Walko begins his essay with an interesting thought, “Did Pop
Art of the 1960's influence Batman, or did Batman influence Pop Art?” Clearly the first part of that question is
the correct answer, but it brings up an interesting point. Does digital media influence our social
habits and learning, or do we, by acknowledging digital media’s presence,
influence the course that technology takes in our lives?
There
certainly is more information available to us than ever before, but is that
because it’s been made available by technology, or as a collected group of
people are we more open to pursuing the truth and shaking off the restraints of
limited knowledge? Whether we agree
with, or use, technology in our classrooms, we as educators must be willing to
allow our students to pursue the truth and find their own meaning in all that
they do.
Until next time…same blog time…same blog channel…
You pose interesting questions and make a great point! I had never entertained the thought of whether digital media influences us, or whether we influence the course technology takes in our lives. I think it's maybe a combination of the two? I think how much social media influences us is determined, in part, by how much we allow it to influence us. For example, I believe I am more influenced by digital media, and sometimes, as an extention, pop culture than is my husband. I feel as an educator I do have a responsibility to keep up with the times, including technology, and current trends. What a great way to interacti with our students at times! However, my husband, is much more "out of the loop" with digital media, as it is not really something required in his line of work, or valued in his peer group.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a valid point towards the end of your blog, when you state that whether we, as educators, agree or not, we must "allow our students to pursue the truth and find their own meaning..." As I stated above, I feel that we do have an obligation to keep up with the times, but if we choose not to, we definitely need to allow our students to do so. This is something I've definitely embraced recently, becoming more open to the use of digital media by my students, whether it be to create something of their own, or to research a topic related to our current line of study.
I completely agree with keeping up with pop culture for the sake of your students. I know that when I can relate to the entertaining things in my students' lives, they definitely feel more comfortable and open up both during instructional time and during 'free time'.
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