Through our class we have discussed issues pertaining to Internet safety, guidelines for students and instructors to follow when using technology in the classroom, and we’ve discussed how much is too much concerning our students. This week’s blog addresses another issue involving technology and our students: the Media’s role in our student’s use of technology. Media, which involves outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, TV news programs, MTV, magazines, etc…, help shape our youth’s ideas and values. They also shape the way students learn. Some programs are bias when displaying news or images on TV which in turn can affect students’ cognition. It makes you wonder: Are these media outlets contributing positively or negatively to student's technological success? Are they to blame for a student’s lack in educational skills? What do you feel, through today’s media, is hindering or helping our students’ abilities in the classroom?
39 Comments
Prof. Myers
3/26/2012 12:03:06 pm
I think that the news media makes it hard to figure out what is true and what has a spin on it and that most students can not tell the difference. I know that my primary source of news gets put in the more "liberal" category but I make a point to see what other news programs are saying as well to try and get all sides of the story and all the information I can. I also will go to the a web page that deals with the subject at hand. If I have a question about a bill in MO I will go on line and read the bill and make a choice for myself.
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Matthew Clanahan
4/1/2012 10:23:14 pm
Prof. Myers makes some excellent points here. The constant stream of news can be both good and bad. We receive a lot of information from a variety of sources these days, but far too many people don't have the critical thinking skills necessary to determine fact from opinion.
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Ryan Mansfield
4/5/2012 12:39:58 am
I think the Daily Show and Colbert Report actually have more truths and bring out more points that the "real news" does. Colbert and Stewart can actually say things that the "real news" cannont say or will say and can actually get away with it since it is fake. Yes there is alot of bs and fake questions but some of the questions that are asked are direct and to the point and not tap dancing around what the commentator is actually trying to get answered.
Casey Costa
3/26/2012 10:25:16 pm
I feel that the media is harming the education of students. So much of what is portrayed on the internet are pop culture things like all of the snags in the trade deal of Tim Tebow or news on people like Snookie. I feel that with all of these stories crowding the main sites that they use, such as yahoo!, facebook, twitter, etc that they are more likely to look at these things especially because they are entertaining. On the other hand education can be boring and if they are not pushed in the right direction kids won't go looking for scholarly articles in their free time, they'll just look at what is trending which has no educational value
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Christopher Sandefur
3/29/2012 12:23:56 am
It is hard to convince students with looking up educational resources when all that is being posted is entertaining things. I agree that kids find scholarly articles boring. I believe their has to be a way to filter the distractions so education is look at as something important.
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Popi Stevens
4/1/2012 09:29:41 am
I agree, sometimes the educational purpose gets lost for entertainment value (instead attention gets put to tebowing or snookie and the situation hooking up and things like that).
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Kelli Miller
4/4/2012 12:50:17 am
Casey, I agree with you on the media doing more harm than good. Students are not learning current events affecting our state, country, and the world. Instead they have news about who "wore it best" or who just went to rehab shoved in their face. I have a question for you though. Who's role is it to push the kids in the right direction--parents, teachers..etc?
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George Pincock
3/26/2012 10:39:11 pm
I think media is harming education it self. I feel that media is harming student's perception of reality, which in turn effects their education. When was the last time you saw a headline on a news site or channel that said: "student graduates and succeeds because of hard work." You are far more likely to see the headlight that talks about your favorite athlete or celebrity star... unfortunately these people don't have to live a life like the rest of the country. And students are able to make this distinction.
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Heather Kirkendoll
3/27/2012 11:06:09 am
I agree that our society has created too much importace on acting badly instead of showing kids that hard work can lead to a successful and fulfilling life.
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Robert Thomas
4/1/2012 10:38:35 pm
Everything you see these days on the news is negative information. Very little is something about what someone does good for someone else. You act like what you see and what you grow up around what ever the situation is either negative or positive and what you see on tv or the internet. There is not enough good information that people see on the several media outlets we have in todays world. That is not a good thing.
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Ryan Mansfield
4/5/2012 12:53:51 am
That is because good news and feel good stories are not what sells advertising. It is always the bad stories and the tragic stories that sell adverstising and make money. It would be nice for a change instead of have 25 minutes of shitty stories and 5 minutes of positive stories that we have 25 minutes of positive stories and 5 minutes of shitty stories.
Heather Kirkendoll
3/27/2012 11:20:52 am
I agree that we get our views from media. But I don't think this is a new trend. I think my parents and grandparents got their current events from Johnny Carson. The election of John F Kennedy is a testimony to the power of television. He way outshined his opponent, and that is possibly a big reason he may have won his election. I do think that censorship gets a bad wrap. Censorship can help to keep our children more innocent for longer. For example, during daytime TV my 4 year old overhears all kinds of adult topics, so we have had to up our watch on what is playing, even during the day on basic cable.
