Fundamentals Vs. Social Media

In schools today cellphones and sometimes computers are forbidden because of the simple fact that they offer a distraction from education. By allowing students to use technology for educational purposes in the classroom, there is the inevitable fact that internet-connecting devices will not always be used for purely educational means. Finally, those who oppose technology in the classroom argue that technology desensitizes students to the social benefits of a conventional school. Students who are not required to interact with each other have a much less chance of communicating, and therefore the students may not learn the social cues they need to thrive in the professional world. These arguments against technology in the classroom are important to consider before making a change such as implementing them in all classes and requiring students to become web based learners. However, there are many arguments for the use of technology in the classroom.

Take another look at the classroom. There are many children, all while none are communicating, because they are in their devices. Matt Richtel states, “Researchers worry that constant digital stimulation like this creates attention problems for children with brains that are still developing, who already struggle to set priorities and resist impulses.” If students can't pay attention to the teacher, they can't learn. Now, rethink this scenario, so that the devices are gone. Instead, kids are interacting with each other, while together working on a project, and the room thriving with knowledge. Helping one another, they find solutions to all the problems facing them, without the help of the internet. They are greatly satisfied with their accomplishments, and they enjoyed communicating. This is what technology has ripped apart from us. This is the set of stairs we can rebuild, if us students use our minds instead of our

In our modern international society, technology continues to advance rapidly and change the way we communicate. In the essay “Is Technology Destroying Social Bonds?” Shawn Ghuman claims that “Digital communication has taken away from what makes humans thrive, the ability to express thoughts through in person discussion” (Ghuman 8). I agree that this may be the case, considering how often people now choose to communicate digitally rather than in person. Nowadays, young adults are becoming uncomfortable with direct confrontation of any kind. Even talking over the phone and making a simple dentist appointment. For our society to keep moving forward, it is necessary that we develop the social skills needed in order to have proper face to face communication. Unfortunately, due to over-reliance on social media to communicate with others, today’s young adults are losing valuable opportunities to practice face to face interactions that are needed to develop strong social skills.

As a result, this potentially decreases the need and want for interacting in person since technology is convenient and requires minimum effort for communication. It also conflicts with the construction of the self. Now that technology has become more popularized, individuals must maintain two respective identities online and in real life. Online identities are oftentimes misconstrued because they can be built off of a false reality and only show what’s on the surface. Consequently, it’s easier for people to harbor deeper emotions and hinder their true selves by worrying about how they are defined online. Another agent of socialization that is altering is school. Nowadays, there are many resources of attaining an education that is easier and requires no method of transportation: online learning. Although online learning and schools are extremely beneficial and allow people to have an easier access for education, it denounces the social aspect of school. School is an extremely influential agent of socialization where students learn how to construct their identities based on what they learn in school, who they interact with, and who they look up to. Online schools do not provide any of these social aspects. Instead, they rely on emails, chatrooms, and discussion boards for the facilitation of learning. As a result, students lose a valuable resource of constructing their own social identity since they do not have any peers to converse with nor teachers to

Communicating effectively with parents and students is important in order to be successful at teaching. Studies have shown that parental involvement in a student’s education allows for greater success in the classroom (Duarte, G, Cerda-Perez, E & Rosenberg, G 2007). Technology is beneficial in communicating with students and parents. The use of technology allows for students and parents to have access to current lesson plans as well as access to the teacher after normal school hours. This opens up doorways for the student or parent to ask questions about assignments and class discussions. The uses of classroom websites, e-mails, text messaging and student web sites are just a few examples of technology that is used to communicate

It is important to have face-to-face communication during the childhood period. Over-reliance on the virtual sphere will lead them to the lopsided personal development while they do, not how to communicate to people in the real world. In the article in the South China Morning Post, Linda Yeung (2013, January 20) reports that Rosen said kids should learn how to talk to adults during the face-to-face conversation. When kids spend a considerable amount of time online, it may reduce their interaction skills. The kids may have confused on what they should answer or share while they are lack of effective communication skills. Children would use word typing rather than share ideas by conversation in the real world. When children are not able to communicate with adults, they will become more introvert or passive in the future. They may not be able to express themselves through face-to-face interaction while it will build up a wall which against others to know

It is easy to see how one spending all of their time toward an inanimate object could create a social bubble where there is really no need or desire to interact with people. A problem this is causing is that it is not something that is restricted to only a child development problem but also carries on through some people’s adulthood. “Even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead.” That is astonishing that some adults still prefer to communicate electronically rather than understanding the importance in face to face interactions. “Researchers at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif., concluded that children born since 1990 have almost 80 percent fewer instances of social interaction in elementary school than previous generations.” This leads me to believe that social interaction is on the decline and if the use of technology is not limited than we will continue to see a generation that is not fully developed socially and possibly isolated from the “face to face”

