Study on Technology and Media Literacy With Respect to University Students and Their Professors

Individuals within a 21st century society are becoming increasingly digitally literate with the repertoire of literacy skills rapidly expanding enabling us to more efficiently navigate our way though new and innovated digital media forms.

Youth’s reliance on the digital world may do some harm, but its benefits outweigh any drawbacks. Information is now readily available and much easier to access. Writers like Nicholas Carr of the Atlantic magazine speaks of the Web as a “godsend,” capable of reducing research from long days of gathering and shifting through physical resources to mere minutes searching online (Source 4). Technology not only make learning easier but also more personal. According to a 2008 study on the effects of digital media, the large library of information provided online “lowers barriers to self-directed learning” (Source 3). The current generation with some simple Google searches has the ability to indulge in their curiosity, free from traditional limitation in learning. Because of this, the young are developing new interests and skills to go along with

The general thesis of this book is “How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future,” which happens to be the subtitle of this book. In the first chapter, Knowledge Deficits, the author talks about how the teens in the 20th century have the same or even lower education level as teens 30 years ago. Bauerlein goes on and talks about how the government is spending more for education compared to 30 years ago. In the second chapter, The New Bibliophobes, the author argues that teens are reading less books and their literary skills are not improving as fast because they are more interested in digital and pop culture. In the third chapter, Screen Time, lots of studies and surveys prove that teens are spending more time playing video games and socializing with each other online than studying. In chapter four, Online Learning And Non-Learning, the author talks about how teens are abusing the technology and pretending to use it for educational purposes, but in reality, the are using it for entertainment. In chapter five, The Betrayal Of The Mentors, the author explains if all teen follow this pathway they will utterly destroy their future by not making suitable for having a degree, job and poetically family.

For some of us, it is difficult to comprehend why our education systems have not yet made the transition to technology-based forms of teaching especially when we are in the era of technology. To others, the reasoning is clear and they support the original, dated usage of textbooks in a “traditional classroom” setting. The changes in our society are undeniable with the innovation of technology and social media. Although some authors, such as Neil Howe and Jean Twenge, argue that technology is deteriorating the minds of Millennials, technology is also providing Millennials with a way to create connections across communities.

Technology has allowed young Americans to transform the way they think and learn. According to a 2008 study by Mizuko Ito, the internet has allowed the flourishing of self-directed learning. The enormous possibilities the internet offers, allows people to delve into topics or research a variety of areas that interest them. People can now explore their curiosity endlessly. Researches have also noticed a change in literacy among the younger generation. The daily texts, tweets, and emails people send, keep them writing. According to Andrea Lunsford, all of these little writings add up and is pushing

According to the International Adult Literacy Survey there are a great number of people in Canada that do not have the required literacy skills to fully comprehend written material (Statistics Canada, 2007: 17). However, the internet has a solution. Imbedded within informative websites are often links to activities, videos and simulations which may serve to enable those with lower literacy levels better comprehension of the material at hand. This is evidenced by findings of the International Adult Literacy survey that determined that individuals who use computers generally scored higher in prose literacy defined as the ability to understand and apply concepts learned from text (Statistics Canada, 2005). The internet has the potential to provide these individuals with a better understand the concepts contained within text through the use of multimedia beyond the one dimensional pictures contained in a traditional book. Therefore, the internet serves as a means of transferring knowledge that is more inclusive than traditional print media. Although the internet facilitates the transfer of information, there are concerns about how this information is interpreted and understood.

According to the United Nations Agency, approximately 3.2 billion people have used the Internet since 2015, which has made a drastic increase since 2000 with there only being 738 million internet users then. That is almost 43% of the world's population that uses the internet. A controversial topic that is commonly being brought up in today's arguments is the use of the internet and how people believe it is becoming such a detriment to our society, because nobody in this generation acknowledges the value of books, or even prefers to use an actual copy such as a paperback. The internet, such as Google, is being classified as lazy or ignorant, but reading a book is labeled as literate or being knowledgeable. Thesis:“Teaching in the #Age Literacy” by Jennifer L. Nelson and “Is Google Making Us stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, both analyze the pros and cons to having the internet and information at our fingertips, how it is affecting the way we read and analyze text and different scientific experiments that have been put to use to decode why we think the way we do now and how to improve our intelligence.

