There is a major balance when it comes to social media. It is a balancing act between staying connected while also living in the now, and not letting social media take over your life. This is something that people of all ages in todays world have to learn to balance. This is something that is very valuable to teach students. There are some major positives to using social media, and some drawbacks we should all be aware of. One of the biggest benefits of social media is allowing for us to stay connected with the world around us. We can stay connected with family and friends that live far away, as well as we can connect with people that have similar interests or professions to us. Staying connected online is valuable in this way. However, social media can also be very time consuming. It can be something that easily ends up taking over our lives without us realizing it. It is also something that can make us start to compare our lives with the lives of others. This can have a negative impact on our mental health.
I think as a teacher it is important to model for students what a healthy media balance looks like. In the classroom, this means showing students artist's Instagram pages that might interest them, but also not looking at your phone during class. This is a way of modeling for students how social media can be used in a healthy way. We can look for artists that interest us, but only for a small amount of time, and then get back to everything else going on in the classroom.
I think a good way of incorporating media balance into an art classroom is by having students do research on artists for a small portion of class time. This can be through Instagram, however, it is still only for a small portion of class. This allows for students to understand how social media can be used in positive and healthy ways, and also allows for a moment without cell phones, and a moment of concentrated focus on the process of making art.
Resources:
Program used to have students anonymously answer questions, and see answers pop up on the board: https://www.mentimeter.com/
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