Digital Nation: Taming the Technology

                “We’re all in the same house, but we’re also in other worlds.” The film Digital Nation explores all of the different ways that America is evolving into a more virtual society. Through education, employment and entertainment, everyone is becoming more and more immersed in technology.  When people are wrapped up in their game systems, computers and cell phones, it can almost seem like they really are in a different world. They quietly stare into their screens for hours in a near hypnotic trance. Many are quick to assume that these types of people are antisocial and clueless, using the comfortability of technology to escape an uneventful life. But what if the basis of their life subsists in technology? What if the entirety of a person’s worldly interaction existed only within the confines of a virtual reality?

                Technology has undoubtedly transformed the way humans spend their time. Hobbies once perceived as adequate ways to make use of down time are now seen as arbitrary time wasters. Children are replacing baseball mitts with Xbox controllers; the value of having the highest score is beginning to take precedence over the value of developing physical, practical skills. Digital Nation, an online world simulation game called Second Life is showcased as not just a game, but as an innovative business tool. Users create an avatar and play as that avatar in a realistic online world with dozens of others doing the same. Since the game allows voice chatting, it was proposed that the game could serve as a medium for professionals to have a virtual meeting. This made me wonder about the apparent overwhelming desire to convert seemingly everything into a digital version of itself. The role of video games in professional conferences is an inappropriate one; it feeds into the concept of using things simply because they are available, not because they will enhance the usage in any way.

Similarly, the value and principle of physical face time in professional communication has become deprioritized. Formal conferences between business associates are becoming less and less formal. Devices with video chatting capabilities are staples in modern business. Companies cut costs by setting up Skype calls in lieu of flying someone somewhere for a face to face meeting. While having the ability to virtually communicate with people thousands of miles away is convenient and extraordinary, it lacks a certain intimacy that a real life conversation would provide.

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                Perhaps one of the most important aspects of human life is the ability to communicate with one another and share thoughts and ideas. In recent years, keeping contact with others near or far has become easier and faster than we would have thought possible even two decades ago. With the creation of the internet, having a conversation with a friend who’s 500 miles away is as quick and as seamless as having a conversation with a friend sitting next to you. This opens the door for a lot of personal opportunities. A married couple and a group of friends were briefly interviewed during a gaming convention in Digital Nation. The convention was focused around one specific massive multiplayer online role playing game, World of Warcraft. Users join guilds and fight against dragons and other mythical creatures with other live players. There is a chat function, and for many people, it’s a gateway to building relationships with others, be it romantic or platonic. The couple that was interviewed claimed to have met each other through this online game, and there are thousands that can say the same. Everyone in the interviewed friend group confirmed that before playing together, they were strangers. People seem to be very protective and caring of the friends that they make online. These people meet in a place where everyone has similar interests, so there’s little room for awkward silences. Since the majority of the time that they spend together is spent doing something enjoyable, negative situations are less likely to present themselves.

The idea of a group of random, anonymous strangers working toward a common goal is demonstrated in these online games. Message boards are full of people asking questions, giving advice, and even engaging in simple daily conversation. All of this constant communication has a positive effect on the level of closeness ad friendliness in society. Regularly speaking with others in a virtual environment can almost feel real at times. When a person is engrossed in an activity, it can be easy to momentarily forget that the café his avatar is in is not where he physically is.  Although servers may be full, and virtual rooms may be crowded with other users, we are all the company we have beyond the computer.

 “Do virtual worlds really bring us together with others, or do they just make being utterly alone a little more bearable?” 

Technology has officially taken over our lives in the last couple of decades. Technology is used in our everyday lives and recently technology has been incorporated into new circumstances that we never thought possible. Throughout the last of the documentary Digital Nation the director shows how technology has been adapted to be used for warfare. The thing that I found the most interesting however was that there is a new treatment for PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that incorporates technology. Doctors have been testing the reactions of Patients with PTSD to virtual reality. Hoping for it to be a healthy and proficient way to deal with the disorder. In addition to trying to cure patients using virtual reality the military has incorporated alike features into real battle situations. The newest and best technology in the military are drones. Unmanned aircraft that can destroy a target while the pilot sits safely miles and miles away. Drones incorporate modern day technology into the use of million dollar machines practically using video game controllers to control real life jets with serious fire power. 

