Monday, September 9, 2013

Media in our Education

Growing up I remember being taught how to use a computer in our school's computer lab. Even at that young age we were being taught why the computer was important. Today you can't go anywhere without new media being shoved down your throat.

My mom used to tell me stories about what life was like when she was growing up. Time were so different when the new media was the radio and newspaper. I sometimes wish we could go back to those times because everything seemed so much simpler then. Today we are controlled by social media. Tweet this, facebook that, Instagram! I'm not going to lie I'm guilty when it comes to using social media. I don't truly know if I could live without it and I don't like that. I don't appreciate that the school system has taught me to be depended on new media and social sites. It scares em that we rely on something so flaky. And it is a hard habit to break because new technologies are being invented everyday.

I don' think all new technology and new media is bad, I would maybe even encourage it. What I don't like is that the school system seems to be switching over to technology for teaching. I so strongly believe in the classroom and the teacher. It is a concept that has been used throughout hundreds of generations and have gotten use to this stage in evolution were we are coming up with all this technology. It is a good system and honestly, if it's not broken then don't fix it. I use that phrase solely in terms of the need for children to actually go to school.

I would say that I support the Protectionist Approach towards teaching media to new generations. It's not that I believe that one day media will be erased from our everyday lives and we will go back to the simple times. I know how unlikely that is because of the vast amount of new technology that is being produced. However, I do support the idea of protecting future generations from the addiction to media. There is no hope for my generation because that is long in engraved into our heads. Though I do believe that some of my generation are starting to see the negative in the vast amounts of new media and this may lead to a rise in the Protectionist approach becoming a bigger thing.

The idea of teaching children with paper and books is an appealing one. They will always have the internet and tv but it would be really nice if the school wasn't the reason they became addicted to it. They will find all that out on their own. I think it's the school system's duty to now preserve the art of lecture and print because it has been a staple in society for centuries.

There needs to be an equal balance of new media and old school teaching. For society to lose old values is a saddening idea and one that can be so easily avoided. If a child becomes addicted to new media it should not be because of the "trusted" school system. Led Masterman's article "The Media Education Revolution" speaks about how teaching media went from protecting children to encouraging them. There needs to be a happy middle or the future will become one depended on everything but themselves.

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