Mediated Reality- Jesse Miller

This week Jesse Miller visited our classroom on Zoom to share his thoughts on the internet and how to navigate it in our professional teacher lives. Despite the screen, Jesse grasped our attention and delivered an engaging presentation on an overwhelming topic. I am unsure and confused about my comfort level with technology, and it was refreshing to listen to how someone else is navigating the inescapable and unavoidable mediated reality.

Growing up, I had a Machintosh classic to tinker with and take apart. There was no internet on it, but I enjoyed just trying to figure out how it worked. When I was in fifth grade, I started using a computer with dial-up internet and spent hours playing around with Frontpage and burning my CDs. Eventually, I discovered online website building platforms, designed an online game with a friend, and worked endlessly to recruit players. I got my first laptop and a light-up Nokia cellphone with pay-as-you-go cards in eighth grade.

After experiencing older technology first, the ability to download movies on a laptop was unbelievable. Before I could download movies, the only video stores in my area just sold pirated copies of DVDs. The quality was terrible, and it was usually recordings done in a movie theatre, so shadows would often randomly walk across the screen. Videogames were the same. They were old 2-D games. My mind was blown when I found out Gameboy had games that were not just side-scrolling like Tetris and Dr. Mario.

As Jesse discussed, video games today are vastly different. As someone who is not into gaming, I am unsure precisely what the internet safety concerns are and what that means for kids. I agree that adults must model how to use technology safely because kids emulate what they observe. I feel anxious thinking about the role technology, particularly the internet, plays in children’s lives. I wonder if the next generation will take a step back from technology rather than becoming more and more consumed by it. Instead, able to find the balance between technology with a purpose and unmediated experiences.

What do you think about professionals not having a social media presence? Is it okay to not participate or is it a job requirement?