In my personal opinion i think the incorporation of technology in the military is a fantastic idea. For the treatment for PTSD i think that it is a very good way to attempt to solve the problem in lots of veterans lives. The virtual reality can put them back in the same position they were in war without any danger to try and treat their disorder. Also for the drones i feel that they are a great addition to the United States military. We can successfully perform bombing strikes without endangering any pilots and without the price of human lives. However, of course there are also downsides of all these technological advancements. For example people propose that the use of drones is inhumane because there sometimes are civilian casualties without recognition. The drones cannot simply tell the difference between and hostile and a civilian and instead fire anyways. 

Digital Nation: Technology Around Us

We are all exposed to hundreds of different technologies in our daily lives. Sometimes for us to feel better about how we control these devices and still engaging in our school, work, and personal life, we tend to multitask. Multitasking is using your laptop to check your email, while texting your friend about dinner that night on your cell phone. It never seems like a serious problem to multitask, you’re getting two (maybe more) things done at once, right? However, multitasking isn’t actually helping us complete things faster or more efficiently.
In the documentary, Digital Nation, students at MIT were used in studies about multitasking. One student in particular, Eliza, uses multitasking to it’s fullest extent. She would constantly be checking her email, refreshing the page over and over, chatting with friends on Facebook, texting, doing homework on her computer, and many other things. She was glued to her phone and multitasking quickly became apart of her life. This shows, and I think it speaks for lots of students and people all over the nation, that multitasking just feels normal. We have become so accustomed to doing more than one thing at a time and it helps us get through our days. 
The studies that they did at MIT with other students like Eliza, shows that multitasking actually isn't as efficient as we believe it to be. When you do more than one thing in a certain moment, you are not completing them to your fullest potential. The professors at MIT also stated that they believed their students could fully comprehend information better and would see greater results in test grades in they stopped multitasking and started focusing on class. Concentration levels haves rapidly decreased because our attention spans are too short because we’ve become so dependent on multitasking.
I myself, believe that sometimes I am able to multitask. I multitask all the time if you consider it be as simple as listening to music and doing homework. It comes easily to us nowadays to just to do two or maybe even three things at one time. We don’t really think about watching television and then texting a friend or tweeting about the show, we just do it. If there’s one thing to say about multitasking, is that happens, sometimes beyond our own knowledge. When we are in class, we will check our phones or we will secretly listen to headphones because it’s become essential to us to be doing more than one thing, such as paying attention in class or participating in a conversation. Our attention spans are so short from regularly multitasking and having our devices in front of us, instantly changing and refreshing. When was the last time you sat through an entire class without looking at your phone or thinking about it? 

      In just a matter of a couple decades, we have developed what feels like an entirely new world. The technology we have created, in a way, has now created our minds. We are engulfed in our phones and our computers and they are sculpting us as how we respond and act. The technology we have brought into our world has us on a leash. In the Digital Nation documentary, a quote was said along the lines of “the machines don’t care if we don’t respond, WE care.” That reins true because we aren’t hurting the computer or the phone if we don’t use it, we are restricting ourselves. Multitasking has become so prominent as well that we feel useless or anxiety-ridden if we aren’t constantly checking our devices, but our devices aren’t upset, we are.
Using all this technology has changed us as humans. Everywhere you look, people are using their phones and ignoring the world around them to text someone or check Facebook or even just feel anxiety when their phones aren’t near them at all times. Being so dependent on this technology isn’t a good thing and if we continue to use it at an increasingly high rate, I’m sure we’ll feel the consequences of in our future one way or another. 

Digital Nation: Relationships/Online Dating

Relationships/Online Dating

     In the documentary Digital Nation, it talks about how peoples' relationships are either being strengthened or destroyed because of the place technology has in our lives now. Some people are finding love on the internet and some people feel like their lives are out of control with it. The documentary points out a specific game called Warcraft and how people have made friendship bonds that are extremely close and even romances that have gone into reality. A couple they interviewed said they met online through this virtual game and now they are married. Some of these people are so into the game that they even have some of their dates online. They said that everyone thinks these people playing these type of games are just geeks who are isolating themselves but really they are creating bonds with people in their own ways.

     The whole concept to a virtual world opens a whole new way for humans to live their lives. But if it health for someone to just live their life through a game character? Our virtual worlds give us a place where we can forget about who we are and become another person. You can discover and do things that are not really possible to do on Earth or that your just too afraid to do. People think that we are not as social in reality but as soon as we connect to an virtual world we become social and interact with other people. Virtual worlds open up a whole new way of living and interacting. 

