TECHNOLOGY TAKEOVER

By Max Cozine

The abundance and power of technology is right before our eyes. Take a seat in any classroom and you’ll notice that at least half of the students are pre-occupied with digital data. How can we blame them? We have these sleek MacBook Pros, iPads, smartphones and all other kinds of devices these days that constantly keep us logged on and tuned in. Gone are books and articles which authors have slaved over to get published, only to fall to the wayside. Instead of paying attention to these resources as they are discussed in the classroom, students are too busy browsing the web for shallow information. Girls are online shopping. Guys are checking scores on ESPN. And everyone is addicted to Facebook. Oh, the distraction monster that is Facebook. We are too concerned with what’s going on outside that we aren’t absorbing the knowledge being bestowed on us by our predecessors. So many students bring their technological lives with them to the classroom that they can’t help but catch the attention of others. Just the other day, I found myself stuck staring at the computer screen of the person in front of me while they were on Twitter. But let us get back to Facebook.

A recent study was performed at THE Ohio State University, which found that users of Facebook said they averaged one to five hours a week studying, while non-users studied 11 to 15 hours per week. This correlated to non-users having a full one point higher GPA than users, which isn’t too surprising when you think about it. This kind of behavior is not only detrimental to the user, but to those around him or her. How am I supposed to keep my attention to the front of the class when the girl sitting to my right can’t stop showing me pictures of the party she went to over the weekend? I for one admit that I will wander off occasionally and play Bubbleshooter instead of listen to the instructor, but I’ve made the decision to not even bring my laptop to any class that isn’t held only once a week, seeing as how there are breaks during those longer classes. It isn’t a bad thing to use your personal laptop or tablet device during class, just please don’t let it become a distraction to others.

Many of the articles that we have read over the course of the semester emphasize the common theme of the Digital Native generation and the need for interactive learning. We as young adults live in a world where information is available at our fingertips. We want it and we want it fast. Long lectures aren’t as effective to us as they were during the Digital Immigrant’s age. Instead, we crave hands-on activities that throw out quick bits of knowledge to stimulate our brains. This seems to be the only way we can really learn. Just like we have discussed in class, the solution is not to move backwards, forcing students to read boring textbooks and write exhausting essays. Rather, teachers must adapt to the current generation’s fast pace and streamline the curriculum to accommodate for today’s students. This doesn’t mean that instructors must dumb-down their material, they just need to present it differently. Last semester I took a course that exhibited this kind of modification. My professor presented his lecture using Prezi. It was the first time I had experienced a presentation done this way and the finished product was very well done. Prezi is basically a PowerPoint animator. Anyone can design one and upload it to the website and display it to the world. It’s dynamic, fast, and exciting. I think that this is a step in the right direction.








I’m going to go out on a limb and claim that yes, we are the dumbest generation. Now, I don’t think that Mark Bauerlein is trying to be as hateful as he sounds with that statement. It probably would be more accurate if he proclaimed that we were the most ignorant generation, but I won’t hold it against him. We lack the knowledge of what it’s like to properly socialize with others face-to-face. Digital Natives are so linked in that they’ve forgotten what it’s like to go outside and experience what the world has to offer. Young people are reading and writing more words than ever before the only problem is that it comes in the form of shallow text messages, posts, etc. What isn’t making matters any better is that this behavior is forming bad writing habits as well. Teenagers use technology to keep in contact with one another to stay ahead of the peer pressure they could face by not being in the loop. We’re so caught up in communicating via social networking sites that we’re missing out on what can be learned by talking in person. Children and teenagers alike need to unplug after school in order to spend time with their families. Statistics show that kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier, and better students. We gain valuable knowledge and lessons from our peers that can’t be provided over the World Wide Web.

Sources:
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/facebookusers.htm
All images courtesy of Google.