For this blog entry, I will be discussing the Internet and technology. Two videos were shown for this include Growing Up Online and Digital Nation. I did note that there were many similarities between the two topics. The greatest aspect that I saw is that the development of technology is very important to the world. This is how the new digital age and digital natives function. In both the videos, the students interviewed were young enough to know that this was their way of life. However, I do feel that both of the examples given here talk about the dangers of technology but for different reason.
- The first video tended to focus more on the dangers of being online. There were so many aspects of varying opinions with the young students and even the grown-ups as to what would be the best way to focus on technology. It focused on the dangers for all involved.
- The second video seemed to focus more on proven science in dealing with the unintended consequences from the technology in relation to addiction, lack of attention and overall poorer performance.
My thoughts on multi tasking are a bit different after watching this video. About six years ago I had to watch a video where it was said that multi-tasking is what the students like and it is something that they react well too. However, if the smartest minds in the world at MIT are found not to be able to handle it, I am not sure if there is anyone who should be given the task. What the issue is that our minds do work in a linear fashion but the world does not seem to work well that way.
I am a person who finds myself needing to multi -ask because it is often hard to fit everything into different blocks of the day. The problem is that I do not like it because I never feel like I really give every task its do process.
The second video did at least give the notion and proof that addiction to these devices can be real. I am not sure if we should be anymore concerned than we treat other addictions to legal substances. There are some people who cannot function with this. People can live without smoking, people can live without drinking however, how can we function without technology? I no longer feel that having access to a computer in the Western World is a “want” this device needs to be viewed as a need. This is a difficult idea when we are talking about people who have a technology addiction. How can we treat this when everything we do is tied to technology.
Video gaming will be a controversial topic in education for years to come. The greatest issue that I see is that the education world needs to find a better way to embrace the gaming and make it work. The students this day in age no longer respond to the ways of the pen and paper. Textbooks are seen as something that is heavy to carry.From watching the two videos listed, it can be fair to assess that video gaming is dangerous. Yes, there are programs out there that strive for historical accuracy in terms of war games but how much of this type of stimulation can the brain actually hack?
Through watching the videos, and experiences in class, there is educational value to using video games. The brain will learn when it is stimulated and interactive. Video gaming can easily set this type of material in place to have it work. However, in teaching for a number of years, there can be a side effect of seeing students not respond to any material that is not flashy.
Using digital tools such as google can be scary. This is something that can work well to a point. Not all search engines are accurate and will distribute the best information. This is an example of something that can help students and school succeed because google can help the students and teachers connect to the world but they should never be used as a primary source.
Parents should have the strongest influence over their students in dealing with digital citizenship. Having no children of my own I am always on edge to comment on this topic. Based on what I have seen, it would be great if all the parents did not what was going on with their child on-line but there is really do good way to check to see how reliable the the thought of the parent is. The news stories are endless about teens that have accounts that parents do not know about. This is scary because every parent wants to be able to trust their own child and this is an argument that will work against itself. The testimonies from the first documentary clearly state this.
There is really no clear cut way to enforce who is responsible for teaching the digital citizenship without asking the government to get involved. Who can be at fault when a child injures themselves do to cyber-bullying when a grown-up was never aware as to what was taking place?
It is easy even for the most educated adult to ruin their digital footprint. I have always been a person who feels that we can learn from making mistakes. When a kid spends as much time as they do wired to technology, there does become social issues. They are there in person to witness someone’s immediate reaction when something is not received that well.
In watching the first video, I do feel that most of the students did know what was appropriate and what was not but I also felt that they did spend time justifying what they did and tweaking it. If it was appropriate to them, it should therefore be acceptable. I always felt as it there was battle waged in the brains of the students that could not be won in any way.
Students should care that there are mistakes which can be made that could haunt you forever. I can’t imagine how a student who is 15 and caught bullying another student online, the matter gets referred to the administration, and this can be an incident that will stay with them for years to come. They should also care because nobody will want to hire a teenager if there is stuff on them which can be found online that will hurt their business.
I would feel that the real dangers of technology in this day in age is actually the digital footprint itself. I think that the younger generation is slowly starting to understand this. The best example is that some of these kids could have as many as 2,000 Facebook friends. How do these students know that they can trust the other to do the right thing? What would happen if they leak their cell phone info? Home information on one of these sights? How do we know that all 2,000 friends have secured sights? This is scary because and a serious threat because people can be found. Pictures can be found on the Internet, manipulated and the end result will never be good.
My main comment that I would like make on each of these documentaries is that when the decision makers want to argue against technology integration, these videos do provide some great examples as to the dangers. If students at MIT are struggling to use it the proper way, it can lead to an adverse effect on virtually everything. I was a varsity track coach for ten years and know that technology can have a positive impact on performance because it allows for the watching and recording of videos to be done much easier and quicker.
At the same time, I did find the first video to be the most disturbing. There was that one part mentioned the best way for certain personality types to commit suicide. That was less than pleasant for anyone to realize that such material does exist and that there is no way to monitor who is on it and why?
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