Digital Nation

The video, “Digital Nation,” caught my attention immediately.  It began with a family all in the same house, but all in their own little worlds. Each individual was using technology in a different way. I honestly felt bad for that family. I thought these people don’t even talk to each other. I thought what has happened to the American family, I would never have that for my family. Then I though about it, and realized that, that is my family.  My boyfriend and I will sit on the couch, each with our laptops, not even speaking to one another. He checks his updates on his fantasy sports, while I check my updates on facebook.  When I go out with friends we spend a majority of our time on our phones texting others or checking out facebook, discussing what other people post on facebook, or taking pictures to post immediately on facebook so that others can see how fabulous our lives are. It actually shocked me. I realize that I felt the same way as the narrator, who happened to be the mother in the family shown. She said something along the lines of, “ … it kind of snuck up on us, I didn’t see it coming.” I could completely identify with what she was saying, along with many of the other individuals that also commented. They were saying things such as, “everywhere you go people are looking at a screen,” and “ I can’t live without my blackberry.” I hate to admit it but I’m one of these people, and as a future teacher I cannot help but contemplate the effects of this technology in the field of education.

A large portion of this video addressed the issue of technology in education. On one hand there are the numerous benefits to using technology to educate students. For example, with the use of the Internet students have information on any subject, in any discipline, at their fingertips. If students don’t know how to do something they can simply Google it, and the answer is right there. These days people Google recipes, hairstyles, relationship tips, etc; homework problems are no different.  On the other hand, we have all the negative consequences, such as, students being distracted in class and therefore not doing as well as they should. Some people believe that students are being “dumbed” down because of technology. Evidence of this stated in the video is that, statistically students do not have the reading and writing skills that students had just ten years ago. However, students do not see it this way. They believe that they have the ability to multitask and still do their best at each task; meanwhile classic psychology argues that in general our brains can’t multitask. I tend to side with those that believe that latter, that think this multitasking environment is a disservice to students and teachers. I’ve sat in a class held at Grand Valley State University, where the teacher allowed laptops, and watched the person in front of me watch a video on their laptop computer. Others are on facebook, instant messaging friends, or emailing others. The idea that all this can be going on and the individuals partaking in these activities can still absorb the teacher’s lesson is absurd.  I’ve said it before that I think using technology in education can be extremely beneficial. However, it has to be used appropriately. Letting students have cell phones, iPads, tablets, laptops, etc without limits, in class is going to the extreme and I feel that it will have adverse effects.

Aside from the implications in the field of education, there are also drastic changes being made to the workplace through the use of technology. The most significant being the use of Second World, the video explained how Second World was being used at IBM. The technology involved astonished me. I thought it was amazing; people in different countries can meet in a virtual world and hold meetings as if they were in the same room. It is a great way for companies to save money and it is more personal than a phone call or email. One person commented that they needed to change clothes before they held their meeting because their avatar was wearing the same outfit as another individual. You can even put your own face onto an avatar. It makes it more personal.

However, all the technology being founded is not good. One segment of this video made me sick. The segment on the advancement of military technology was something that I was not comfortable with. I will not get into the civilian casualties mentioned, or the fact that soldiers had to wear flight suits in order to remind themselves that they were fighting a real war. However, the fact that the military was recruiting individuals with the Army Experience Center, where young people can go to play video games as long as they would like for free, is absolutely ridiculous. I could not help but agree with the protestors: war is not a game; there is no reset button in war. There are so many things wrong with this whole idea, and I think it completely desensitizes people to war and killing people.