Wired For Distraction

In the article “Addicted to Distraction” by Tony Schwartz, he argues that the internet has a relentless pull on humans. He goes into detail on how the internet interrupts all daily activity. Schwartz also explains how he is also a victim to the internet and how he is overcoming the overuse of it. The internet does have a grasp on the attention of humans. People willingly give up their primary focus and activities just to check their devices. People are imprisoned to the internet and don’t even realize that it is leading to a deterioration of their learning ability.

Lauren Shinozuka wrote “The Dangers of Digital Distractedness” for a class assignment. She is a college student that lives in the world of technology and internet. Her idea to address how dependent the world has become on technology without even realizing it. Lead her to her own evaluation of her life and how technology has changed how she deals and interacts with people.

The rise and use of technology slowly cause students to not be able to grow their ability to think and focus. In the article, “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” by Matt Richtel, states, “Scientists say juggling emails, phone calls, and other incoming

“Humanity acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons” (R. Buckminster Fuller). Individuals use digital technology as a way to distract themselves from being in the real world. Researchers have found that digital technology such as phones, ipads, and computers is a constant interruption in daily lives. The digital technology prevents individuals from personal reflection, independence without technology, and face to face interactions.

For the last couple of years’ technology has augmented our everyday life. Alex Williams, a reporter for the New York Times and an editor of the New York Magazine, would strongly agree with this. Williams believes technology has changed the way we live, and the way we interact with each other. Schools are loaning iPads, tablets, and laptops to students so they can immerse their self’s in a world of cyber learning. Teenagers are drooling over their cell phones for hours upon hours, ready to text back the boy in their Algebra class. Parents are preoccupying their little kids with games on their phones. Nevertheless, this is making life easier and simpler. Alex Williams hypothecates that technology might actually have “beneficial [attributes]

We are indeed living in a high tech tethered world; in a world that we are constantly looking at our phones, from social media to entertainment. The Internet truly is the “television” for our generation. The Internet is going to replace our tv; there's already signs of it today. Televisions nowadays or so-called “smart TVs” are already equipped with a web browser, a Facebook app and streaming video apps. Sooner or later broadcast television is going to be no more. On Sherry Turkle’s “Can You Hear Me Now?” Turkle gives thanks to technology for making people be more alienated. People are obsess with living a virtual life; they care more about a Facebook post rather than living life at the moment. Could these advances in technology be beneficial towards our academics or can they have rather serious consequences?

“Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” a chapter from The New Brain deals with the effects of modern technology. Here Restak examines the brain’s ability to multitask and the consequences of multitasking, for example, the risks of talking on a cell phone while driving. Our tendency to juggle tasks, Restak warns may be both unproductive and damaging to our brains. Multitasking forces our brains to process ever-increasing amounts of information at ever-increasing rates. Although technology has bettered the world, it is addictive and can lessen the human brain. With the constant use of phones and laptops it makes multitasking less productive. Your mind should be able to concentrate

While some young people utilize technology to create great content such as music, literature, or coding, it has created a budding effect of a generation that is obsessed with consumption. The truth is the majority of youth’s time has been excessively dedicated to passive activities like watching tv or online videos, gaming and scrolling through social media. According to Common Sense Media, when it’s summed up America’s youth is using an average of 6 hours of media daily, not counting for school or homework. That is a massive chunk stolen from a child’s day and the effects can be extremely damaging. It is leading the young generation of today to become overstimulated, over-scheduled and under pressure to perform both academically and beyond

It contained experiments performed by credible scientists of this field and scholarly quotes from experts within the realm of this extent. Its main focus is to portray that technology is becoming an addiction that is rapidly spreading throughout the entire world, causing us to become impatient and forgetful. One of the investigations was an experiment with a college student who couldn’t use any technology for one day, and she reported feeling very lonely and secluded from her life. She said “Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable.” This goes to show how much of a toll technology has taken in our lives. People can barely survive without the comfort and luxury and technology in life. Nicki Dowling, a clinical psychologist who led a study on technology dependence, prefers calling it “Internet dependence”

