Multimedia Writing Post 4

The video that we watched in class the other day really has me thinking. I'm referring to the video that uses children to talk about the necessity of modern communications technology in the class.

It seems to me that the American perception of education has become overly relaxed. I am speaking primarily about high school education. Children learn from media and their peers that high school is to be the golden years of their youth. Teenagers are encouraged to excel in school, but only as long as it doesn't interfere with proper socialization. They are led to believe that while they are in high school, social networking and development are most important, and education is secondary. These youths are encouraged by their parents to be social and have fun while they can, because after high school there comes the real world.

Education needs to be culturally reinforced as the primary objective for school. This should be inculcated into modern media. If I turn on the television right now, I could probably find four or five shows about high school students (no doubt played by twenty-something year olds) but somehow the important role of education in the lives of these characters is somehow left out completely. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with proper socialization of enjoying one's youth. I do believe that recreation and socialization are important to the development of our youth; however, it is of the utmost importance that students and parents realize the serious necessity of education to the future of the individual and the country. Education is the key to success and further development in our culture pedagogy is most important.

I think that there maybe some skepticism about using new communication technologies in the classroom, but I really believe that this is because people are afraid that the quality of education received by the modern youth will depreciate. The fact of the matter is that the medium does not change the message. The modern youth’s perception of the world has been metamorphosized by technology, therefore, the technology which so influenced the development of this generation should become the voice of learning.