtaining my degree in English with a Single-Subject Credential to become a secondary school teacher.
Regarding media technology and teaching, I believe it can be used to our advantage as teachers. The truth is that we are living in a world where technology is used in all aspects of life. While there are pros and cons to using technology, instead of critiquing it, we should make use of it as a way to engage our students. We can creatively use media technology in a way that helps students learn without hindering their learning progress. As a current student myself, I find assignments, like this blog, a useful way of using media technology in the classroom. I have also heard of classmates who have incorporated social media platforms such as Instagram in their lesson plans which I believe can make the classroom environment more engaging. This can be similar to the argument of teaching young adult literature rather than just classic literature. It is a modern way to teach students while keeping them engaged. I believe that keeping students interested and helping them learn to appreciate learning is an important factor in being a teacher and this can be done by using methods that are already familiar and interesting to them. This can also help teachers expand on their lesson plans to experiment with different and creative ways to teach.
The decision to use technology as a solution, instead of identifying it as a problem, is an innovative one. Albeit, it is a difficult choice to implement within the classroom. Students are already accustomed to utilizing technology and media as distractions. And technology has not wavered in its steady pace towards complete reinvention. There are newer and newer "tools" coming out, even as we are still getting used to their ancestors. AI is one of those controversial implementations, becoming commonplace as so many companies utilize it within their software, implementing a new way of misinformation that even Wikipedia could not match.
ReplyDeleteStill, as you say, it is a path worth pursuing. Media and technology cannot be ignored as they become more and more prevalent in the lives of students. It would be a struggle backwards to resist the flow. While it is impossible to use everything as material for a lesson, there is at least some worth to be found in newer literature trends.
Hello Marisol,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your thoughts on technology because I agree that it’s incredibly beneficial for teachers. With so many online resources available, technology makes it much easier to facilitate activities and engage students. It actually made me think of how, back in the day, my teacher would spend half the class period just trying to set up a video, but now, teachers show videos almost daily.
I understand that teachers need to monitor students closely to ensure they stay on task, but now there are so many tools that can help keep students on track. You also made an excellent point about expanding beyond just using classic materials and adapting as educators to use technology in ways that excite and engage students. Your example of this blog is a perfect illustration because, for some reason, it feels more comfortable for me to write comments here rather than on Canvas.
Hi Marisol! I am also in the headspace of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Technology is not going away anytime soon so we might as well find a way to incorporate it into the classroom in an effective way. I have also seen teachers using social media platforms to try and engage their students in the curriculum. For example, having students “create” Instagram profiles or TikTok accounts for historical figures or fictional characters might keep them interested in what they are learning. However, I do see the hesitancy of some teachers who would rather keep technology out of the classroom in favor of more traditional methods. Technology, in a sense, makes things to easy for students. I have seen more and more students rely on the internet to tell them the answers to their homework and classwork instead of trying to think for themselves. If we were able to somehow eliminate this problem and use technology to support their learning instead of having it be the main focus then I think more teachers would feel more comfortable allowing technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Marisol,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog, I completely understand and agree with your points. Incorporating media technology into assignments and curriculum can enhance learning for many students. Going against the current new wave of technology would backfire on teachers and administrators, considering it will only continue to grow and is a part of most of our daily lives. Some methods that could alleviate some of the challenges of plagiarism would be to teach kids the importance of how to use technology appropriately and the consequences of using technology. However, as you mentioned, there are some very effective ways to incorporate technology in the classroom, such as using Instagram and or creating playlists for a specific book they might be reading. I think it is in the best interest of teachers also to learn more about the new era of technology and maybe the courses that would allow us to understand more of how it works and how best we could incorporate it into the classroom for the benefit of our students.
Hi Marisol, I enjoyed reading your post and I liked the cozy, nostalgic theme you had chosen for your blog! I like your stance of the technology in the classroom discussion and I agree that utilizing it to craft more interesting and effective lesson plans is the best application teachers can offer with it, since we have no control over how much our students are addicted to their devices and we often find using them, too. I think monitoring should be a big priority in the effort to make technology more approachable in the classroom. In the observations I have completed in obtaining materials for my teaching credential, I noticed a pattern of Chromebooks being misused for entertainment purposes when they were meant for Canvas work. The entire internet has been notably accessed by students during class time for non-academic purposes, which defeats the purpose of making cellphones inaccessible. For technology to work best in the classroom, perhaps teachers should be encouraged to walk around the room and scan the room as the lesson goes on to ensure engagement within the guidelines appropriate for the classroom.
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