What exactly is digital technology?

A device that connects you globally, while freely allowing you to access a plethora of information and content, while also allowing you to create your own as well.

Since I was born well into the midst of the technology boom in the late twentieth century, I believe it's safe to say that most young adults my age are extremely literate when it comes to technology. Teenagers are now teaching their parents and grandparents how to use Facebook, and other social gateways such as texting and FaceTime. Most people my age are able to fluently use devices no matter if the brand differs. For example, an iPad created by Apple versus a tablet created by Asus.

In other words, I would like to consider myself as someone with a higher level of multi-modal literacy, especially since our lives have become so revolving around technology within the last decade or so. Homework is now assigned online, things are to be turned in online-only, and social media is a large part of our lives. Technology is a large part of my life, and this is how I got to be where I'm at now with my technological skill level.

After digging back as far as I possibly could on my journey with technology, my very first memory is of my mom teaching me how to type when I was four on our old Apple desktop computer, with thick plastic borders around the screen and a blue cover top that kept the inner workings of the desktop together.

After gaining ok-typing skills from the program my mother gave me, and after her personally teaching me, my brother then introduced me to the world of computer games when I was 5. Learning to type and play the computer game Pajama Sam (which also practiced other computer skills), sparked my interest in staying connected with technology and my want to learn more.

This concludes the first key technological event in my life because this was when I first became increasingly knowledgeable about one specific device. Between the ages of four and five, learning to use the computer had become a key part of my life inside and outside the classroom. I could do homework, or spend my free time browsing the internet.

Another key learning event for my relationship with technology was when I received my first smart phone in middle school, when I was 13. This device eventually connected me to various apps such as Instagram, Twitter, and other various forms of social media.

Receiving my first smart phone was a moment that would change how I lived my everyday life. Since then, I check all of my social media platforms daily and am constantly texting back and forth with various friends and family. Learning social media and the etiquette of social media and texting were essential key points in this advancement through my technological journey.

From that point and on in my life I have now been connected to the world more than ever and am constantly being stimulated by new material almost every second. My interest in media platforms and social media had eventually led me to decide to pursue a career in the Media Production industry. At the end of my senior year in high school, when I was eighteen, I received my first camera and began to learn editing software.

This was a key point in my life because I now have a greater understanding of how media is created, and how this applies to my platforms on a personal and professional level. As a young adult, technology has shaped who I am and how I live my life on a daily basis.

The three key events to my media literacy were 1. When I first learned to type and use the computer, 2. When I received my first smartphone and was introduced to social media and texting, and 3. When I received my first camera and began to edit my own content. These influential moments changed my life and have helped me decide what I want to do as a career. Learning about technology and media has shaped who I am, and it has shaped who you are too.

Annotations

I chose to use this picture as one of my assets in my narrative project because this image helps move my story along by giving the reader visuals. This source fits in with my technology narrative because it’s the model of the first computer I ever used. I decided on using an image instead of a gif, video, or piece of audio because this is the easiest way for me to display the first part of my story while giving my reader some sort of aid to help my narrative. This source was not familiar to my previously before I searched for this image.

This image fits in with my narrative because it resembles one of the last parts of my narrative, where I started using cameras for personal content creation and began to edit. This is also extremely important to me because my major, media production, is all about content creation on a personal and professional level. So, this period in my life helped me in several ways. I used an image of the Canon Rebel t6 instead of a video of image displaying what can be created with the device because an important part of media production and learning about content creation is about knowing what’s going on behind the scenes, like how to edit or use a camera. This source was familiar to me because I’ve ordered from and used Canon brand devices before.

This source fits in with my narrative because it moves the story of me learning basic computer skills along. I began by learning to type on the computer through my mother and an educational program she bought for my brother and I, which I cannot remember the name of. From there, after mastering basic skills of the computer, my brother introduced me to what would become my favorite childhood computer game, Pajama Sam. This game exercised my computer skills and my ability to problem solve. I chose an image for this asset because it gives an overall image of the game, whereas a gif or a video would add too much unneeded explanation of the game. I was not familiar with the source that contained this image before I began creating my narrative.

This source fits in with my narrative because it displays an image for my readers of the first smartphone that I received. This is significant because receiving this phone opened my eyes to the world of social media and communication over the internet. I chose an image for this asset because I was unsure what I would incorporate about this moment in my life through video, gif, or audio. An image seemed to fit the most. This source that contained this image was not familiar to me before I began this project.

This image of the Adobe video editing software, Premiere, is in relation to my other asset of the Canon Rebel t6 camera, because this time in my life was also when I began to learn how to edit my own content. I used an image of the label for this asset because it wouldn’t have done any good to my narrative if I had added a screenshot of the software itself or a link to a video on how to edit on Premiere. This source was familiar to me because I’m on Adobe’s website and the Creative Cloud applications quite a lot.

FIN