CURR 501: Digital Media Literacy

 Reflection on Dr. Wesch's Ted Talk I really connected with the video "What Baby George Taught Me About Learning" because much of it reflects thoughts I've also had about education. I myself experienced trials in my life that impacted my ability to focus in the classroom. From middle school through much of high school, I was not a good student because I was dealing with hardships at home that made it nearly impossible for me to be present. Because of this, I thought that I just "wasn't cut out for school" like Dr. Wesch recalled other professors saying.  I stopped trying because I thought it didn't matter how hard I tried - I just wasn't capable of being a good student. This is in direct conflict with the kind of student I was before this period of my life. I was curious, engaged and loved school. But my teachers in middle school and high school didn't know why I wasn't doing well and they never really tried to get me to open up. That is,...

Digital Natives Vs. Digital Immigrants Children of this era are certainly at an advantage due to how connected they are with technology. They can stay in touch with their friends from anywhere in the world and can find information with the click of a few keystrokes. But how reliable is the information they find? And how safe and reliable are the “friends” they connect with online? It is the responsibility of digital immigrants to learn and teach digital natives how to protect themselves on the internet, as we would teach them when they’re walking down the street or talking to strangers in person. Just because there is a screen in front of them, doesn’t mean other people aren’t as dangerous online. There are many cases of predators who meet up with children online or even catfish them, pretending to be people their age. Children can have their identities stolen or their computers hacked. They can post things online that they’ll regret later in life after their brains have developed. And...