Always Available

So I know that lately we have been talking about all the bad things about our culture, with all of its new and improved technology and self-involved people, and how we hope it doesn't get worse. Well I think it is about time to address some of the perks of this new age. 

We live in an age of accessibility. We have anything we could ever need practically at the end of our fingertips, 24/7, especially now with smart phones. If we need to talk to someone we can just call them up, even if we are just riding the bus or at the grocery store. If we need an address or a phone number we can just hop over to the computer and search the Internet, forgoing the tedious process of looking them up in phonebooks. If we have missed or don’t have time for our favorite television shows we can just find them on the internet, such as on the website Hulu, and watch them at our convenience. So I know that lately we have been talking about all the bad things about our culture, with all of its new and improved technology and self-involved people, and how we hope it doesn't get worse. Well I think it is about time to address some of the perks of this new age. 

This is all amazing to experience and be apart of. Hardly ever being put out of my way because of needing something and not being able to acquire it is very nice. Yet, this can have its downside as well. All of this availability can lead to a society dependent on technology too much. I just hope we never have to find out what would happen if technology just disappeared one day because I don’t think it would be very pretty.

I chose to research more on technology and how much it is effecting our education system. Technology is encroaching itself in every aspect of our lives now-a-days that we tend to not even think about how much it surrounds us and is impacting us. These two blogs, written by teachers, discuss the use of technology and how it is "not just a tool" as Liz Davis, who is the director of Academic Technology at Belmont Hill School, states in her blog, The Power Of Educational Technology and how "technology empowers learners to act, think and learn differently" which is stated in Derek's Blog about Technology Integration written by Derek Wenmoth, who is the Director of eLearning CORE Education Ltd, a not-for-profit educational research and development organization based in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Now both of these blogs had a few devices in common when it came to rhetorical analysis. They both utilize examples to strengthen their arguments and they even both use the exact same reference when mentioning Marshall McLahn and his work and statement that "the medium is the message", invoking logos by referencing this expert's work, and enforcing that technology is not just a tool and shouldn't be used as just that. Both authors argue that "technology is not just a tool" but from there on out their arguments tend to differ, if only slightly and in their presentation.

Liz goes on in her blog to state that technology is not just a tool but is actually used as a way of expressing ourselves, that it is used as a status symbol and political statement in today's society. She goes on to better explain these points by asking questions to help us understand her meaning better such as, "Are you a mac or pc?" or "Are you a 1 to 1 laptop school, an iPad school, a virtual school...?" and so on. These questions clarify how the technology we use makes states a lot about us as a learner and teacher. She uses a lot less formal diction than Derek's blog and it is also a lot shorter

Derek's blog goes a different route when stating why technology is not just a tool. He uses a video of Salmar Khan, founder of Khan Academy, as the basis of his blog. This video is also another form of the author using logos to argue his point, the video states that technology should be, and is beginning to be, used to create and share in new ways because "when you create you take ownership of your learning" and "kids can understand better when they can share their learning...to an authentic audience." This blog in comparison to Liz's uses more formal diction, is longer, and his spacial organization is different. Derek utilizes lists in accordance with the blog whereas Liz just writes in paragraph format.

At first glance these blogs seem to be stating the same thing and very similar but once broken down we can see the variable differences between the two and how the differences help make the blogs each effective in their own ways.

Where's my phone?!

We are in a time where every individual is attached to his or her smart phones and devices, physically and emotionally. Everyone is guilty of this, including me, and even more disturbingly, this includes my 14 year old sister and others her age or younger.

The invention of cell phones was a blessing and a curse all at the same time. It was nice, I'm sure, as a parent to be able to leave the kids at home knowing they had a way to contact you if an emergency came up but at the same time, it meant you were never truly alone, that there was always a way to reach you, even when you didn't want to be found. 

I try and think back to the time when we didn't have cell phones and it’s hard to remember what that was like. When you had to coordinate a meeting time and place and trust that the other person would be there because there was know way of knowing whether or not they were "leaving the house" or "almost there" with a simple text. If you had to wait for that person then that's what you did, you waited to see if they were going to show. Now, when I think about when I'm waiting for someone and if they are five minutes late I get anxious, if they are ten minutes late I think that they forgot about me, and if they take longer than fifteen minutes I think something terrible has happened to them, and all the while I am checking my phone to see if I missed a call or a text from them explaining their tardiness. Or when you were lost and you had to stop and ask directions to places. Now you don't even have to have the address you are trying to get to, all you need to do is look it up in your internet browser on your phone and then stick it into your GPS app on your phone and the phone does the rest. 

We have become so dependent on these phones it's almost a little ridiculous. When you've misplaced your phone and have that little moment of panic until you've found it again, or when you can't even go half a day without it because you feel "unconnected from everyone', it's kind of troubling. I know that it’s hard for me to go to sleep before checking my Twitter, and Instagram, and Facebook accounts and seeing if I have missed anything “important” or checking my email first thing in the morning. And I also know that I am not the only one who has fallen prey to technology. 

My hope though is that as a society we will see this and try our best not to become a people separated by text messaging and emailing but instead one where we interact at the bus stop or say hi to each other at the store. Yet I also know that this change will not happen by me just writing about it, it starts with me and it starts with you taking that little leap of faith in humans and asking the person next to you on the bus how their day is going, hoping they don’t look at you weird or ignore you. It takes going to extra mile.