Wow, this was a very powerful presentation. Technology has obviously changed our world in so many ways. Just in the last 10 years itself, technology has completely transformed our global landscape. I love presentations of this nature because they share so many interesting statistics. By the age of 21, the average student has spent over 10,000 hours on the phone and sent over 250,000 emails. This number blows my mind because you don't realize how these hours add up over the years. Also, how early children start using computers is amazing. I think that they said that 70% of all 4 year olds have used a computer in some capacity. Also, it was interesting that many recently married couples have met each other online. This would have never happened 20 years ago. Also, thinking about how many internet searches that are performed daily are also astounding. The fact that many students have their own facebook, myspace, and blogs is also very interesting. I know that most of my students connect with their friends daily on these social-networking sites.
An alarming thought is that the human brain is being overtaken by the computer. A 1,000 dollar computer will exceed the production of the human race and the human brain. There is great shift in this dynamic. It is also interesting to see that there is a great turnover rate for jobs in our society. It seems normal to go from job to job now whereas years ago people prided themselves in longevity. It is wild to think that by the age of 38 people will have had 14 jobs. I have been with the same school district for 14 years and I think that this is rare in today's competitive job market. People are more motivated by extrinsic factors rather than intrinsic. It is just different altogether in my opinion. Students are equipped with the ability to connect any where in the world through a computer or cell phone, but I worry if this doesn't bring about some negative ramifications. I know that technology is cutting edge and great, but I think that some of our students today are lacking personal skills. Students sit behind their computers and phones to communicate everything now and they are missing out on face to face communication which is obviously the best indication of the tone of the communication. I'm not saying that they should not use this technology, but what I am saying is that we better watch out that we are not creating a society of robots. We need to value and keep stressing the human interaction and perspective along with these technologically advancements.
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4 comments:
That is interesting point about human robots. Maybe that is a main reason we still have school. We could do it all online, which I think some classes should. Is school's main purpose to give students social interaction?
Jackie,
The majority of student do see school more as time for social interaction than for learning. It's interesting when you sit and talk with them and some of their reasons for being in school.
Mike,
In reference to longevity in jobs, what I think is interesting is that teachers have always been known to work toward tenure and keeping it. As years have gone by this concept has seemed to change. There are many teachers that are not held at any district based on tenure.
A computer is only as powerful as the person using it. If you don't know what to input to get the best results, your information and processing will not be as good as one who does!
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