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Jeremy Esry
3/29/2012 10:53:46 pm
This is a great point of our society always getting their views from the media, however now more than ever I believe that this is true as there are 10 times as many outlets for the media to use compared to what we previously had. You are correct about censorship as well, I can remember probalby 10 years ago where it was a huge ordeal on NYPD Blue that they showed half of someones bare backside and using a curse word was unheard of. It now seems like you cannot go thru a 30 min. TV show without one or the other.
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Stacy Crommie
3/31/2012 06:26:55 pm
I liked how you mentioned getting current events from Johnny Carson. Mine did the same. They also listened to Paul Harvey. I do believe you are right about censorship. It does get a bad wrap. We, as parents, do have to monitor just because there is not enough censorship.
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Popi Stevens
4/1/2012 10:24:42 am
I agree, censorship is a huge part of media and technology in general. Censorship is getting "softer" i believe. I say that because things that were offensive or borderline appropriate for kids when we grew up, are now considered ok/acceptable.
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Matthew Clanahan
4/1/2012 10:29:19 pm
Daytime television is not designed for a young audience. It is assumed that children will be in school or watching content that is suitable for them. I believe that parents should take some personal responsibility for what they allow their children to watch -- my parents did.
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Christopher Sandefur
3/27/2012 11:11:27 pm
I believe the media puts on TV what will be the most entertaining to their audience. They try to put spin on stories to receive the highest ratings. I find it interesting how different news stations report the same story with different spins on the story. Shouldn't we get just the information and make an opinion for ourselves? I believe they put this twist on information to increase viewership.
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casey costa
3/28/2012 02:05:22 am
I completely agree with the spins on news stories. I used to watch the news every morning, but with the bias that certain channels have on stories it has discouraged me from watching as much. I guess in this way we get to see an opinion and get to form our own based on that. Media always tries to make things seem more entertaining and I believe that is their biggest downfall
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George Pincock
3/28/2012 02:44:04 am
I agree with both you. The news is always putting some type of spin on what is happening in our society. Is it good or bad? I guess that just depends on what side of the fence you stand on (mostly politically) and what station you just happen to be watching. Very rarely will you find a station that reports the news as it really is.
Stacy Crommie
3/29/2012 01:58:50 am
I agree with most on here that Tv shows what is most entertaining. The meat of the stories on the news sometimes get lost because of the spins on them. Some of the stories contribute negatively like when you hear about a star going to rehab. That star is someone the child looked up to and now they think that going to rehab may be "cool", but if they are taught by parents and other sources the difference between right and wrong they will only find disappointment in the ones they idolized. Then we have the stars that do good like sponsoring an orphanage. Yes, they did good , but many question if it is a publicity stunt to hide their wrongdoings. I believe the kids nowadays can see the distinction of right and wrong. The media may change sway their opinions on what is most important in life or how to achieve success.
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Heather Kirkendoll
3/30/2012 11:34:43 am
I love the idea of using famous people's name in word problems. I don't know why I havent done that yet. I use students' or teachers' names all the time. I bet the students would get a real kick out of that. I think I'll have to do that for bellwork on Monday, thanks!
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Audrey Crabtree
3/31/2012 11:01:34 am
I love your last paragraph and think that is the best attitude we can have at this point. We have to stay in the know to keep that positive influence with the kids.
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Stephanie Armiger
4/1/2012 10:59:59 am
I agree with you Stacy, that the "stars" do influence our children and can also disappoint our children. My daughter used to have a few favorites whom she watched as a child and then they grew up and become a disappointment. It's very sad to see that happen to our child stars. Then the news and media outlets continually sensationalize the bad choices these stars make.
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Jeremy Esry
3/29/2012 10:49:51 pm
I think that today's are harming student's technological success in the class room. There are never reports on the news about students doing something positive with online social networks. They always seem to focus on the negative (i.e. cyber bullying, kids misbehaving) Therfore when students see these things happening they begin to believe that these same actions would be ok for them to do. Social media sights also can be a major disctraction to learning in the class room as students can easily get lead off track by viewing these sights.
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Audrey Crabtree
3/31/2012 11:05:40 am
I believe that the news mainly reports the bad because it is better news. You get more attention for negative aspects than we do for positive. But I do agree with you at some extent and think that social networks can be a distraction.
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Thomas Buehler
4/1/2012 09:39:51 pm
I agree with you. I would bet that more young people use their phones now-a-days for checking their facebook and Twitter than to even text of call. It's very easy to be distracted by social networking in class when you are supposed to be listening to the lecture.
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Audrey Crabtree
3/31/2012 10:53:34 am
I think there are both situations out there. I think that on tv their are a lot of wrong you can watch. There are also a lot of educational shows for kids out there. Online has started to worry more because of the increased bullying so you can find more helpful sites. But for every good site there are a double that are not helpful and can show harmful things to students. So to answer the question, I think their are both and the parents need to help monitor what the students are viewing.
