Paper
What media (print/ curricula, radio, television, cell phones, Internet, computers, talking dictionary) are available in your classrooms? How do you use them? What are the positive and negative effects of a mediated classroom, school, or society?I remember an incident two years ago when a student asked me what I do during my spare time. I replied that I barely have time for myself but when such opportunities arise, I read, swim, clean my apartment, or write in my journal. He further inquired, "Don't you watch TV?" To the surprise of the whole class, I answered that I do not own a television set for nearly two years already and rarely watch television. Oh they were simply amazed and responded that it's impossible for a person to survive without the tube. Then and there I realized how immersed modern society has become not only on technology but also on mass media. I personally could live the rest of my life without watching Oprah or Friends, but I don't see myself getting through the day without "punching" through the Internet. Mediated communication and mass media have been indispensable units of the modern society especially since the turn of the first half of the 20th century. Adler (2003)
An average American home has three to four cabled television sets, two Internet-connected personal computers, DVD players, radio/CD players, MP3 players, telephones, PDA, and newspaper subscription. As I observed in my classroom and the overall culture of the school identified in this paper, media is used for purposes like surveillance, diversion, idle time, social integration. Ours is definitely a mediated society and we can't deny that. Just as vaudeville was the root of much early American television, the circus and carnival with their freak shows influenced talk shows. Ours is an information driven society and there is that continuous thirst for information and more information. In the fullest sense of the word "democracy" and "freedom," do media mirror the American society? Or is otherwise, society following the dictates of the media? From the moment we wake up we turn on the tube to watch the morning news, tune in to our favorite station as we drive to work, can't help but notice the billboards along the traffic-congested freeway, read the morning paper in the office, correspond with a client or a friend by email in another part of the world, browse over a magazine while waiting for an appointment, and later catch the late night show at 11:00 pm. In an average modern classroom alone, various media devices are available to supplement learning. Digitally-immigrant teachers are encouraged to learn the "language" of these media devices in order not to be left behind by digitally-native students. With the growth of modern American society came the development of mass media. Like in my sixth grade classroom, I have a personal computer connected to the Internet where I could check my email, surf teaching resources, enter students' grade in a software called Grade Quick, and do lesson plans and test materials; radio/CD/cassette player; DVD player; television; and printed materials. Cell phones are also very common in developing countries in Asia like the Philippines and Thailand.
Common topics in this essay:
Europe Television,
CD-ROM DVD,
Mass Communication,
Philippines Thailand,
Michigan University,
Internet Mediated,
Grade Quick,
Internet Computers,
Oprah Friends,
mass media,
media devices,
cell phones,
mediated communication,
magazines books,
media relax students,
media technology,
devices available,
american television,
average american,
lunch students,
newspapers magazines books,
media devices available,
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