I believe that the media ecology at my high school was pretty similar to the media ecology here at UGA. In high school, our primary media that we would use was “spartan net” and website almost identical to UGA’s elc. On spartan net, we had all of our classes listed and our teacher would post assignments, power points, or announcements just like the elc. However, this website was a somewhat new media ecology for my high school, as it only started my junior year of high school. It is odd to think about what we used before the invention of spartan net, because it is so convenient to have all of your classes and assignments on one website. This is also why I am so grateful to have the elc at UGA, because it makes everything easier when you are trying to study for a test or checking your grades.

Another similar media ecology between my high school and UGA is email. As I talked about in my last blog, email is the primary source of communication between students and professors. It is also a way for professors to get in touch with their students quickly if they have a short announcement or need to cancel class etc. All in all, I think that technology is evolving, and school systems are constantly changing their media ecologies as new medias are created. The media ecology of my school ten years was completely different than how  it is now, just like the media ecology of UGA is going to be completely different in ten years as well.

Media ecology is defined as the study of media as environments, and the media ecology of UGA and my high school differ greatly. I think it’s mainly because the drastic size difference. I graduated in a class of 89 people. The small class size made it easier for students to communicate with their teachers personally and rendered websites like eLC and Emma practically useless. If you needed to talk to a teacher or do an assignment, it was much easier to doit in personally or over email than use some special website.

The main similarity in my high school and UGA’s media ecology is the use of email. I talked about this in my last blog, but if I had to communicate with my teachers outside of school or turn in an assignment, it was usually via email. One reason being that this was the fastest form of communication, and another being that my high school wasn’t very technologically advanced to where we had various websites to use. I also used GroupMe now similarly to the way I did in high school. It was mostly for clubs or a group project.

I went to a public high school, so I think it was important to the teachers that every student have equal opportunity and making something be turned in electronically wasn’t always fair to every student. Some didn’t have computers or wifi at home, and I think that was a major factor in choosing to not have a lot of media used at my high school. You were able to use the technology if you had it though, which is similar to here. Not every teacher allowed technology, but most tried to be as modern as possible and allow it.

When I first came here and tried to grasp the multiple websites I had to use, I was overwhelmed, and I’ve grown up using technology my whole life! I mean seriously, I’ve never had a phone with buttons on it, just touch screens. After getting used to it, it’s not that bad, but I wouldn’t mind if all my classes used to same website. Not the five different ones I have to check daily.

I feel as though the media ecology of UGA and my former high school are very similar.  One of the first things I noticed was how similar eLC is to what my high school used, MYeClass. The set up of the two websites are pretty much exactly the same, and they are used in the same way and frequency at both UGA and my high school.  My high school teachers would post notes or PowerPoints onto their page, so students could access them outside of the school, just like the professors here do.

GroupMe is also a form of media that was used often at my high school and here in college.  In high school, I mostly used it as a way of keeping in touch with the different clubs that I was in, and the teachers actually used it too as a way of communicating with us; however, here, it’s used as more of a study tool or to talk to people I’m doing a group project on, so the professors haven’t caught on to using it yet.  I still use it just as often as I did in high school; the reasons have just changed a little.

One thing that is definitely different between the two  ecologies is the absence of the smart board at UGA.  My math and science teachers were mostly the ones who used them, and I never thought much about them.  I didn’t think, “Oh this is saving so much time and making learning so much easier!” I just went with it.  But when I’m sitting in my math class here, I find myself getting really bored and almost agitated because I feel like so much time is being wasted as the professor writes down almost every single word he says, as opposed to my high school where the teachers could prepare a PowerPoint, and project it onto the Smart Board, and then write any additional notes they wanted onto the Smart Board itself.

Media Ecology is the study of media as environments. During this day and time media plays a huge role in our everyday lives. The media ecology of my high school differs a little from the media ecology here at UGA. A few of my teachers in high school didn’t care if we used our phones in class but others took it very seriously. My high school didn’t really have a need for us to use laptops in the classroom unless there was a paper or project or something that we would use our laptops for. But other than that we just took handwritten notes at my high school.

The “tech” guy at my high school was crazy. Our administration were completely against cell phone use in the classroom and they were serious about it. Towards the end of my senior year they blocked Facebook, if you were using the school Wi-Fi, which you had to because otherwise you couldn’t access anything because there was no service in the building. One day, I was sitting in class and I heard this noise coming from the hallway that sounded like a metal detector. I figured out that our “tech” guy was walking up and down the hallway using his cell phone to see if there were cell phones being used in the classroom. And if cell phones were being used the sound went off. My high school took cell phone use very seriously.