Through the provocative title, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don 't Trust Anyone Under 30), Emory University professor, Mark Bauerlein, asserts his thesis. Using statistical information, Bauerlein presents the case that the millennial generation suffers from “Knowledge Deficits” in almost every important subject (11-38). Bauerlein argues bibliophobia (39-69) and distractions caused by technology (71-111) as reasons for the millennial generation’s lack of intellect. Bauerlein further implicates educators, or the mentors (163-203). When educators try to justify the knowledge deficits in millennials by pointing to individualism, Bauerlein ridicules their statements (185).

“Reading on the Web is not really Reading” by Susan Jacoby explores how a younger generation does not take in as much information as generations that did not have as much technology. Jacoby tries to persuade the reader to believe that a generation with technology around every corner is not as intelligent or hardworking as a generation without any technology. She does this through logos and pathos but fails to use credible sources,contradicts herself and in the end does not prove her main argument. Jacoby hesitates to prove her point that reading on the web is not truly reading but instead tries to intimidate the reader to believe that technology in the younger generation has caused intelligence to decrease.

Essay Many Americans today are extremely familiar with the term “technologies and digital media,” and how they are not helping young Americans with education and general knowledge, which led to the generalization that they are the dumbest generation (Mark Bauerlein). However, according to the articles, The Dumbest Generation?Don’t Be Dumb by Sharon Begley, Is Google Making Us Stupid? By Nicholas Carr, and Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project, Mizuko Ito et al., the authors all came up with one generalization that technologies and media are helping the young generation in their learning and they are instead, not the dumbest generation. The claim that those under age thirty are “the dumbest generation.”

Carr explains that “the media or other technologies we use in learning and practicing the craft of reading play an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside the brain.” (9) This shows that the internet’s influence extends past our subconscious, affecting the growth and development of our brains. But not only is the internet influencing us as individuals, but the media as well. Carr reveals that “as people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt the audience’s new expectations” (19). This describes the extent of the internet’s reach on society and how it essentially controls consumers and media

The article, “Digital Literacy Is the Key to the Future, But We Still Don’t Know What It Means,” is written by Marcus Wohlsen. He writes his article, to explain to the public what digital literacy is. Wohlsen knows that the increasing there is an increasing usage of technology in the public life, and to adapt to this they are going to need to be literate is using it. In his article, he explains to the public what this literacy is, and how much one needs to be literate in technology. Wohlsen effectively uses multiple viewpoints of experts and relatability to engage the reader and explain to them what digital literacy is all about.

As schools promote 21st-century learning, there has been a push for literacies which encourage students to be 21st-century learners. The two overarching literacies, new and digital, has taken over the three R’s literacy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. New Literacies continuously change due to the new technology emerging providing different ways to get information and communicate with others (Leu et al., 2015). In contrast, digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools to access information for understanding and communication (Jose, 2016). New literacies and digital literacies also differ in aspects of use in the classroom. New literacies are the building blocks for digital literacy; which are the skills students need to understand the internet (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2017). New literacies can be taught without the use of technology because students are learning to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information. Teachers can demonstrate these skills using encyclopedias and journal articles to gain a minimalistic comprehension. Once students learn the necessary understanding, teachers can transfer these skills to online which will promote digital literacy; furthermore, digital literacy can only be taught using digital tools. Teachers would teach students how to use computers and the social practices of the new literacies to gain an understanding of the digital literacy (Jose, 2016). Furthermore, digital literacies

Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2004). Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93-106. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/205852670?accountid=32521

The worth of media is a very controversial topic. Media has given us the ability to do things in new and creative ways such as how we learn and accomplish our everyday tasks. However, we do not always know how to interpurate this information. The technology available today is constantly impacting and influencing society in tremendous ways. Many of the impacts that are accocated with media are addressed in negative ways, but can be seen from a positive perspective as well. In the current generation, media and its influences can be found everywhere. These influences widely impact today’s adolescents and maturing teenagers because they are still developing into adults. Medias purpose is not only to inform us, but to allow us to mold ourselves in how we want to be perceived online. Also, it allows us easy access to unbelievable amounts of information. Living in an era known as the “information age” is riveting, but what are we suppose to do with all of this new technology and information?