Taking online education classes is supposed to be the new cheaper way of learning, but are you actually learning? With online schooling kids are not getting as much social interaction as they would in a normal classroom setting. They simply can not just raise their hand to ask their teacher a question, they have to email the teacher or look it up on the internet. In Alexander Spring’s essay “Online Learning: The Ruin of Education,” he explains how “teachers” are now PCs or Macs and how these online computer classes are ruining the education process for this generation of kids and future generations. I agree with Spring’s opinion that the online learning is ruining the kids education and needs to

In our lecture notes this week, Professor Julia Green asks, “Can mediated communication impact our development? (“Challenges/Limitations to Mediated Communication”). To explore this question further, I refer to a podcast presented by Houston Matters featuring panelist Frederick J. Goodall, who asks on his parenting website, “Is Technology Really Hurting Kids ' Ability to Socialize?” and Dr. Bernard Robin, an associate professor at the University of Houston who provides further insight (“Is Technology Really Hurting Kids ' Ability to Socialize?”). Conveniently, the Houston Matters podcast ties to our weekly lecture and lesson supplements with its primary question regarding social development. The podcast explores internet overuse, safety, and etiquette; all concepts Green shared in the lectures for this week (Green – “week 4 Introduction”).

It seems that, as time passes, students are getting more problematic in cheating. Gone are the days in which students simply look over to the side for the answers. With the advancement of technology in the hands of the young generation, the ideas for cheating are endless. Nonetheless, the question of “why students cheat?” remains the same. Furthermore, this question is thought-provoking; students are well aware of the effects that cheating brings and yet it still occurs. In the response of cheating educational institutions have implemented various ramifications; these included failure of the class to the extreme of being expelled from school. In addition effects are not only limited to educational sanctions; certain students feel

It may be true that nowadays technology is what gets people's lives going, becoming an essential thing. But it has driven our lives out of the world, that we should experience. According to the article “I’m not LMAO at Ridiculous Email from my Students”, written by anonymous, it argues that young adolescents are communicating to people they don’t know personally, such as their professor, in a non-formal way. The minds of adolescents force them to think that technology has given a way to have any communication they prefer, when that is not true. All communication is different, but all must have respect for each other, and some reason technology itself makes people to interact however they like to.

There is no denying that technology has become an important part of people’s day to day activities. The real question is; has it done more harm than good for the younger generations that will be brought up with it from day one. These days almost every task has been melted down into just pressing the ‘done’ button. When teenagers shop, they choose online options rather than put in the time and effort to go to the actual store where humans are. Students sign up for online classes rather than go to the school and sit in rooms full of peers. Instead they sit inside and stare at a screen. When younger kids finally work up the courage to go to the store, they flock to self-checkout rather than go to the actual person. Also; people think that the relationships they make online are real, causing kids to rely on friending someone rather than going up and having the real conversation in person. Technology is changing the world, but at what cost? Teenagers in America actively seek out technology that hinders their ability to communicate face to face.

Several studies have shown that teens and young children that use excessive amounts of social media are becoming less and less able to communicate and convey their emotions in a constructive way. This technology is ruining the art of conversation. In one article a teacher said she 's noticed that more students tend to avoid eye contact and have trouble with the basics of direct conversation — habits that, she says, will not serve them well as they enter the real world. What’s wrong with conversation then? Why are teens so averse to it? Most students say that they hate face to face interactions because it takes place in real time, and

Why should teachers be concerned? Donald Leu, Jr., (2008) tells us that the nature of literacy and learning is begin redefined by digital technologies such as the World Wide Web (WWW), e-mail, digitized works of children’s literature, and electronic chat rooms. Labbo and Reinking (1999) suggest that e-mail promotes opportunities for reading and writing for purposes that have personal meaning as well as for encouraging more collaborative projects and interchanges among students. Bringing the WWW into classrooms encourages teachers and students to move away from limiting reading and discussion to the content of a textbook and provides opportunities to more critically consider the sources of information. Mark Warschauer (2007) says the rapid diffusion of new technologies will greatly impact the nature of learning and literacy. He refers to the invention of the printing press, which transformed literacy in the second half of the last millennium. He and others believe that digital technology will, in the long run, have as much impact on learning and literacy as did the printing press (Warschauer 2007). How teachers respond to and use these new developments will determine how

Internet use has become increasingly popular over the recent years, evolving in ways never imagined. In recent times the internet has become a popular way for people, especially teenagers to communicate with one another. Unfortunately, the more teens use the internet to communicate with one another the more teens interpersonal skills start to decline. Interpersonal skills are used to express oneself and to interpret other's words, thoughts and actions. However, when we lose the ability to express ourselves and connect with other people we lose something vital to our well-being that makes people human.