World-Wide Web

I think Wesch’s video just kind of justified, more or less, the idea that things are constantly changing.  While most of us view this change as the better: resources for the classroom, programs to support learning, access to videos, etc. it’s also changing for the worse.  We talked in class about kids having a social footprint before they’re born, which is outrageous.  But then when I think about it, I think it’s weird when parents choose to not post anything about their child or pregnancy online – I think this way (not because I love seeing baby photos 24/7, because trust me, I don’t) but because it’s the “normal” and “common” way to do things.

When I was little, my mum took photos of me everywhere, and she put my photos into my own picture album.  I have SO many albums from birthdays to field trips to monumental moments.  Then, when scrapbooking became a huge fad, my mum turned lots of those albums into scrapbooks.  But now, having friends my age who have kids, they’re not creating photo albums.  Yes, they’re taking pictures of their kids, and yes they’re documenting their child’s life, but they’re doing it via Facebook: they created a facebook for their child, uploading their photos into albums, sharing birthday moments, and creating this digital footprint for their child.  I have never thought anything of creating the page for their child before our last class.  I always thought it was kind of weird they were doing this, but I kind of had the mindset “you do you, boo.”  But now I feel like I should almost show them some of the scary stats we talked about and tell them to leave it up for their daughter to create the page for herself when she becomes of age. Or even suggest buying a domain for their kids like what Katia brought up in class, rather than creating such a public page for all to see.

But on the other hand, again, the coolest thing about the Wesch’s video was learning that Soulja Boy was found on youtube.  I remember being in grade 4 or 5 and learning that dance in phys ed.  I had no idea he became a youtube phenomenon before he got signed or that his music video is a parody of sorts of that journey for him.  Learning that made me realize how fast videos actually spread and can become “sensational.”  It made me think about those posts you see on Facebook that say, “I’m teaching a grade 6 class in *wherever* please share so I can show my students how fast things posted can spread!” And within a week the post has MILLIONS of shares and comments, and it’s almost scary to think how fast something like that can go around the world.  But at the same time, it’s beneficial for those “children missing” posts because they hit such a large array of people in such a short amount of time.

I guess when all is said and done, just like Katia said in the lecture, the technology we divulge ourselves into actually shapes us and as future educators, we should try our best to teach students to expose themselves to such technology positively.  How we do that, I’m not sure.  In my classroom, I will want my students to use their technology as a tool, not a toy.  I don’t want to shun technology, but I also want it to constantly be used appropriately… just as we are doing in this class.  We’re having fun, we’re learning, and we’re evolving.  As time goes on I will be able to learn more (especially in this class) about how to position myself to help advocate and foster a positive technological community.