     The scary part is that you don't know what you could be getting yourself into when you get involved into the virtual world. With the virtual world comes risks. Yes it let's people have a voice and it let's people experience things they never could imagine but to every new thing comes some negative outcomes. Since you don't know who that other person is they can be whoever they want. Which is a playground for pervs and other pedophiles. It is hard to know who to trust and who not to when making these friendships or romances online. Online dating can be a scary thing but until you meet that someone in person you can't be sure if it is even real or not.

Digital Nation Blog #2

During this blog we will explore a few aspects from the film Digital Nation. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it. You can find it on you tube its about 90mins long. The film covers a wide range of information about our world which they call "Digital Nation". The two topics that caught my interest were the questions of multitasking segment and the technology in classroom segment. The two seemed to go hand and hand in the film.
     In the film they did studies on how the classrooms have changed because of technology. For instance having laptops in class which studies revels it causes the students to attempt to multitask more often instead of fully paying attention. Now if you ask almost any student they will say they are good at multitasking but classic psychology says other wise. Classic psychology say we can not do two things at once at a high level. So they gathered a group of students who are a bit extreme with multitasking and did a study. If you guessed the test showed that at this day and age you can multitask at a high level you were wrong! Test showed people who multitask get significantly worst. They get slower along with the fact it may also affect their ability to think clearly. After
watching them do the study on the film I believed it but wanted to see for myself. So I conducted my own study where I read 5pages of a book with no tv , music, or phone near by I read and understood in about 7mins. Then I read 5 more pages with the tv on and my phone in plain sight it took me over 10mins to read and understand.
     Shortly after in the film they revealed that students of today spend more than 50 hours per week on some kind of device. Then they showed how the brain looks when reading a book as oppose doing online reading/research. For a good while they thought the results favored online. Later they realized just because the online readers brain showed more activity it wasn't a good thing. It wasn't good because as you read and get better at reading your brain uses less energy which makes sense. Where as when you are reading online its so many distractions and thoughts going through your head your brain uses a lot more energy. Another brief fact about multitasking is that it increases motor vehicle accidents by 23%. So its not just in the context of school and indoor activities but multitasking in some situations can lead to serious physical harm possibly even death.
     Now lets explore a little bit on the impact of technology in schools. Did you know that in Korea kids are taught to go online when they are taught to read? Then to follow that they have course that teaches them how to use them the right way. Another location is Brooklyn New York where there is now a middle school where the students are required to use laptops. The parents are on the fence about the idea they have trouble helping the kids with things and they are shocked at how fast they adapt to it.

     One more impactful case of technology in schools was in South Bronx, New York. In south Bronx, a school was on a downward spiral and a new principle by the name of Jason Levy came with the idea to give all kids laptops. No one thought that was a good idea, not even the assistant principle. He went on and did it anyway and the results of it was an increase in attendance and test scores, along with a decrease in fighting. Those were all apart of the upside. The downside was possible boredom and short tension spans, with the thought of being able to attend every urge immediately. So as you can see even with the good comes  a side of bad. Studies also went on to show that younger kids reading ability is increasing. While older kids who are more plugged in reading skills are decreasing as well as their writing skills. Another study revealed that because of technology students now write in paragraphs instead of summaries. Stating that after every paragraph they are distracted by technology some how which stops them from completing whole thoughts. At times you can notice when the distraction occurs because the paragraphs won't have much of a connection if any. That problem is due to the distraction in between paragraphs.
     After watching the video and taking in all the information I was dead even in thoughts related to the film. By that I mean I understood the good and the bad of multitasking and technology in classrooms. I feel like multitasking has its downside but we live in a world where we are forced to multitask a lot of times so in some situations there is no way around it. Along with that I see the good and bad with technology in classrooms yes the can be easily distracted but again we live in an era where technology is fast paced and constantly evolving. With that being said giving kids the opportunity to learn how to effectively use technology will help us in the long run and continue progress because they are the future. So even though there will be some down falls I feel like it's necessary to make the changes and keep up with the evolution of technology. As well as try to find a good balance so they can have the best possible overall learning experience.

Digital Nation: Teaching with Technology and Family Interactions

  Digital Nation: Teaching with Technology and Family Interactions

    
         
           In the documentary, Digital Nation, it explored many facets of today’s technology. It also suits a wide variety of people, regardless ones age or lifestyle. As a whole, we recognize technology is not going away. Like stated in the documentary, technology is powerful. We must embrace it because it is a large part of society and everyday life in general. I feel it is how and when we embrace it that matters most.

