Final Journal/Blog Post

I can best sum up my experience in New Media New Literacies as compelling.  In the beginning of the course, I had a lot of time to devote to this course because I had much more time available at school.  However, as the course progressed, I saw myself devoting fewer hours to this course until I was only doing what was required.  I didn't have the time to read everyone's post and respond, and there was a lot of really thought provoking material in our discussion posts as well as the blog entries.

I hope that I will have access to all of our course material for a while because I would truthfully like to be able to read through the posts while I am on Christmas break.

We did a lot of great work throughout this course, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome and the knowledge that I have gained in such a short time.  This course has given me a new perspective when thinking about online communities and language.  I guess I could be characterized as an old geezer when it comes to technology and what can be done with it.  I learned a lot through my interview with an adolescent student.  This course has given me a lot of insight through using this blog and posting projects to YouTube.

I really enjoyed the "Literacy Debate - Online, R U Really Reading" paper.  My one regret with this course is that I didn't have enough time to really sink my teeth into the material or the work, but if I could have a mulligan, I would try to devote two or three days a week to this course in order to fully appreciate the comments and posts from others.

Adolescent Interview about Social Media/Network

I interviewed a sixteen-year old Junior in high school  about his use of social media and networks.  My questions are in bold.  His answers are in italics.

1.  Do you consider yourself a technologically advanced person compared to your peers?

• Yes, very much so.  I use technology and understand how to use it much more than my classmates.

2.  What social networks do you use?

• I don't use that many.  I stick to mainly Facebook.  I do use Snapchat, but I don't receive messages very often.

3.  What is you purpose in using these networks?

• I use these networks to get attention and to make others laugh.

4.  Do you know what cyber buyllying is?

• Yes, we had a unit on it in health class.  We were required to do a project, presentation, and everything.

5.  Have you experienced it on some level?

• I have never experienced it personally, but my friend and I were joking around on Facebook (swearing back and forth at one another), and it got misconstrued by our friends who thought that we were having a serious fight.

6.  How much time do you spend on social media/networks each day?

• I would say only fifteen minutes per week because I log into Facebook just to check who is online to chat to.  If there is no one online that I want to talk to, I log right off.

7.  Do you like using technology in school?

• I love it.  I use the school's laptops every day.

8.  Does it help you or distract you when used in school?

• For me, it helps me to focus, especially if the teacher allows me to listen to music while working on an assignment.  When I'm listening to music, it drowns out every time another student has to ask a question.

9.  What device do you use the most?

• I use my Android cellphone the most.

10.  Can you think of any other ways that we could use social media/networks in school?

• I think it would be awesome if teachers had a Facebook page for each class that they teach.  They could accept their students and then post the homework and students could send messages or post with questions and the teacher could respond.  I think that would be awesome.  
• Using apps would also be fun in class.  Snapchat would be cool.

I found this interview to be pretty informative, and I'm currently looking into ways to use apps in my instruction.  What a cool idea.  Well, it could be.  I was surprised at the amount of time this student spends on social media.  He only spends fifteen minutes per week.  I spend more time than that! I thought this generation was constantly connected to their phones and accounts!