Blog 1 Revised

Has Technology Changed Human Society?

If you think about it, technology has made life easier for most, but it has also caused a great deal of laziness on the part of the users. Who needs to pick up the phone to call someone when you can just send a text? Why sit down and write a letter when you can send an e-mail?

Most people won't deny that for the most part, the use of computers and other modern technology has improved their daily lives and their work environment, as long as everything is up and running properly. At work you can now send a file to your co-worker to review rather than getting up and taking it to them. You can also revise that document quickly if need be, and then send the final revision off to where ever it needs to go. If your office has the equipment, you can have your meetings with other locations and people over a television or computer without ever having to leave your office. The time saving benefit of modern technology is huge.

The ability to surf the net to learn something about a subject is something that just about everyone does. It's fast and if you are good at deciphering all of the data, it's easy to do. Anything you need information on can be found with the clicks of a few keys on your computer keyboard.

Just about anywhere you go today; you will see somebody with a cell phone or blue tooth device attached to their ear. Almost everyone today has one, and they are great to have. I spend a great deal of time with my cell phone attached to my ear. They are great to have when you travel, and most of the newer phones have internet available on them so you can stay connected everywhere you go. Again, this is great technology.

The only drawback to modern technology today is that it has made us lazy in a way. Sending a document to your co-worker via e-mail is great, but it takes out the human interaction that used to be there when you had to get up and take that document to them. The same is true for cell phones. The ability to text message on your phone is great, I do it, but again I feel that you lose the interaction that you could have by just talking to the person face to face or over the phone.

A study by Ipsos OTX* showed that the average adult spent 9.8 hours "consuming" media, whether that was computer usage or watching TV. The Pew Research Center showed an increase in cell phone texting use by adults that went from 65% usage prior to Sept. 2009 to 72% usage by May 2010. Another Pew survey done between 08/09 –09 / 13 2010 showed that 85% of adults have a cell phone. Below are links to the Ipsos OTX information as well as a link to the Media Literacy Clearinghouse that has more information on technology use of different kinds.

 

http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/people-spend-more-12-day-consuming-media-study-finds-21005

http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm

Blog 3

Part of the requirements for this class was to read the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. While many believe that his book was about government censorship, Bradbury says that isn't the case. Bradbury says that his meaning behind the book was about the results that modern technology would have on our ability to read and use critical thinking. In a 2007 interview with LA Weekly, Bradbury said that the book is "…a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature". * I think that at this day and age, TV is the least of our technology problems that keep people from reading and using critical thinking skills.

While I really didn't enjoy this book at all, I can see where Bradbury's concerns have merit. I myself am a book worm and enjoy reading just about anything, but I can definitely say that that isn't the case with most people I know and work with. In today's world, if a person wants information, they simply log-on to the internet or turn on the TV. When asked why the most common answer is that it's easier and faster, which to a point I can agree with, but does doing something the easy way or the fast way help your ability to think critically? I don't know. I agree with the use of technology, but I also think that people should be challenged to use their brains to think about something and not have all of their information handed to them and taken at face value.

My other concern with technology is how it can affect our youth. I am always amazed at how dependent today's young people are on technology. When I was younger the world was coming to end when I lost my one hour of TV time for not getting my homework done or whatever, but now it's kids losing their cell phone or computer usage that causes the world to stop for our youth. It's a rare thing nowadays to see a young person reading a book for the joy of reading; they are seemingly too caught up using modern technology.

Being the book worm that I am, I hope we don't ever reach a time when authorities burn books and say that it is for our own good. Reading, whether it is books, comics, or newspapers gives us the ability to think for ourselves and escape from all of the technology around us.

 

*Resources

www.laweekly.com/.../ray-bradbury-fahrenheit-451-misinterpreted/

Ray Bradbury

Reasoning Skills

One of the topics to choose from for this blog assignment was whether or not reasoning skills should be taught in primary school. I myself think that teaching reasoning skills at the primary school level is a good idea. Reasoning skills give us the ability to recall information, form basic concepts, use critical thinking, and use creative idea formation. These skills also give us the tools we need to make choices and to figure out the outcomes and/or consequences of our actions. We already know that these skills are used in mathematics, so why not spread that out to other areas of education. Kids that are taught reasoning skills can continue to build on those skills throughout their lives as they are faced with more complex and changing situations.

Schools in the UK have started implementing programs for teaching reasoning skills in their class rooms, and have even put together a web-site* that their teachers can access to get information on the different programs. I also found a web-site* that is put together with 4-H and the University of Arizona about the pros of teaching kids reasoning skills, so the information is out there, now it just needs to be used.

The only other thing that I can say to help support the teaching of reasoning skill in primary school is the importance it will have in the future for the kids these skills are taught to. The job market as we know it now is competitive. Can you imagine how it will be when these kids get out of school and start looking for a job? Most companies today not only look at your resume, they do skills testing to see how good your higher order thinking skills are. Teaching those skills now gives kids a head start for later.

 

http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/thinkingskills/resources/?view=get

http://cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/fcs/bpy/content.cfm?content=decision_making

Has Technology Changed Human Society?

If you think about it, technology has made life easier for most, but it has also caused a great deal of laziness on the part of the users. Who needs to pick up the phone to call someone when you can just send a text? Why sit down and write a letter when you can send an e-mail?

Most people not deny that for the most part, the use of computers and other modern technology has improved their daily lives and their work environment, as long as everything is up and running properly. At work you can now send a file to your co-worker to review rather than getting up and taking it to them. You can also revise that document quickly if need be, and then send the final revision off to where ever it needs to go. If your office has the equipment, you can have your meetings with other locations and people over a television or computer without ever having to leave your office. The time saving benefit of modern technology is huge.

The ability to surf the net to learn something about a subject is something that just about everyone does. It's fast and if you are good at deciphering all of the data, it's easy to do. Anything you need information on can be found with the clicks of a few keys on your computer keyboard.

Just about anywhere you go today; you will see somebody with a cell phone or blue tooth device attached to their ear. Almost everyone today has one, and they are great to have. I spend a great deal of time with my cell phone attached to my ear. They are great to have when you travel, and most of the newer phones have internet available on them so you can stay connected everywhere you go. Again, this is great technology.

The only drawback to modern technology today is that it has made us lazy in a way. Sending a document to your co-worker via e-mail is great, but it takes out the human interaction that used to be there when you had to get up and take that document to them. The same is true for cell phones. The ability to text message on your phone is great, I do it, but again I feel that you lose the interaction that you could have by just talking to the person face to face or over the phone.