Weekly blog..

Although I was relatively aware of the mass media and the influence it has on its audiences, I have found that after a few weeks of our Media and Technology class, I have become even more aware of the enormous impact that media has on society today. Since our Media class has begun, we have had class discussions, lectures, and readings that have made me recognize different sources of media in a somewhat different light. I find myself paying more attention to commercials/advertisements - the way in which they persuade people to buy their product. I have also found myself looking deeper into television shows, that I would have normally watched for pure entertainment. For example, in one of our lectures, the class discussed how characters on most television shows never finish eating their meal. I had never noticed this before and decided to pay extra attention to this when watching TV. And infact, it is certainly true, teenagers rarely finish their meal on television!!! I was shocked, and can only imagine the influence this can have on teenagers today.
Another example would be how teenagers are portrayed in the media. TV shows such as 90210 and Gossip Girl demonstrate families of extreme wealth where kids "appear" happy, however there is a much more dark side when you look more deeply (e.g. depression, unhappiness, divorce, drugs/alcohol, etc).
During this past weeks lab, our TA showed us how to use youtube, and record videoclips and embed them into our own blogs. It was very interesting to learn, and I found it to be much easier than I thought it would be!

Practice with youtube...

Class Issues - Weekly blog

Monday's topic was on 'Class Issues', which I found to be extremely interesting. Everyone participated in an open discussion on various television shows and movies that individuals in society fantasize/idealize about being similar to (e.g being overly wealthy, having a huge house, multiple cars, etc.). Some of the common television shows that were discussed in class were 90210, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives and Entourage. One aspect that was dscussed was the fact that while most people fantasize about having similar lives to these characters on TV, there is also a dark side that people may not see to the wealth that is depicted on television - most of the characters are upset and unhappy, and most of the teens are either on drugs, heavily depressed, or drink heavy amounts of alcohol.
With this in mind, it is extremely important for future educators to become more aware of the media and it's potential negative effects on children/adolescents of the present and future.
Also, during our lab on Monday, the class was taught how to make photo albums by using a website called 'Bubble share'...I think this site is extremely useful, and will no doubt use it again in the future.

Creating photo album on Bubbleshare!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Media & Technology and Education - Class 1

Today was my first Media, Technology and Education lab. Although I was somewhat overwhelmed to use a Mac for my first time, I was excited and ready for the challenge. 

During class, I also learnt how to create my first blog, which was really interesting and fun! There were a lot of different options while making our blog, to personalize it and make it our own!

I am very excited for this course, and believe it will be a positive learning experience!

C