            The topic that resounded with me the most is that of family interactions and children being addicted to the internet and games. Being a parent myself this is something I often pay attention to and try to keep a balance of. Yes, technology is incorporated into daily life but I sometimes fear that the way our children are growing up and the way families are interacting with one another is being somewhat violated. That sounds a little dramatic, but I worry that kids are losing a bit of their childhood by staying indoors and not interacting with other children as much. The documentary mentions that children on average are spending about 50 hours a week on the internet or playing games.

Digital Nation also discussed using computers in classrooms and the importance of keeping up with our culture. One principal in New York stated that the world has changed so quickly and the schools have not. I do not mean to sound one sided. I think it is important that we teach children how to operate computers and other software that is used habitually in our culture. It is the future. However, scholars and researchers in the film both argue that too much stimulation and multi-tasking, which technology allows, is in fact not beneficial to the students. In all actuality it hinders them. Some even argue that students today are not capable of learning as they were in the past. Teaching students the skills to use computers are important, but it seems we are heavily relying on them more than simply operating them. We are almost like a different breed today, and they think all of these distractions and technologies are to blame. I am no scientist, but I don’t doubt them. Whether you agree or disagree, one thing is for certain, our society has changed since the birth of the internet and technology.

In the beginning of the Digital Nation documentary, a woman is being interviewed, she is talking about sitting in the kitchen with her family. Her husband and oldest son are sitting across the table from one another on their own separate computers and the two youngest children were playing on her iPhone and it hit her; they were all in the same room together but they were all in their own world. I have seen this happen in my own home as well. I am sure we are not the only two people that have noticed this. I think it is going on in homes all across the world. It makes one wonder what is becoming of family time and interactions with one another. Is anyone really with anyone else anymore? While people may be occupying the same room, are they really engaged with each other, or has smartphones and iPads taken over a person’s attention span? It is something to take a look at. Where is all this technology taking us, which direction are we going?

Another facet discussed in the documentary is that of addiction—to technology that is. South Korea has been a pioneer for treatment with kids and teens addicted to games and internet. It sounds like a joke but you can take a look around wherever you are, at any given time and witness it for yourself; it is happening in our own society. All day long you can see people glued to their phone screen, not even paying attention to the world around them. I, myself see this every day. Children used to run around full of energy and now they would rather stare at a screen all day. My child is not exempt either. She finds reading and learning to be a boring task rather than something to enjoy. She wants to rush through it so she can finish it and watch television or play games. Another indicator that struck me was reading signs posted in a myriad of offices asking you to not be on your phone while they are helping you. One would think that would be common knowledge and also a respectful thing to do. But perhaps there is an epidemic occurring that people are not even noticing. This reflects back to the multi-tasking argument mentioned. People are multi-tasking so much that they are not seeing the big picture. Have you witnessed this happening? I personally find the evidence to be rather telling and also abundant; it is only going to continue.

Since we know that these technologies are not going anywhere, my hope for the future is that we can come to a happy medium of its use. I hope that people can use it for their needs but also know when to put it down and engage in real life, and not live through pictures posted and conversations had in cyberspace. I hope children can learn to love the simple pleasures of exploring outside with each other again and then maybe just playing video games in the evening. I hope the world can learn to just be in the moment again.

Digital Nation: Technology in the Classroom and Family Interactions

     In the video, Digital Nation, the increasing use of technology is the main focus. Throughout the video, documentation of the influence technology is having on multiple areas of life is presented. These areas range from the use of technology in the classroom, to online dating, and even the involvement technology in warfare. Technology, in one way or another, is becoming a part of nearly every person's life worldwide. Two areas, discussed in

Technology at the Ready

the video, that stood out to me the most were the use of technology in the classroom setting and family interactions. There is no question that technology is having a profound effect on the world we live in today, but is it taking away more than what is worth giving up to have these new technologies?
     In the opening scene of the video, the mother of a family discusses how technology is impacting her family. Not only are her and her husband constantly using technology, but the children are seemingly always on a device as well. She feels that even though all of them live in the same house, they are all in their own separate place from each other. Another interview in the scene shows a South Korean mother and son. The son is constantly playing video games and this has created a large disconnect in communication between the mother and son. It seems as though typical interactions between family members are changing in far more countries than just South Korea. As my brother and I grew older, we would always sit in front of the television to eat supper. When we were younger, the only night we didn't sit around the dinner table to eat was when we went out to a restaurant. The dinner table is where we would discuss with our parents how our days went and tell stories of the events that had taken place earlier in the day. Those conversations became more and more scarce as we started to make our way into the living room to eat supper, as opposed to having the

