Jeffco Teachers

Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones.

The study’s findings shocked its authors, who had concluded in 2005 that use could not possibly grow further, and confirmed the fears of many parents whose children are constantly tethered to media devices. It found, moreover, that heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades.

What I am suggesting is that you learn a little about the many different kinds of tools that are out there (many of which are free or very low cost) and give a few a trial run. Online interactive whiteboards, Wikis, virtual worlds, workgroup tools, mind mapping, collaborative documents, the list just goes on and on, and the potential is endless. You owe it to yourself and your students to be informed, to participate, and to embrace the opportunities.

Another unavoidable fact is the growing desire for experience and familiarity with the Internet and other computer technologies as a hiring requirement in the educational field.

student realizes that they can easily make the resulting creation available for viewing on the Internet, it can be pretty exciting!

Gilpin will explain the nuances of social media and train students on how to best use these tools in a new class to be offered this fall – Media 2.0: Social Media. The 400-level class is open to all ASU students.“Social media is changing the way that we are communicating, in person and across space and time,” Gilpin said. “These things have pretty important cultural impacts.”The advent of social media can be compared to the era when television was introduced into living rooms across the country during the 1950s. Today, Americans and many citizens around the world expect immediate information and instant access to the people in their lives.Media 2.0: Social Media will explore the medium from the perspective of four cornerstones: cultural, economics and ownership, law and ethics, and privacy.

“You need to have your public persona be something that’s OK for an employer to look at,” Gilpin said. “You should be hyper aware of what you’re putting out there, but at the same time, it makes your message a little less authentic. You’re always thinking about the impression you’re going to make.”

Additional topics that will be covered include social media and journalism, crowdsourcing, government and publishing, and professional and personal branding.