CONNECTING TO TECHNOLOGY POPULAR WITH STUDENTS 1

Connecting to Technology Popular with Students Pedagogical Paper 2

Mariah Mahjoory
Michigan State University
CONNECTING TO TECHNOLOGY POPULAR WITH STUDENTS 2

What kind of students might I be teaching?

           I will teach a class of seventh-grade students the importance of technology and education

regarding popular media they come across. The school that I teach at is in a city with diverse

populations and varying socioeconomic backgrounds. Some students live in the inner city while

others live in the suburban outskirts. Most of my students are equipped with a smartphone that

can download apps on them. Students who do not have a phone can still access these apps

through an iPad or a computer. Each student is equipped with how to be safe on the internet and

the different ways they can access school-related information on the internet. They are aware of

popular media relevant to children their age and often talk about these trends in class. Most of

my students are on multiple social media platforms. Some of these include ones such as

Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, which is their favorite. 

What aspects of connecting to technology popular with my students am I most excited

about teaching?

I am most excited to teach my students in fun and innovative ways. Creating lessons with

relatable content or trends they see online with technology is a lot of responsibility but exciting.

This way, what we are learning about in class no matter the topic, can be translated into

something that all my students enjoy. Social media is becoming a more prevalent and

mainstream part of society as the years' progress. “These numbers are huge – there are 7.7 billion

people in the world, with at least 3.5 billion of us online. This means social media platforms are

used by one-in-three people in the world, and more than two-thirds of all internet users” (Ortiz-

Ospine, 2019). Children across the world have access to these technologies and social media

platforms at such a young age. Since students immerse themselves daily in multiple ways

involving technology and different social media platforms, it is crucial to know what interests
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them. That way, the lessons I create can be representative of popular technology or media that

they find interesting. “Effective instruction builds bridges between students' knowledge and the

learning objectives of the course. Using media engages students, aids student retention of

knowledge, motivates interest in the subject matter, and illustrates the relevance of many

concepts. (Mateer, 2020). Implementing different forms of media and technology in the

classroom will be beneficial to students' overall engagement. Not only will their engagement

increase due to their interest in the subject matter, but it will encourage them to participate in

class more. I am excited to see how their participation and willingness to contribute increase

when they are introduced to lessons that are linked to topics and ideas they enjoy. I think it will

be cool to see what is popular amongst my students and find creative ways to integrate certain

trends of popular technology in our lessons. Not only will students want to learn more, but they

can relate the material taught in class to a familiar subject. Being able to ask my students about

what is popular will also help with overall participation. The reason being that they will want to

have a popular technology or media they like talked about in class. 

What aspects of popular technology am I most concerned about teaching?

            I am most concerned about having discussions about media that are not appropriate for

class. For example, TikTok is a growing social media platform that kids are using to create

videos expressing themselves or participate in global trends. “Comparing TikTok to other digital

media platforms shows what makes it unique. Like YouTube, TikTok consists entirely of videos.

Like Facebook and Twitter, the main way to consume TikTok is to browse through a feed of

short posts” (Munger, 2020). As amazing as that is, there are downsides to this. I need to make

sure I establish boundaries in what popular technologies can be integrated into the class. I want

to hear from my students about certain trends or popular aspects of technology they want to be
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implemented in our lessons. However, I worry about what specific videos, trends, or media they

want to bring into class. Making sure rules and regulations are in place as to what constitutes

“school appropriate” material will be important in making this happen.

Also, some parents do not want their kids to have access to social media until a certain

age. I would need to ask permission from the parents or guardians to integrate popular

technology and media in the class. I worry about stepping on the toes of any parents or guardians

but also my principal. I am also concerned about my students being on their screens for too long.

Also, keep in mind that integrating popular technology and media within lessons could lead to

students being on their phones more in class. “It can often seem that students are constantly in

front of a device — cell phones, tablets, computers, and gaming devices are prevalent in their

lives. Adding technology to the classroom increases the overall amount of exposure to electronic

devices” (Brown, 2019).  If I were to implement lessons involving topics they enjoyed from

popular technology, they would have to recommend certain media for me to base the lessons off.

I would not want this to get in the way of them working on homework or having too much screen

time when they get out of the classroom. 

What about popular technology  am I curious about and want to learn more about?

           I am curious about which technology and social media platforms will be popular a few

years from now. What I may deem “cool” probably will not be in my student’s eyes. When I was

growing up, Facebook was the social media platform that all our parents were on. Kids my age

were using Snapchat and Instagram, we thought Facebook was so lame and I feel like similar

thoughts like that happen with new generations using social media. Take Snapchat for example,

it was popular when I was a student in middle school but has been on a decline ever since. “Snap

has said it's losing daily active users, and the worrying indication is that probably people aren't
CONNECTING TO TECHNOLOGY POPULAR WITH STUDENTS 5

using Snapchat as regularly as they used to” (Ghosh & Morgan, 2019). I will most likely be

checking in with my students from time to time to make sure I am keeping up with all the new

trends and technologies rather than them thinking I live under a rock. I am curious to see if new

social media platforms and technologies will be on the rise once I have my classroom.

“Emerging technologies such as cloud computing, augmented reality (AR) and 3D printing are

paving the way for the future of education in ways we may have yet to see” (Poh et al.,

2020). Each year we are making advances in creating technologies far more advanced than ones

released the year before. It only makes sense that these next generations of children will be

exposed to newer technologies and media platforms that I did not use growing up. I am eager to

see new advancements and breakthroughs with technology in the future. 

      
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References

Course Readings

Conversation, T. (2020, October 06). Why do young people Love tiktok? Retrieved from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/357270

Ghosh, S. (2019, February 05). 6 reasons Snapchat is losing its popularity. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-losing-popularity-social-media-app-facebook-
tiktok-2019-1

Ortiz-Ospina, E. (2019, September 18). The rise of social media. Retrieved from
https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media

Self-Assigned Readings

Brown, C. (2019, May 16). 12 pros and cons of technology in the classroom - Classcraft Blog.
Retrieved from https://www.classcraft.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-technology-in-the-
classroom/

Mateer, D. G. (2020, April 19). Using Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from
https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/media/index.html

Poh, M., Pataki, D., Lim, H., Rodriguez, A., Young, N., KS, A., & Velasco, J. (2019, September
15). 8 technologies that will shape Future Classrooms. Retrieved from
https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/future-classroom-technologies/#:~:text=Emerging
%20technologies%20such%20as%20cloud,them%20in%20time%20to%20come.