Media Use

Were your findings surprising?
Why? I knew my media use was going to be high. I am in grad school and I'm a teacher. I am constantly using my computer to research, plan, create, as well as get distracted by the infinite chain of Youtube videos.  I was actually surprise that it wasn't higher.

How do you feel when using various media?
Depending on the media that I use I feel a range of things. I can feel calm if I'm playing a game or watching something to escape for a short time. I also get frustrated if I'm trying to find a resource for students to use or can't quite get something to work the way I want it to.  This question has more answers than I can record because of the plethora of uses of media. Listening to music alone can make me feel a myriad things depending on the song. I find this question to be extremely complex.

How much of your time is spent using passive v. active media?
I would have thought that more of my media usage was active. Much of it is, but I can put on an audiobook while I'm doing a home project or lying in bed. This is the primary reason from my media usage to be so high in the audio category. I was able to get a lot of work done while listening to music or and audiobook. Though audio media can be argued to be either active or passive I would say that in my case it is passive because my focus and attention isn't 100% on it.

Did media consumption replace any other life activity?
Using media did replace life activities. I could have, and should have been doing more for school, but was tired and decided to turn my brain off and watch some football and part of a movie. Rather than hanging out with my kids more I played a mobile game. This is a more important question for me. What could I have been doing instead of being trapped in a virtual world for x amount of time. What experiences and conversations did I miss out on? Though there are countless benefits from technology, this is maybe the biggest negative for me personally.

How did you benefit from your technology use?
I benefitted from technology because I was entertained. It is really convenient to get lost in a story as I work on physical projects such as tiling a bathroom. I watched some football as well as a movie. I benefitted because I can create lesson plans and write blogs and do homework from my laptop on my couch rather than going to a library. I can find video clips to illustrate topics I am teaching. I played games and that helps me keep my sanity. Mostly the benefits fall into the convenience category. Technology makes everything so easy to do.

How does your media use compare with that of today's children and adolescents?
According to the articles we read in class, Media use among Teens and Tween, 31% use tech for 4-8 hours. My technology use doesn't differ that much with adolescents in terms of time spent using it. What I use it for does differ some in terms of the specific content, but also maybe not that much. We both use it to do homework, play games, listen to music, watch videos, and login to social media sites. I like to believe that I know when is appropriate to use technology and can control myself. I would argue that many adolescents have a harder time putting off the endorphins that come from checking messages.

With that of other adults?
I used my media less overall that most adults, but i did think it was going to be much less total time spent than the 9 hour average. I probably would have actually used it more if I hadn't had such a busy week.