People search Facebook more often than google.
There has been more video uploaded on Youtube in the past 2 months then there has been on cbs, nbc, and abc since 1948- if they had been broadcasting continuously.
Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more followers than Isreal, Panama, Ireland, and other countries.
Privacy has gone out the window since"what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube."
Social media has taken over. People no longer seek out supported, factual news, but rely on what they read on facebook and twitter, and see on you tube. As teachers, we need to educate ourselves and our setudents on ways to seek out factual information. And we need to teach them to research both sides of an argument before making a decision.
While there is sometimes a negative spin on online media, technology has been incredibly beneficial. For example, email has changed the way we communicate all together. I can have a full conversation with someone via email whom I have never met and have never spoken to. And now that email is on our phones, we can check email anytime, anywhere with professors, bosses, co-workers, fellow students, family, friends, doctors, and others. Because of busy schedules, it is difficult to find time to call someone or get together. But email makes it convenient for all. Sharing information has never been easier, but it is because of this that we should be more skeptical and do more research to form an educated opinion. Just because someone blogged or posted a comment on facebook that gay marriage is wrong doesn't mean it is. We need to teach students to think for them selves, and not to let social media do their thinking for them.
Technology has also brought us closer to world politics and events. I can read about what is happening in Kenya, Isreal, Germany, Australia and see how it effects the world, me, and the people I know. We can read about how wildlife is being preserved and things we can do to help. The video "Vision 2011" says that several years ago, if wanted to know about Syria, we had to look it up in an encyclopedia. And that information was all historical. Now, we can type "Syria" into the search engine and get all sorts of information.
Technology definitely has positive and negative effects. It is how we choose to use technology that makes it positive or negative. As teachers, we can educate ourselves and our students on the latest technological advances and learn to use it in a responsible, productive way. For more, listen to my yodio reflection
Your summarizing paragraph is well taken. One of our roles as educators may be to take a leadership role in addressing these potential effects. Later in the course we'll take a look at the National and State Ed Tech Standards.
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