Furthermore, this process took me down s distracted path. When we were asked to think of anything outside of the assignment it threw me off. As a student with ADHD once I get distracted it's much harder for me to get back on track. As soon as I was thoroughly distracted I struggled to complete the assignment. Did the prompts help? For me no, to get work done I'm more of a one-track mind kind of person. School for me is very hard and it takes me giving my everything in each assignment to be able for me to pass a class. The start and stop process was difficult for me to deal with, it magnified my stress and anxiety during the writing exercise. For me the process got in my way and became more of a hindrance. The most useful part of the process

As the technology advances, more utilities become available to us that make our lives easier. This correlates to the short essay “Why Computers Don't Belong in the Classroom” by Clifford Stoll. Stoll argues that the high usage of technology in schools gives students the incentive have weak thinking skills and not focus in class. I agree with the argument of Clifford Stoll as the usage of technology simply motivates students to procrastinate, rely heavily on online resources and lose interest in class activities. Technology provides a distraction for students as they would rather watch TV or play video games.

The standing stereotype of the current generation is that we are always on some sort of electronic. Whether it is our phone, tablet, laptop or television set, the more recent generations have been more glued to electronics than older generations. For myself this is especially true, as I am either on my laptop or my phone for either schoolwork or educational purposes, such as conducting research for essays, streaming movies and reading interesting articles online. Yet contrary to the stereotype, it is not a bad thing. As our access to the interweb has altered how we process information. Making us more efficient at how we process and look for information, along with how we communicate with others.

Has technology ever helped students in their personal study time? Of course! In fact, completing research without technology nowadays seems almost impractical for many students. Students use technology every day for a variety of reasons, whether it’s for studying purposes or just checking social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Technology surrounds almost everybody and most students use it on a daily basis. Though Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet makes us “shallow learners” because of the many distractions, the Internet can be a great tool for all students (2011). Chabris and Simons argue against Carr and claim that the internet can actually help us and it has our generation at a high level it’s never been before (2011). Focusing while on the Internet can be a very difficult task to complete, and self-discipline is crucial for students or anybody that wants to focus due to the fact that the Internet opens room for multitasking. According to Annie Murphy Paul “multitasking while learning has the biggest potential downside.” Multitasking is more common when people have access to technology. There are still many benefits and advantages to using technology in our studying time. Technology enforces active learning, collaborative learning, and personal learning styles. Though technology may be the source of distractions, proper use of technology in a student 's personal studying time offers many great advantages.

Technology has been around for a very long time now. In some way or another, it’s been a part of people’s lives nowadays whether it’s cell phones, tv, computers, tablets, we all own one or more of these things. Digital electronics started between the late 1950’s and 1970’s. According to Forbes, the first document which included the discussion of building a computer was on June 30, 1945. Back in the day, technology wasn't as popular or used as it is now. It amazes me to see how much it has grown. From box Tv’s to flat screen tvs to smart tv’s that can connect to other online sites such as youtube, and Netflix. Phones have gone from house phones, to flip phones, to smartphones. It’s hard to believe sometimes how far technology has grown. Technology overall, is good for high school, college students. It helps them in many ways one is being able to do research online.

Technology plays a huge role in the academic atmosphere, making class meetings more convenient and simple. Taking classes from an online school, I find it beneficial to simply sit at my desk and open my laptop that contains my assignments and virtual classroom. My education relies on the advancement of technology, and throughout the five years I have taken classes with The Potter’s School, I have seen it improve in several positive ways, helping my classes run smoothly and providing me with an education in the safety of my own home. Because of this unique opportunity that technology provides, I have the ability to focus on my studies, learn independently, and avoid the social drama that comes with high school. I use technology in my everyday schedule because of its many positive and useful purposes and opportunities it provides for my education including life outside of school such as more quality time with my loved ones.