Image source: Brittanica
Background
For as many positive connections as technology has granted society, I have kept my distance for many reasons. I’d rather not share publicly about myself, my family, or my life. You may be shocked to know this whole course is completely out of my comfort zone. My personality tends to be more of a people pleaser and I wouldn’t want a post to be taken in a wrong way. I remember having Facebook and not wanting to be “friends” with people I wasn’t really friends with in real life and that brought on some feelings. There was no need for people I didn’t know or care for to be invited into a presentation of life. I also have very strong opinions about oversharing a child’s experience, but I will not go into true crime mode. I like the idea that you can connect with family members and friends who live far away. I also like that you can look your best and show your best work, but this isn’t a reality. However, I’m not one to partake in sharing openly on a public website due to many obvious reasons.
Technology Impact Opinion Video
iPhone- My Phone
I will examine my relationship with my phone. I am on it way too much. I love to text and exchange pictures, videos, and a good meme with family and friends. I also catch up on messages that include emails (personal and work), team snap for the kids' stuff, class dojo, teacher ease, and remind. So much to juggle! I love to read the news and my curiosity drives me to google everything. My last search was “What foods cause arm fat?” If you really want to examine the kind of a person someone is, check their search history. I check the weather and love to read celebrity gossip. I love reading articles that interest me and reading through Canvas assignments. Even though social media isn’t my thing, As you can tell I do very well occupying myself with this pocket-sized device.
Image source: digital trends
I’m Fine
As many would suggest, this relationship is unhealthy due to the amount of time spent on it, but I disagree. I feel like what I accomplish on my phone is just that, an accomplishment. I work. But “Elizabeth,” you might say, “you just said you send your friends memes.” I would argue to say “Well picking the right meme tone for the right conversation is using my higher-order thinking skills.” I’m kidding. I don’t feel guilty about the time spent on my phone although I could be on it less, but I’m not scrolling through garbage or taking unsolicited advice, nor am I being conned into buying a life-changing product that I get trapped into a subscription. My phone is used for research as well. I clip coupons and order food. It’s a tool to me, not a boredom buster as some say.
I can’t officially say it’s caused a strain on any relationships but perhaps if you ask my children they’d say different. When it comes to being distracted by my device, I can certainly be guilty of that. I think anyone who has a smart phone can testify that it is a huge part of their daily lives (my dad prefers the old school flip phone and is not in the least bit distracted by it). I explained how important this hand held device has become in our day to day tasks.
There was a comedian who was making a joke about his mother-in-law and how he trusts her with his most prized possessions, referring to his children, but wouldn't trust her for a second with his phone. I thought that was such a real life example about how sacred and personal our phones our to us.
Hi Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your insights into social media! I agree with you about not wanting to share things about myself and my family publicly. I tend to keep posts I make very impersonal, not wanting to post anything that could be misconstrued or come to be regretted. This course is also very much out of my comfort zone and I am interested to see how my online engagement will differ once I have completed the course. You talk about wanting to incorporate more technology into your lessons in your video. I wonder what you think a teacher’s responsibility to students’ exposure to technology and preparing them for a world run by it. I remember being in school and learning completely new technologies and being unable to ask my parents for help with it because they had never used them before. I had to turn to teachers for technological guidance, though many of them were learning these new gadgets right along with us. I think about “screen time” and how so many parents feel the need to limit their kid's screen time, but so much of schooling and adult working life involves it. It feels harder and harder to maintain that healthy balance between us and technology. When I was a kid the only phone I had access to was my home landline, but children younger and younger either have one or know how to use an iPhone. Our society is so deeply connected to screens that it feels hard and harder to detach ourselves from them. I think that the rules you laid out in your video for yourself and technology are wonderful! I hope that I can get to a point where I do not feel the need to maintain my social media apps. Time is a precious thing!
HI Elizabeth! I have to say, we are very mich on the same page regarding our phone use. I too, wrote in my blog that I did not feel the need to manage the time spent on my phone. On the contrast though, even though I do think of my phone as a tool for everyday living, I am guilty of spending time "doom scrolling". I also thought it was very ineteresting how you wrote in the end about letting others see/use our phones- although I do not have any compromising information on my phone, I do get very wary anytime anyone wants to lend it or see something on it. It feels very important to me and losing it would really affect my day-to-day living. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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