Transformation of Family Dinner

bonding time around the table. Another way I have seen technology influencing family interactions is during the holidays. The holidays used to be times where my family members would catch up with each other, having not seen some of the other family members for several months. Now, a few cousins and aunts/uncles have their tablets or phones out before and after supper so that they can constantly be monitoring social media sites. This goes back to the mother feeling as though each of her family members were in separate places, while still in the same household. If you're more concerned with watching vines and "re-tweeting" posts, what is the point in even coming to family functions? Although there are still conversations around the table, probably close to half of them are a result from something that was seen on social media. The conversations are starting to become more about the next biggest thing, rather than the stories of past grandparents and childhood adventures. Family histories and the appreciation for the past are becoming obsolete. Some of these changing family interactions can be stemming from the incorporation of technology in the classroom setting. The fact that children are now using computers and other various technologies at such a young age in school can be creating a desire to constantly be on some form of device. Many people need to have constant access to the internet to feel connected. The question though is how disconnected are those same people from their families if they are on that device while sitting in the same room with their family? Can you really get to know your child by listening to their fingers tapping down on a keyboard, rather than hearing what fun activities they took part in at school that day?
     Let's look into how children are being raised with technology in school more now. In Digital Nation, second graders in a South Korean school are shown with computers surrounding them constantly. They have to sing songs that portray the usefulness of the internet and the idea that there is a guardian angel in the internet watching over them. All through the hallways there are signs mentioning the internet. This has to create a constant thought of the internet, whether to resist it or access it. If a child never gets a break from thinking about the internet, how are they supposed to think about a conversation to have with their parents? Another example from Digital Nation is the use of laptops in classrooms at MIT and a middle school in the U.S. Some of the students admitted to just surfing the web and doing their own thing, whenever they were bored with the lesson. If students are just looking up funny videos or checking social media sites, they aren't hearing the information that they need for their tests. The MIT students felt lost whenever they didn't have a device, that could access the internet, within arms reach. By having constant access to the internet

Technology Dependent Kindergartener

in school, students have developed a dependency to always have the internet at their fingertips. If the students are allowed to use the internet to look up information for a question in the classroom, are the students even retaining information being taught? Yes they might be able to give the correct answer when they have all of the answers in front of them, but if the screen is shut off and then asked the same question, will they be able to draw the answer from their own knowledge? The internet can be a very useful tool but shouldn't be used to gain the answer to every question in life. Nobody will learn nearly as much by having a computer do the work for them as they would by reading appropriate texts to find the answer with their own brain. By incorporating more technology into schools, we are reducing the necessity for students to think critically about questions and are taking away from their ability to focus on any one particular area at a time.
     These two areas are only a small portion of all the areas researched by Digital Nation. Social interactions with family and the ability to perform tasks on our own are being affected by the technology surrounding us. When looking at the big picture, many more areas are being affected by the increasing dependency on technology by humans all over the world. Some of these areas are what define us as humans. If we continue to allow technology to replace functions of our body, will we eventually stop becoming humans and turn into mindless operators of machines? 

    

Digital Nation

Has technology built a divide around the dinner table? In this day in age, it’s not often that families sit down and have a wholesome meal together. If so the television or cellphone accompanies them to the dinner table, restricting communication amongst themselves. This brings the question of whether or not technology has divided the family and limited their interactions. Working parents often check emails on their phone or laptop to stay on top of their job, while children use the internet to complete homework. The idea of being at “home” has changed. Families can be physically home, but mentally each member lives in their own world. Technology just isn't good for getting work done, but for entertainment as well. Video games and social networks keep children and teenagers busy, while television and media keeps adults entertained. The lack of communication that goes on in the household can be dangerous. Parents aren’t connected with their children, and often don’t have a strong relationship with them. This causes a lot of problems with children because either they are not receiving enough attention or they are not getting enough attention. It’s safe to say that technology is the center of our lives, we rely on it heavily.

