Our Students' Future through the Influence of Technology

Lady Gaga, Donald Trump, Kanye West, Ellen DeGeneres, Taylor Swift, and Hilary Clinton are among many of the most popular celebrities, however what do they all have in common? We may start to reflect on famous TV shows, music or even political events, but lets face it...you would never see any of these celebrities in the same room without a serious throw down. The fact of the matter is that they, surprisingly, have something blatantly in common. All of the aforementioned stars and politicians have a profound love for tweeting their thoughts and using social media whether its in their best interest or not.

      Although we hear of the glorified uses of technology, we seldom reflect on the most powerful ways that we can use social media in the classroom. Whether out of fear of change or fear of misuse, many schools seem to navigate away from social media use in schools often dreading the worst outcome. Realistically, social media is everywhere so why not embrace and welcome it? 

       In the YouTube Video, Social Media Revolution 2011, its evident that the use of social media goes beyond Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, it extends to the usage of Google, Yelp, and even Wikipedia. According to the video above, social media has grown to the point that its use consumes  entire countries, thus there is a profound need to educate our students on the use of proper social media and technology use. 

        We, as teachers, have an amazing opportunity to strengthen our students social interactions through technology and inspire the growth of self-directed knowledge. The Future Learning Documentary highlights the benefits of using technology with students. Technology allows students to learn basic skills and invest in learning for the future. Students are able to learn by actively searching of answers through technology literally having all of the answers and subsequent knowledge at his/her fingertips. Learning is not only limited to classroom curriculum, it is expanded through specific video game use, blogging and social media. Overall, its our job to prevent students from becoming bored, submissive soldiers. We have an amazing opportunity to engage our students with critical thinking skills taught through technology.