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Popi Stevens
4/1/2012 09:28:08 am
I would say that it is hurting our youths education. For one students believe everything they see or read online and they also tend to copy it, instead of form opinions for themselves or check to make sure what they see or read is accurate. I wouldnt blame everything on that though, because i think there are things that can be helpful to a student who is learning. But things like facebook updates and tweeting every minute can be wasteful and very time consuming and honestly just not very productive in my opinion.
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Stephanie Armiger
4/1/2012 10:51:55 am
I think that the media does affect children, especially things like Facebook, for our teens. They get a false sense of reality by viewing other teens pages, it makes me think of the saying “the grass is greener on the other side.” a child reads something online, or hears something on television they tend to believe it, whether or not it comes from a reputable source.
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Melea Shimkus
4/6/2012 01:19:25 pm
I did not think of it as a "the grass is greener on the other side" thing. But that could be true of a lot of kids. Many children might see what other kids have or where they have been and think: why don't I have that? It would not help with self esteem issues.
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Thomas Buehler
4/1/2012 09:37:49 pm
Social media sites and other media outlets are all aimed at making money. This is their primary goal. They don't attempt to help children learn or improve their knowledge of technology. I think that it is a good thing that our children learn to use these outlets because they inadvertantly help kids learn technology because of their interest in these sites. I'm not crazy about some of the information that they have access to on these sites. However, you run the risk of them coming across inappropriate materials while on the internet at any point.
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Robert Thomas
4/1/2012 10:32:05 pm
Media can make you believe anything that they want to. If someone says something on twitter or anyother type of media outlet it seems like it is a fact and 100% correct. It will only get worse from this day forward. People can start rumors about anything if said in the right media fourms and make you believe them. The use of all these media outlets I think cause more problems than what they fix.
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Cara Barth-Fagan
4/2/2012 12:16:47 am
Have you ever stopped to think about all the commercials that are on t.v. and what stations they target as well as the age group that they target? On kids' tv stations, they show kid's foods, toys, games, gaming systems, etc. all because they know kids are watching and will tell their parents they want it! And on adult t.v. stations we see beer commercials, condom commercials, etc. . . The media definately plays a huge role in what we think and believe in. My husband won't watch MSNBC becasue it's biased, but he chooses to watch CNN . . . (it's biased too). Some stations don't show certain sports games- why? because they are being sponsored by certain companies and are required to promote their products. It's all about the money and who's paying for air time (or ads on the Internet or sponsor for Presidential candiates, etc). It's all about the money.
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Cara Barth-Fagan
4/2/2012 12:24:43 am
(continued- clicked submit before I was finished)
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Kelli Miller
4/4/2012 12:47:13 am
I agree with you about media being biased and displaying shows that are not suitable for children. I do have a question for you. Do you think certain technology is a "treat" or a priviledge for students in schools or do you think it is a right that students have when being taught in schools?
Nick Camp
4/3/2012 10:19:36 pm
Personally, I think the media is absolutely hindering our children's educational skills. I've read previous posts on this topic and they were right on when they said that all the 'tabloid' stories cover all the news that actually matters. I find it hard to even watch local news anymore, mostly because if it bleeds it leads. Meaning, the local news covers all the murders (in larger metropolitan areas) that happen and if they are not covering murders it seems they are only skimming the surface of actual news content. Our children are exposed to this at an early age, I'm not one to want to sensor everything but I believe their should be a balance between the two.
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Ryan Mansfield
4/5/2012 12:35:33 am
Media overall and in general is hurting more than it is really helping anything in education. If I had to categorize the media today, I would say that it is nothing but gossip and personal opinions. I personaly have stopped watching the news for the most part and will catch certain parts of it or maybe watch certain stories but really don't listen to what they news casters or analysts have to say but rather come to my own conclusions on issues.
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Ryan Mansfield
4/5/2012 12:49:44 am
We have gotten to the point were we as a country to not actually no what real news is and is not. People actually rely on google and twitter for their news updates. This is a complete joke since anybody can put anything they want on twitter and people acutally believe what they hear on twitter and think its the gospel. This is happening more and more and what people think is acutally reality is not even close.
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Melea Shimkus
4/6/2012 01:43:23 pm
I think social media sites can hender children in many ways. One, they think that is all the internet is for and do not know how to do research or even something as simple as looking the weather, and not a friend. Children no longer bother with learning how to type (on the keyboard), or how to set up the structure for a paper. Some children think that computers are only for social media sites, and nothing more.
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Student BlogThis blog is for class conversations for ED 514 at Central Methodist University. These post are by the students of ED 514. We invite input form other teachers about how they use technology in their classrooms. Archives
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