Reflective Essay
Joe Leavitt
COM 410
12/7/15
COM 410 has really opened up my eyes to how much digital learning takes place in today’s schools and the world in general. We live in a time where connecting with people all over the world can be done in a split second. The world is so technologically advanced that we can’t help but apply different types of digital learning to the classroom at all levels. Because our culture is turning towards digital learning, I have learned that it is crucial we understand how to learn and apply these different types of media into our lives. This class has helped me to understand how easy digital learning can be for everyone if you invest some time into trying to apply it to your life. A great example of this our class meetings on Wednesday nights. A large group of us, who are not together, can go online and meet face to face with our professor and one another. I believe that digital learning will eventually be the dominant trend in all schools.
Something that gave me great insight in this class was reading the book Net Smart. It completely opened up my eyes about new ways to use digital learning and how to navigate your way through different types of networks. It taught me how to use different types of search engines and what different types of privacy settings mean. Net smart stressed how media literacy is something that needs to be learned by kids at a young age in order to thrive in this world we are heading towards. In Net Smart, Rheingold interviewed Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT. One of her quotes that I read really stuck with me. “Use technology as an opportunity to think about your values. Technology has been a great gift. We have new possibilities for wonderful new things. But one of those possibilities should not be sitting in the corner of the museum while your kid goes through without you. I’m looking out over a park. It’s filled with children and parents. The parents are on the bench not looking at the kids. We’re sitting at dinner and texting, while everybody in the family is not talking. What are we allowing technology to enable, and is it really where we want to be?” (Rheingold, 49) The reason that this quote hit me was because of its accuracy. I believe that technology is vital tour or society today but has it gone too far. I feel as if all this new digital media and technology has taken away from the true values of our society. It seems as if face-to-face communication is slowly dwindling out of our society and I believe that is a bad thing. If we can find a way to balance both digital communication and face to face, then our society can thrive. With that being said I know that digital learning and new media can help us, as I have witnessed this is Professor Hobbs class. Working with other students as well as online blogging has shown me how great digital learning can be.
I would say that I am certainly applying the ideas from the readings to my own life. Because of this class I have learned so much about digital learning and media literacy. I have also learned that digital learning isn’t really for me. I have always been an old fashioned face-to-face, in the classroom learner. I don’t spend much time online so for much of the semester I struggled to navigate my way through the assignments and get things done. Most of my life I have typed, printed and handed in my work in the classroom, so this class was very eye opening for me. Although I struggled, I believe that this class helped me get a better understanding of the digital age we live in. It also showed me many of my strengths and weaknesses that I will have to work on. I think the best quality I learned in this class was my ability to search/find and share additional information on topics. That was something I had always struggled with but this class taught me to look outside of the box and find other things that could help enhance my work.
This course has raised a lot of questions for me. As I stated before, I struggled to stay on top of the work in an online class that is strictly digital learning, so I wonder what I can do in the future in order to enhance my ability to become a better digital learner. Professor Hobbs gave us many tools and tips in order to become a better digital learner, so I hope after this class I can apply what she taught us in order to enhance my abilities. This class was certainly different than anything I have ever taken. I am happy I took this course because I now realize that this is a major weakness that I have and I will need to better myself in order to thrive in a world that is becoming reliant on media literacy and digital learning.
Joe Leavitt
COM 410
12/7/15
COM 410 has really opened up my eyes to how much digital learning takes place in today’s schools and the world in general. We live in a time where connecting with people all over the world can be done in a split second. The world is so technologically advanced that we can’t help but apply different types of digital learning to the classroom at all levels. Because our culture is turning towards digital learning, I have learned that it is crucial we understand how to learn and apply these different types of media into our lives. This class has helped me to understand how easy digital learning can be for everyone if you invest some time into trying to apply it to your life. A great example of this our class meetings on Wednesday nights. A large group of us, who are not together, can go online and meet face to face with our professor and one another. I believe that digital learning will eventually be the dominant trend in all schools.
Something that gave me great insight in this class was reading the book Net Smart. It completely opened up my eyes about new ways to use digital learning and how to navigate your way through different types of networks. It taught me how to use different types of search engines and what different types of privacy settings mean. Net smart stressed how media literacy is something that needs to be learned by kids at a young age in order to thrive in this world we are heading towards. In Net Smart, Rheingold interviewed Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT. One of her quotes that I read really stuck with me. “Use technology as an opportunity to think about your values. Technology has been a great gift. We have new possibilities for wonderful new things. But one of those possibilities should not be sitting in the corner of the museum while your kid goes through without you. I’m looking out over a park. It’s filled with children and parents. The parents are on the bench not looking at the kids. We’re sitting at dinner and texting, while everybody in the family is not talking. What are we allowing technology to enable, and is it really where we want to be?” (Rheingold, 49) The reason that this quote hit me was because of its accuracy. I believe that technology is vital tour or society today but has it gone too far. I feel as if all this new digital media and technology has taken away from the true values of our society. It seems as if face-to-face communication is slowly dwindling out of our society and I believe that is a bad thing. If we can find a way to balance both digital communication and face to face, then our society can thrive. With that being said I know that digital learning and new media can help us, as I have witnessed this is Professor Hobbs class. Working with other students as well as online blogging has shown me how great digital learning can be.
I would say that I am certainly applying the ideas from the readings to my own life. Because of this class I have learned so much about digital learning and media literacy. I have also learned that digital learning isn’t really for me. I have always been an old fashioned face-to-face, in the classroom learner. I don’t spend much time online so for much of the semester I struggled to navigate my way through the assignments and get things done. Most of my life I have typed, printed and handed in my work in the classroom, so this class was very eye opening for me. Although I struggled, I believe that this class helped me get a better understanding of the digital age we live in. It also showed me many of my strengths and weaknesses that I will have to work on. I think the best quality I learned in this class was my ability to search/find and share additional information on topics. That was something I had always struggled with but this class taught me to look outside of the box and find other things that could help enhance my work.
This course has raised a lot of questions for me. As I stated before, I struggled to stay on top of the work in an online class that is strictly digital learning, so I wonder what I can do in the future in order to enhance my ability to become a better digital learner. Professor Hobbs gave us many tools and tips in order to become a better digital learner, so I hope after this class I can apply what she taught us in order to enhance my abilities. This class was certainly different than anything I have ever taken. I am happy I took this course because I now realize that this is a major weakness that I have and I will need to better myself in order to thrive in a world that is becoming reliant on media literacy and digital learning.