The film Digital Nation talks about the different down falls that came and comes with technology and its enhancements. This one particular topic that I find very interesting and important, family interaction. The film interviewed two different families, one from America and the other from Asia. Both mothers of the family describe similar problems they were having that stemmed from technology. Their families were distant from each other, all doing their own thing on their own piece o technology. This was most evident at the dinner table, they witnessed their families in the same room physically but not mentally. They watched how they were on what they were doing with their technology and how glued they seemed to be. The American mom wished that her family would spend some time away from their devices, while the Asian mom felt as though technology was a disease or a sickness. 

I noticed the patterns of what these concerned moms described in my own household. My mother is a manager of two different departments of a hospital. She’s always busy with answering calls, checking emails, and responding to concerns  awhile she's home. You would think she had a 24 hour job. Even though my mother is a busy woman, she manages to maintain a strong relationship me. When she available she likes to hangout with me, however I like having my cell phone with me 24/7. When I receive notifications, it’s like I have an automatic reaction to check my phone. My mother doesn't like when I do this during the moments we share together because she feels as though it takes away from our time. When I reflect on our moments together and I began to go off into my own world with my phone I miss out on them. 

One day when I was over my friend’s house for the first time, everyone in the household was called to dinner. I assumed everyone would grab their plate and go back into their separate rooms, but they didn’t. The family of five sat down together in the dining room, where there was a lovely table setting that complemented the walls and furniture. I also noticed there were no televisions in the room, the only piece of technology in the room were lights, an analog clock, and a metronome sitting on top of the piano. I felt like I was in an old television show. Each member of the family got to talk about their day and if anything interesting happened to the today. The conversation went on non-stop for two hours. It was nice to be apart of the moment for awhile. I could be the connection and the love around the table. In my household it’s only my mother and I, however I do experience moments like this one when we go over my grandparents house.

It’s very rare to come across families like the one my friend has. Technology has replaced living in the present moment by allowing different ways to escape. I feel as though it created a strong divide in families because a lot of things aren’t communicated within each other. This can be very dangerous depending on how much exposure you're giving the internet of your life. When I create a family of my own, I install in them the importance of eating dinner together and staying connected.  

Digital Nation

The documentary Digital Nation is mainly about how the world is technology prone today. It points out many things, but I will focus on family interactions with technology. In reality the brain is not made to multitask and people who think that they are good at it are not in reality. They are taking time away to do things that are not important and worry about other things when they should be working on only what needs to be done.

I can make numerous connections to this story to my everyday life. One connection that I can make is my ability to multitask. When I sit down to my work homework, I will be on my phone checking my messages, checking twitter and Instagram, listening to music, I will talk to the people around me and I will watch videos on YouTube. I can never do one thing at a time, because I get distracted easily. In the documentary, they said that people who multitask do not really move faster and that they are just constantly getting distracted by things and that their memory is disorganized. I have realized in myself that when I try to do homework while doing 100 other things, it does take me much longer to finish my work then it would if I were not doing anything besides my work. You have to focus on one thing at a time and make sure that thing is finished before you move on.

In South Korea the kids will play videogames all day for longs periods of times. Sometimes even a few days in a row and they will not take care of their selves. They will not eat anything or drink anything which will cause their body to shut down and they will die. This is taking playing games to an extreme level. The mother of the child who was playing the games all the time had to ask her son numerous times if he was going to help her out later on in the day. Students in South Korea begin to work with computers around the time they start to read. When I was growing up, I too was taught how to use a computer while in school, but this was not until I was in the 4^th or 5^th grade. In the recent years, children are starting to learn how to use a computer in kindergarten. Some schools even give the students iPads or tables for the school year. This shows how reliant we are on technology because we are teaching children how to work a computer at such young ages.

At a college the professor allowed the students to use their computers during his class because he wanted to see if they were really paying attention to what he was saying during the lecture and if they were doing the required readings that they had to do. Turns out that none of the kids were really paying attention during the lectures and not reading what they needed for the class. When it came in time for the midterms and test, the average score on them were in the low 70’s. This shows how technology can be a distraction at times. There are times when technology can be good and there are also times when technology should be forgotten about. Computers should not be used in the classroom unless the professor can see what is going on on all of the student’s screens, because they could be doing just about anything and not paying attention to what is going on in the class. You go to class to learn things not to just sit there and fool around on the computer. There is a place and time for technology.

In the video they were talking about how technology is a bad thing for us and that we should not be so reliant on it. They compared technology to people texting and driving and to smokers. It said that technology is just as bad as those things and that people do not ever really notice that’s its bad for us until something major happens. It is hard to get someone to stop certain behaviors that they are used to doing all the time. It is something that we get used to using all the time. Everywhere we go, we use some kind of technology, whether it’s from our phone, or computer. Technology is everywhere around us. The video points out how it takes people a while for reality to hit them in the face. You do not know the negative effects of something until one thing happens, and people will not know that they should not always rely on technology for things because soon they will not know how to do anything on their own.

