March 4: Relection on Sam's Digital Youth Portrait

Sam is a 13 year-old girl who is comfortable playing with technology. She is good at math and music, and is very creative according to her peers, parents, and teachers.

She is able to use technology to help her in school. In English class, she had to read a book, but did not understand it, so she downloaded it to her phone, and by doing so, the book was read to her and she could better understand it. I'm not sure how I feel about this. If she is struggling to understand, yes, she needs to find help. I'm sure she isn't having a book read to her all the time, but that could be a bad habit to get into. Everyone needs to be able to read text, analyze it, and come to some conclusion. If you have it read to you all the time, you become dependent on the person or device reading. I would encourage asking help from the teacher or form a student study group where everyone reads the book, understand what you can, and contribute what you can to the group.

Sam also used technology in Science class by creating a weather report from another planet using a video software. Sam really enjoys making videos. She said she has had a camera since she was a child. She enjoys directing her friends in creating a story.

Sam uses a virtual piano online to teach her how to play the piano. I thought that was awesome! Sam seems to be good at teaching herself.

Sam said that digital media allows her freedom of expression and to be someone else. She learns teamwork, problem-solving, and strategy from a game she plays online with other people.

I think the biggest take-away for me was just how much Sam uses technology to help her in her classes; it helps her improve, and to be creative.

I would like to reach out to the students in my class who like to create. I did a project in high school in history class where we had to make a video with other students about an event we had learned in class. My group chose the anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1970s. We had a lot of fun. We had to research the topic and then get together to make a video. I think that is a great way to learn about an event in history, to learn teamwork and collaboration, and to practice with technology.