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Initially, read to by parents. Eventually shifted to reading by self. Enthused with physical books only, hardcover and paperback.
Hesitant to try e-books. -
During my childhood, the music I was exposed to came in the form of CDs (mostly owned by my parents) and the radio when I was in the car. Music was not very influential in my life at this time, and my preferences were largely determined by my parent's taste.
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Introduced to Netflix by a family friend, my family began to pay for a monthly prescription in order to be sent DVDs of movies available to rent.
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When I was quite young, I would visit my grandmother's house and watch her VHS tapes while my relatives chatted. This later switched to a prevalence of DVDs.
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Rather than whiteboards, chalkboards, or projectors, our school district integrated Smartboards into the classroom. This provided a digital interface for teachers to use while lecturing (particularly useful for solving math equations visibly to the whole class).
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My introduction to email. Previously I had only communicated in-person or through physical mail.
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Netflix shifted from mailing DVDs to streaming content.My family continued to pay the monthly prescription for this service.
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For educational purposes, I typically relied upon journals to take notes. Essays and assignments were almost always handwritten. The only computers available during class were in labs, and thus not conveniently accessible.
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Online reading became far more accessible after I got my first personal electronic device. This allowed me access to digital materials that I wouldn't have found prior to having my iPod.
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After I got my Ipod, my music taste changed drastically and began to increase in importance to me. I bought my own CDs and downloaded them to iTunes to listen to on repeat.
I later (unsure of the exact dates) transitioned to Pandora and, even later, Spotify. Streaming has greatly increased my variety in musical taste, as I no longer have to purchase an album to get introduced to new artists. -
My distrust of online reading began to wear down. Then, as a punishment for reading too much, my book shelf got saran wrapped, and thus I began to read online almost solely.
My primary sites included, E-Pub and Wattpad. -
My middle school decided to buy laptops for every student. This resulted in far more online work, less handwritten assignments, and computer notes.
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While still synchronous and in-person, my classes began to rely more and more heavily on laptops to integrate knowledge. Media literacy became a required course. Eventually "snow days" were phased out, replaced by e-learning.
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This was the first time I ever had access to a cell phone of my own. This allowed me far easier access to communicate with friends and family as well as a better way for me to engage in online discourse.
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After my introduction to this resource, and to various other databases and libraries, I became far more comfortable with online research and writing academic pieces. While I wouldn't say I struggled with technology prior, this was a turning point in how I curated information and found credible sources.
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I began to develop a nostalgia for the physical texts of my childhood. While I obviously mixed medias somewhat prior to this, it wasn't until this time frame that I began to delineate my time more evenly between digital and physical texts.
I find both to have merits in different ways, and thus wanted to have a healthier balance of media types in my day-to-day. -
In my first semester of college, I downloaded my first social media platform. Prior to this, I had not been allowed on any social media. This allowed me to connect more frequently with friends and keep in touch despite attending different colleges.
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I downloaded Discord and began to use the platform as a way to reach out and form international connections. This was my first introduction to forming online friendships.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this school year has been quite different than most. Most reliant on technology than ever, almost all classes are online, and many are asynchronous.