Another thing that the video points out is some peoples relationships with one another are being strengthened or destroyed. Strengthened because some people will find love over the internet and destroyed because there is always drama that happens over the internet or it is taking away family time from some homes. The lady in the beginning of the videos family was very technology prone. Her husband and son were sitting across from each other and they were both on their laptops. Her two youngest children were in the living room taking selfies on her phone and on the computer. This reminded me of my family because every last person in the house has an electronic device of their own. Even the babies have something. There are tablets that are available for children at younger ages that are used as learning devices and as a gaming device. A lot of learning is done through technology.

Technology in the Classroom

                           Everywhere you turn technology has become part of our lives even in schools. Some of the necessary work that is to be done in the classroom is now completed and turned in online. All around the world, schools are using technology to help the students learn. Course work is presented through the webpage and then is completed and turned back in over the same website. Technology is so involved in life today that it has become inevitable.

                          In South Korea, computers were put in cafes were people can go and pay to use the computer and the internet. Kids have been known to stay and play on the computers for hours. According to the movie Digital Nation, 90% of kids in South Korea use technology for gaming purposes and 10-15% of them at high risk for gaming psychiatric disorders. South Korea has faced the inevitable, and has started to include technology in their students’ learning process. Students in South Korea begin to work with computers around the time they start to read. The schools teach the students how to properly use the computer and also computer etiquette; this changes expectations for core standards. Students learn how to communicate properly and how to complete their lessons over the internet.

Typical computer lab or classroom found at a school

                          Similarly, I was taught how to properly use computers in my grade school and middle school. Starting in grade school, I was taught how to type properly on the laptops provided to us. This helped show the students how to communicate efficiently on the computers. Following grade school, we were then taught in middle school about internet safety and which websites we could trust. Our classes also required us to complete assignments via the computer. We were taught how to find the basic information and then transform that into our project without plagiarizing. My school library also played a big part helping students to use the computer. The library showed me how to look for books on the library catalog and how to access online databases through the library. Even today in college, all of my billing and grades are posted through a website called ISIS. My experiences with technology have helped me to complete necessary tasks that I face today. Like South Korea, technology plays a big part in my college experience and has helped me gain the knowledge that I have today.

                          South Korea’s dependence of technology also connects to the world in a larger context. The computers located in schools all around the world are there because the school wrote a grant to get money for those computers. Core standards for teaching have also changed. Now students are required to learn how to do research on the computer. A lot of the school’s libraries offer citation makers to help students cite sources for assignments. Technology has been embraced by schools and has been made part of their day to day curriculum.

Students learning a lesson through a laptop.

                          Not only has South Korea embraced technology but so has a school in Brooklyn, New York. At a local Brooklyn high school, a principal has worked hard to get every student their own computer to assist with their school work. The principal decided on getting the laptops as a last resort to help improve the school. Before the laptops, the school had high violence, low attendance, and poor test scores. After the laptops were distributed to the students, violence went down, attendance went up, and test scores increased. One of the teachers at the Brooklyn school is using online forums to help discuss To Kill a Mockingbird. After the student is done reading the assigned section, they then discuss what they read on the online forum on their laptop provided by the school. Technology helps to relate to the students and become engaged in their education.

                          The involvement of technology in the Brooklyn school is similar to my education. In college, most of your school work is turned in through a website called BOLT. BOLT helps to assist in our online learning by providing the students with course material and a drop box to hand in assignments. Assignment that I’m completing right now will be turned in electronically for my class. The material that I got most of my information from was also found online. In other classes such as my chemistry and communication studies class, my guided notes can be found online. Before I head out to class, I make sure to go on the website and print off the notes. Sometimes to save some paper, I will download the notes and take my laptop to class and put the comments on the side of the notes. I find the online learning helpful because I am a forgetful person and can lose papers in a blink of an eye. With BOLT all the material I need is right at the touch of my fingertips. Even if I did lose a print-out I could just reprint it off of BOLT.

Doctor using the computer to record files and diagnoses.

