Unit #1 Reflection

 Curated Source Collection: 

Source #1: A Pencil Shop, for Texting the Old Fashioned Way by Molly Young 

Source #2: The Future of Corporate Insolvency Law: A review of technology and AI- powered changes by Akshaya Kamalnath 

Source 3: Teens and social media use: What's the Impact by Mayo Clinic Staff 

Source 4: How Social Media is Changing the Way We Do Business by TED Talks and Austin Falter 

In this course, our inquiry is centered around technology.  I chose to focus my sources on how technology and social media influence their way into businesses or the youth that will go into them, and the effects that has.  I found in my research that there will be mostly negative impacts given on technology because that is what everyone is looking for, but there are also way more positives of technology too.  For example, using technology, or social media to create better revenue for your business.  I am very lucky to have been able to find these sources.  I think each article, paper, and TED Talk has brought light to the impact of technology and social media we all see today, especially when it comes to the future, or creating a business we can be proud of.  One quote that stood out to me through this, which you can also find in source analysis 2, is "Every decade has had to come to terms with new technology," (Kamalnath,2023).  Every decade can keep looking at this as a negative to make it easier, but we also have to be looking at all of the positives.  

Use of Technology: 

• I used technology to find my sources, using keywords such as "technology," "social media," and "AI." 
• I used technology in my research to outweigh the different positives and negatives it has on social media.  I then used social media to find information on businesses using technology and social media as a platform to promote themselves.  
• I also researched TED Talks to find further discussions based on my topic of technology advances in businesses. 

Holes in Conversation: 

I feel throughout my project I did not have a set plan of what I wanted to focus on.  I feel it wasn't until my last source was found that I really thought it was important to focus on technology, social media, and the business side of it.  If I had been able to do such sooner, I feel the project would have flowed better.  

Using these sources again: 

I enjoyed all of my sources, but I feel I need to reevaluate my topic, and whether or not I think these sources would be considered stronger compared to other sources I may come across.  For right now, I do believe that my last source will be the most beneficial for me in future projects, and will even help me along the way with understanding advances in technology, and not just focusing on the negatives.  

Challenging myself: 

If I am going to be completely honest, using the topic of technology would never be my first pick which was a challenge enough for me.  Since I went in already with a topic I wasn't too thrilled with, I figured to make it more interesting I would find information that seemed exciting about the topic.  My upcoming challenge will be proving the usefulness that AI and technology are bringing to businesses without it having such a negative connotation attached to it.  I think I need to find more sources that become interesting to the general audience, and a way to show their importance, as well as want others to dive further into my study.