Visual Society and revolutionary way of communicating

I can remember in middle school before everyone had cell phones when you wanted to make plans you called someone's home.  It was a process that made calling your crush a nerve wrecking process because you never knew if they would be available plus that meant actually talking to them to make plans.  Now, teens just text each other and that nervousness is eased and sending a text is not as difficult.  This is the first shift in visual dependency of being able to read a thought instantly rather than listening to it.  It seems the way that teens communicate is always evolving.

Just recently I upgraded to a smartphone, something that I thought I wouldn't do for a long time.  With having a smart phone I have taken it upon myself to explore what it has to offer and what apps students might be using on a regular basis.  Last week I downloaded an app that seems to be growing in popularity because it is part of the change in how people communicate.  The app is called snapchat and took sometime to figure out how it functions.  The basics of the app is that you can add friends who have the app and send pictures to each other.  Before sending the picture you can add captions and draw on it as well as set the time allowed for viewing.  At first I thought it was pointless but after playing around with it I found out how addicting it could be because you could convey more through an image than words in a txt.

The point that I'm discussing this app is first of all is because it demonstrates our growing dependency on visuals and the change in how we communicate.  I have put some thought into how this might be used in a classroom.  Using the app in a classroom would be difficult because once the time is out on viewing the image it goes away.  However, the concept might be able to transfer to a project in the classroom.  Such as telling students to create an image from a novel or poem that could convey an important part if someone only had a short time to view it.  I want to try to bring apps, social networking, and etc. to a level that can be used in the classroom since it is what students are used to and can relate to.