Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom raises many relevant points comparing the assumptions made regarding media use and the realities seen in classrooms today. Ultimately, the author indicates that students must be encouraged to develop digital literacy outside of shortcut template platforms (STP). While I certainly agree with the author that students must develop creativity in order to become creators of digital content, rather than simply relying on available templates.
By creating the above reflection, I had the opportunity to explore two different STPs: Mindmup and Canva. While both have their benefits, there are also many drawbacks. Mindmup allows the user to create a mindmap, using pre-determined themes. It is free provided that the user does not include any images. The mindmap can then be downloaded as a .jpg file that is very high quality. Meanwhile, Canva allows the user the opportunity to create their own design using a blank template (a feature that the author fails to recognize). Therefore, I uploaded by mindmap in order to add photos and make it more interactive in that regard. The drawback to doing this is that the overall image quality was reduced. This has resulted in a more dynamic reflection, that is of lower visual quality.
Ultimately, this combination of positive elements of free STPs with the inevitable drawbacks is a reality of much digital content curation. Hopefully, I will be able to elevate my students beyond my own comfort level to enable their creativity and encourage them to become far more comfortable with digital content creation than I am.
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