Blog Post 8

Assignment 3 Reflection (click for class website)

I really enjoyed working on the Web Design assignment. Since this assignment was to make a classroom website, I wanted to make sure it was designed with both parents and students in mind. Even though this page would likely be most used by parents, I wanted to make it easily navigatable and understandable for fourth-graders as well. Therefore, I relied a lot on the design principles of Contrast and Repetition. Contrast is an important design concept as it helps the audience easily read and understand the information that is being presented. With Contrast in mind, I wanted to make sure my website used fun design elements while maintaining a simplistic overall design. I utilized black paragraph text against a white background to ensure ease of reading but paired it with navy blue header and title text to give more contrast. This, along with specific fonts for headers and paragraphs, also established Repetition so that readers could more efficiently find the information they were looking for.

Daily AI Use

I do not really use AI tools in my daily life that much. The very few times I have used AI tools, it has been in part of an app’s algorithm or because a class has required me to do so. I am honestly pretty skeptical of AI and do not want to become too reliant on it. I completely understand the reasons why people do use it in their daily lives, but I think AI stifles personal creativity and critical thinking skills. As a Media/Communication Studies major, I find the reliance in AI tools in professional and academic settings alarming because people genuinely believe that it can replace the meaningful work that Media and Communications professionals do. In my opinion, I think AI can be a good brainstorming tool, but it cannot compare to the actual hard work that real humans do. Even beyond this, AI can bring about major ethical concerns in media (and already has).

In-Class ChatGPT Practice

Using ChatGPT in this class and my other class this semester has been kind of interesting. I can completely understand the appeal of using it because if given a well-designed prompt, ChatGPT can often produce good results. However, I still do not think this is a tool I will use beyond class assignments. In the future, I will warn my students about the risks of using AI too much or for the wrong purposes. AI is best used as a brainstorming tool; it is not something that should be used to complete assignments or research for them.

AI & Productivity

I do think that AI tools can enhance productivity. As I mentioned above, AI can be a good brainstorming tool and a great jumping-off point for projects. I do not personally see myself utilizing AI in this way, but understand why others might do so. I have seen teachers on social media discuss how they have used AI to create or develop lesson plans for their classrooms. Teachers already have way too much work to complete on their own time at home, so having AI create lesson plans is something that definitely cuts down on their workload. I think that this is a completely respectable thing for teachers to do as long as they adapt the lessons to meet the needs of their classrooms.