                          Technology in the Brooklyn classrooms connects to a larger context as well. Not only is our learning material online, but so is a lot of the paperwork in the work place. For example, doctor’s offices have your health file online, making it easier to access your information instead of passing around a folder. Doctor’s offices can also easily send files to other medical field professionals. Another example of technology in the work force is job applications. Job applications are filled out electronically through your computer and often your resume is attached to the application or e-mailed to your future employer. Not only does this reduce the elimination of trees but can also help to make communication more efficient.

                          Technology in the classrooms has advanced to help students learn in a more efficient way. Some countries are teaching kids how to safely use the computer so they just don’t see the computer for gaming purposes only. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn technology is decreasing violence and students are becoming more active in their education. Technology can be beneficial in many ways; you just have to find the way it helps you. 

Warfare & Technology

With technology advancing at the rate that it is going in the 21st Century there has to be advancement in our tech used in the battlefield. Yet does this yield the use of remote drones and pilots that are never physically in the battle themselves? In the Frontline special "Digital Nation" the journalists interview military officers that partake in this field and how they deal with "being in the battle without actually being in it". Also the documentary covers a training program the Military uses to train infantry soldiers and helps with determining who is a threat and who is just an innocent bystander. Some people feel that using that drones or any technology like it to fight our battles is almost unethical and morally wrong. Yet I find that this type of warfare helps eliminate the percentage of American soldiers that could have been killed by being on that battlefield. Also, the technology that we have nowadays is not like that of the mid 20^th century. It has grown and expanded itself to the point where it is needed to use tactics such as drones to successfully win a battle.

         In the film, it discusses how some soldiers have problems dealing with using this tech because it pulls them into a combat scenarios where lives are on the line but then they are done and going home. For years the men and women of our armed services come out of duty and are plagued with PTSD and other mental diseases or afflictions as a result of the stresses of war. However, I feel that using our technology more to limit the amount of time that our people have to spend in the field to fight the enemies of America will help with improving the mental state and health of soldiers. If we can implement more use of technology like this to limit physical use it could help with the number of people in our forces that are killed everywhere. There would be mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and etc. that would be able to rejoin their families and just be home in general. Barely anyone could ever tell me that our forces shouldn’t use some sort of technology that would allow this. 

   In current generations the integration of technology in daily life is pretty much seamless and flows without much hassle. Also in Digital Nation the correspondents talk about Military recruitment centers that allow children at a certain age come to this building and play war video games and have competitions to see who is the best player. Now please do not misunderstand me, I completely comprehend that the Armed Forces are not allowed to try and recruit individuals under the age of 17. But I feel that because they have these areas for kids to improve some of these skills it could help show them a career path. Or it is another way for kids to get away from the stress of everything else. In the video several of the kids at these centers are asked if they feel that the game makes them feel like warfare is a “game or not a serious manner”, and all of the kids say that they understand that what they do on the gaming consoles is not real life and what goes on an actual battlefield is not in any shape or form a game. So if someone was to say that government doing this is going to lead to violent or careless kids that will one day grow into adults who have the same attributes will not be true. Additionally, those of my generations under me have this connection to technology that could allow for us to strive in use of it in warfare. Because of our ease of interaction with more and more technology we could have the possibility to evolve not just the world around us but even ourselves. This idea somewhat attainable by the rate that technology in our lives is expanding and growing at such a fast pace. Take for example how weapons like tanks and atomic bombs changed the way wars were fought. Now think of how much more warfare would be affected if we had the ability to remove our human presence from the battle but still keep weapons or resources there and win the fight. This could one day be the norm with the advancement of the drone technology that we already use in modern times. However, I will admit that there is a question of ethics when it comes to using drone warfare because of the fact that anyone could do it and that could possible feeling of carelessness towards the lives of others. And what about any bystanders that are killed because of the drone attacks? Well to these questions I say that using drones is not a perfect tactic but it was one that would be saving American lives. And with time the tech could vastly improve so that the drones will not affect the innocent and they can live in peace.

            Digital Nation also covers the use of simulators to help recreate possible battle situations and help those afflicted by PTSD to get control over their fears. This technology is helpful to the point were we would be able to train soldiers to look for certain clues and signals when in the actual battlefield. Plus, we could have the chance to find ways to better the general population by helping children and even adults with fighting their fears and phobias. Using this tech training would be smoother on troops and most likely filter out those who are not made for that lifestyle. 

So in conclusion it is my belief that using advance technology on the battlefield can lead to the U.S. Saving not just the lives of its troops but the lives of innocent bystanders that have nothing to do with the conflict.