ST: New Literacies in Practice
I think about friends who update their Facebook status and that's how I learned about issues they were having or concerns and worries they had. Maybe it was ease of sharing, or maybe it was because calling each person to tell them bad news "in person" would be too hard? Even myself, I think I communicate in some ways better online because I can write, edit and rethink what I say until it is what I want it to be. I am not a very talkative person in class or social settings, but online allows me to ramble on as much as I want.
An issue I notice about technology and me is that it sucks me into the fast paced world where we are multitasking and not truly "being." Right now, I am eating and typing this post. I am thinking about what I need to do when I get home and how to prepare for inservices in August, and who I need to call to check up on. I am not present. I am not enjoying my food. My mind is not calm. People text instead of enjoying the moments of movies or concerts.
Instantaneous Communication is a great gift. I can call if I get lost or if I need to text something to someone before I forget my statement. It's addictive to start a blog or update Twitter (though I really don't need to know every thought and every move you make during the day!). However, there needs to be a balance. We need time to be alone with our thoughts. No TV, Radio, Internet, Cell Phone, or other interruptions. Just us and our lives. I find a deadly temptation of technology is how fast time passes and how life can get sucked up into a "virtual" world which is not "real".
3 comments:
I feel like I am a multi-tasker by nature. I am constantly thinking about what I have to do next while I am performing some other task. I unload the dishwasher while I am feeding my 9-month old daughter. My wife and I are responding to or sending text messages while we are trying to communicate with each other. What I have discovered is that despite the feeling that I am accomplishing so much more, I am really just practicing the skills of doing a lot of things poorly. I am trying to focus more on doing one thing at a time! Using technology included.
I find one of the most annoying things in life is when I am out with my husband, he sees someone he knows but can't remember that person's spouse's name. He ducks aways quietly and looks up the name on his Palm Pilot. I guess it wouldn't be all that irritating if the looking up part was quick and efficient. But it never is. Either his phone malfunctions or he can't find his glasses, or something unforseen happens--so it becomes a big waste of important social time when we might actually be conversing with someone! :)
On a more serious note, as I mentioned in class, I really want to learn about the latest technology but maybe not for all the same reasons as some of the others in our class. I want to be able to keep up with my own kids. I also don't want to seem totally incompetent to my students. I need to be up to speed to earn their respect!
One final thought. I totally agree that we as a society would benefit if we just slowed down a bit. Take time to rest, to read, to eat (and actually taste our food), to enjoy our children, and each other!
The New York Times article "You're Leaving a Digital Trail," mentioned a research study conducted by The Media Lab and Hitachi Data Systems. The study, aimed at improving businesses' effiency found "that face-to-face communication was far more important to an organization's work than was generally believed" (3). Further demonstrated was that "productivity improved 30 percent with an incrememtal increase of face-to-face communication."
In class and in your post, we debated the pros and cons of both personal and online communication. While the benefits of online communication are obvious, I think it's important we still teach our own children and our students how to be social...how to make eye contact and be conscious of body language. How strange if oral communication and socialization becomes a "lost art"!
It all reminds me of the film Up in the Air, in which George Clooney's character, who has made a living out of traveling to businesses and firing employees is challenged by a young rookie who proposes to take it all digital to cut company costs. Not to give away the end, but it goes to show there are certain times when face-to-face human interaction is irreplacable.
(see my blog for link to article)
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