I think this is a really interesting fact to point out. Throughout high school and our college careers, we have been told that creative thinking is an essential tool that we need to graduate with and apply to our future careers, that it is one of the main factors employers today are looking for. However, are professors doing the best job of implementing this into their curriculum? Are college graduates confident in their creative thinking skills and abilities? Something to think about...

This is a really interesting statistic. I wonder if this is the most up-to-date number, because I would be curious to see how the pandemic has influenced these numbers. Sometimes, teenagers struggling with mental health feel more comfortable finding free and available resources to use online than talking to their parents about it directly, so I would definitely agree that there is a higher demand for mental health content on the internet.

I would love to learn more about this particular statement. I agree with it, I believe it is safe to say that media literacy and media education are used interchangeably because the terms literacy and education are essentially synonyms. I'm additionally taking a class this semester specifically on media literacy, and it is extremely different from media education. It is very important that students, no matter what they are studying, know the difference!

This may not be the most effective form of learning, in my opinion. Students, particularly at a young age, will not be able to do this to the best of their ability simply because they don't know how. Students do well when they receive feedback from their teacher because students look up to their teachers as role models and have established connections with them. Even though this may be the norm, I believe this system works.

This is fascinating. I know a lot of people my age that play Minecraft growing up, and that even still play it today. This game has definitely influenced my generation and their technological skills because it is definitely a game where you have to multi-task on the computer. If students already know these basic skills from the game, why are educators constantly being asked to teach them to their students?

Would this be considered a violation of academic integrity? I'm confused. Students need to look away from the screen during a lecture to go to the restroom, take a sip of water, or to take a break for a minute. This seems like an unfair point to me, even though all of the other points surrounding this issue make sense.

This is such a great point. Unfortunately, this is how our education system works today. This is how I grew up learning math, science, and tons of other subjects. Teachers need to understand that children grow up with reading/learning disabilities, and that this may not be the most effective way for ALL students to learn in their classroom.

To me, this comes off to be a very vague quote and/or explanation. How often are we reminded of these societal and educational issues? Are the changes/reforms being made impactful? Have significant changes been noticed in our educational system?

This is a really interesting point. It encouraged me to reflect on my time as a student and how the development of technology may have influenced it. During my elementary and middle school years, technology didn't really make an impact, but when I started high school, they eventually made every student rent a chromebook for the whole year...

I'm not too sure if I agree with this statement. Yes, effectivity matters in an app, but there's so many other features that matter just as much, if not more. Privacy protection? Accessibility? Does it translate in more than one language? These are all things that I believe we should consider when deciding if we want to use a certain app.

It's interesting because I feel that in all of my years of school, I've only been introduced to a few of these tools. Google Docs/Slides/Sheets being the one I've used the most, but the only other major one I've used since is Zoom. In my town, we made Google Drive accounts in 6th grade and used them until the end of 12th grade, this is why I don't have much experience with other tools!

I've heard about other apps/games doing this, and it terrifies me, especially since I played Pokemon Go in middle school with my friends. I just don't understand why apps, that particularly target a young age group, want to gather your private and personal information. A good tool that could be developed to block this from happening any further is a software that will tell you if your information will be stolen once you install an app, or maybe this already exists!

This is a common problem in many schools that happens to students and teachers frequently. Sometimes, depending on how old a device is, an application may not open because it needs more space available on the computer. More applications need to be created that are easier for students and teachers to navigate, but also doesn't cause computer problems. When these types of issues occur, especially in an elementary school setting, it can disrupt the whole class.

This statement has proven to be increasingly more and more true due to the pandemic. However, teachers can't decide if their course is suitable to be online because it is mandatory that all classes are online, essentially. A lot of professors I have had struggled with adapting to the online format for their particular class because it doesn't support the course design or the student's learning experience. This is an obstacle that I want to help teachers and professors overcome because I would love to have professors that are great with technology, like Dr. Trust.

As weird as this may sound, the pandemic has expanded my knowledge on new digital tools for me to learn! Like many other college students, Zoom is the newest and most popular one I have used so far, but I used Google Docs / Slides / Sheets and Classroom in high school. This was the main platform to complete our homework on. In addition, I took a Microsoft Office workshop, and I completed certifications in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. These are just a few of the many reasons as to why I am excited to learn about more of these tools!