Teaching strategies at my high school and here at UGA are similar. In high school, most of my teachers taught using a PowerPoint. Here at UGA, all of my professors teach using a PowerPoint and some make it accessible through eLC for studying purposes before and after class. Which I believe I learn better that way anyway. All of my professors at UGA allow students to use their laptops in class. At my high school it wasn’t allowed in most classes. Forms of communication differed a little in high school than they do in college but there was a similar thing used.  In high school, I had several teachers who used the Remind1o1 app to send out like assignment, and test reminders. That app was only a one-way communication system though, as a student I couldn’t respond. At my high school, we did have a thing we used called Renweb, where we could access assignment due dates, tests, and our grades. This is similar to eLC. At UGA, professors use eLC to communicate with us on assignments, email and tests. The media ecology in some way differ for me from high school to college on the subject of laptop usage and phone usage in the classroom but other than that they are similar.

Even though the University of Georgia and the high school I went to are completely different, the media ecology of both are very similar when it comes to educational and social purposes. At my high school, we used email to communicate with teachers. Email was definitely the best way to communicate with teachers because they would respond very quickly and were able to include lots of information in the email. At UGA, I only use email to communicate with professors because it again is the best way to communicate. In high school, all of my teachers would post all homework and information for the class on a website called Schoology. At UGA, all of my professors post all information for the class on ELC, so there is only one website that I have to go to for class information. These similarities have made the transition to UGA a lot easier for me because I am very comfortable with these forms of media. I graduated high school in a class of 200 people, and the forms of media I use now make UGA seem as small as my old school. Even when it comes to social media, the media ecology of high school and UGA are basically the same. Everyone still uses Facebook to post the bulk of their pictures, as well as to keep up with people’s lives. Instagram and Twitter are also both used by most people to communicate with people and to post pictures.

Media ecology is the study of media as an environment. Media plays such a large role in our lives that it shapes our environment by filtering what we read and see and manipulating how we feel. The media ecology of my high school varies greatly from that of UGA, in terms of the uniformity of the media used. Everybody at my high school was required to purchase the same version of a Chromebook, in which we could only use Google Chrome, Gmail, and Google Classroom. All of the forms of media we used were monitored by our teachers using a software called Go Guardian, in which they could watch our screens and close any tabs or apps we had open on our laptops. After arriving at college, it’s been nice to have the freedom of the ability to use my computer how I want to in class and not be limited to what only a Chromebook can offer. It took time to adjust to new forms of media that UGA prefers, such as Microsoft Outlook over Gmail or PowerPoint over Google slides, but the adjustment wasn’t hard, as these forms of media are very similar to one another.

Another difference in media between my high school and UGA is the forms of media that professors and teachers use to communicate. In high school, many of my teachers used Remind 101 and Google Classroom to contact students. On the other hand, professors at UGA use email and eLC as a form of communication. Although different institutions utilize varying forms of media, it isn’t hard to adjust to these changes, as media is so universal. Different forms of media affect the media ecology of an institution, as what content we receive and how we receive it varies depending on the media platform used.

I’ve noticed the media ecology of UGA and college in general is different than that of high school. In high school I remember I could always refresh my Twitter feed, and new tweets would appear every few minutes. Twitter was a pastime all students would look to when they were distracting themselves in class. It was a platform where we could all share short, relatable thoughts with each other while we were all in class. People always tried to tweet funny things for recognition, retweets, and favorites; they could interact with new people and other friends through witty, silly impressions.

In contrast, college has changed how my friends and I use Twitter. First, we barely check the app at all. Everyone is at different universities and not in class at the same time so the feed doesn’t update with new tweets as often. We’re not all in the same school anymore so the Twitter audience can’t relate anymore like in high school. Second, college is so full of new and exciting experiences that we find ourselves on our phones less often and are out interacting with new people face-to-face. Third, there are potential employers now that students need to look out for. Social media is forever, and it could seriously give one a bad reputation, hindering employment opportunities. People are more cautious now in college about what they post because there are a multitude of new and unprofessional things one could share on social media.

Media at the University of Georgia is much more prevalent than it was at my high school. While students both at my high school and UGA used the same social medias outside of school, UGA students use more media with the classroom. My high school recently made the switch to allowing computers in class about three years ago. Many of the teachers in my high school were very skeptical of using media in class since they were not used to it. Some teachers still required notes to be handwritten and did not even allow the use of laptops in class. At UGA, professors use PowerPoints or other notes projected on a screen during class, and then also post these notes online so students can follow along on their own laptops. Almost every student in the class has their laptop out and is taking notes during class.

At my high school, all laptops were equipped with an app called DyKnow, which allowed teachers to view what students had open on their laptop screens. This way the teachers could make sure that students were paying attention and not getting distracted during class. I was surprised at how much more freedom students at UGA have with technology within the classroom, but I guess this freedom comes with getting older. I do not have my teacher watching over me now to make sure that I am not shopping online during class, rather it is not my responsibility. I guess my high school was just a little more old-school than UGA, but I think as the years go on, teachers at my high school will become more accepting of the use of technology in the classroom.