Disruption: The role of image in communication

The New Online Language

"Photos, once slices of a moment in the past — sunsets, meetings with friends, the family vacation — are fast becoming an entirely new type of dialogue."

When I read this quote from "Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online," I immediately could relate to it, because I've seen it happen with my own young adult children.  Where once my daughter would text me to let me know what she's been up to at college, now she more often will send a picture of where she is and who she's with.  My son spent most of his senior year of high school in a constant state of Snapchat.  I've also found myself drawn to using images to tell my story.  It's more fun, more thought-provoking, more interesting for others to share with me in that way.  I think social media users, and smart phone users, are beginning to feel the dryness, distance, and possibly isolation one can feel from only texting.  Using images can also offer an opportunity to show creativity and to entertain others.  I recently heard of a new app that will allow people to live stream what they're doing, with a short lag for editing purposes, so we'll see where that goes!

Let me tell you about my trip

This picture shows how we use images to tell our story now.  Selfies are the new travel journal, and not just for our benefit, but also to allow others to share the experience with us, and maybe to show off a little bit, too.

Introduction

New Media Age 

Introduction

I'm Julie Turnbull, and I've lived in Bridgeport, WV for the last 14 years.  I came to West Virginia from Ohio, where I was born and grew up, and my extended family still lives.  For the past 7 years I've been teaching middle school English and have been the yearbook advisor at the public middle school.  I've taught English, reading, and general music to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.  

Technology in Education

When I started teaching in 1989, the most exciting technology tools we had were overhead projectors, tape recorders, and vcrs.  I've always loved using technology and learning about new ways to use it in my classroom, and that's what I hope to get out of this class.  I like to stay one step ahead of the kids when it comes to technology, and that's very difficult in today's society.  It has to be intentional for me.  I wasn't born into it, the way my own children were, and I have to seek out the new tools, apps, and devices so I can keep my classroom exciting and technologically relevant.

Educational Goals

I just recently declared Digital Media, New Literacies and Learning as my degree program. I started pursuing  a degree in Online Learning a few years ago, but I was moving slowly on it, since my husband was finishing his masters and both of my children were entering college.  I discovered last year that the degree program I was in was coming to and end, so I needed to make the switch.  I'm excited about the change, though.  This new degree program has many more facets to it and will prepare me for more possibilities in technology leadership and education than the Online Learning program would have.  The classes I've taken so far are all of the core requirements, plus Introduction to Online Learning, Technology Tools for Online Learning, Online Course Management Strategies, and Technology, Leadership, and Change.

Literacy in the 21st Century

This video goes through some of the skills I believe are becoming 

necessary for students to learn in this technology-rich age.

Digital Media in the Classroom

This is a comic strip called "The Whole Internet Truth".  It reminds me of the kind of thing many of my students feel is true about researching online for classroom writing.