Blog 3

The critical attributes of our current event are Internet safety, the increasing disappearance of the printed word, and the dangers of technology dependency/overuse on one’s physical and emotional health.

 For example:

In a new study published by CBS Boston, technology is severely impacting our emotional and physical health.  Dr. Matthew Gardiner, an ophthalmologist at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, has seen an increase in patients with “computer vision syndrome,” which causes burning, irritation, and blurring, as well as difficulty focusing.  The problem is caused by the lack of blinking.  When people focus intently on a computer screen, they forget to blink.  This causes irritation.  Dr. Jennifer Smullen, also of Mass Eye and Ear, has been noticing an increase in ear-related problems.  Although ear buds do not directly cause the problem, they can lead to hearing loss overtime.  As an ear bud does not block out background sound, people tend to increase its volume, which can also result in tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.  In addition, technology allows for workers to complete more work at their desk.  However, this is not necessarily a positive thing as it results in neck and back aches from spending hours upon hours hunched over the computer.  IPads are viewed as particularly problematic because people rest them on their laps, which makes neck-strain even worse. 

            MIT professor, Sherry Turkle, also speaks of technology’s negative effect on our emotional health.  In her words: “This digital diet that we’re on now is not the one that is going to sustain us.”  One of the biggest concerns is how technology is changing the development of our kids.  For instance, many teens have difficulty separating from their parents and therefore becoming independent learners because their mothers and fathers are always a text message away.  A recent Stanford University study found that girls as young as eight who spend a lot of time multi-taking on digital devices end up having lower self-confidence and social skills.  “You feel like the master of the universe, but your performance goes down.  That’s very bad for your emotional well-being,” says Turkle. 

(http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/02/07/how-technology-impacts-physical-and-emotional-health/) 

With regards to Internet safety, there are many benefits to technology in the classroom, all of which may make it easier for students with a variety of needs from organizational to motor related issues.  However, there are concerns with the idea that all text being controlled electronically. The iPad is still a device that connects with the internet, which opens students to all the inherent safety issues. This combined with potential health and social communication issues concerns me greatly. Until we can better control the environment of the wireless world, we should tread lightly into relying on technology as our main area of disseminating education.

You may say that controls are available to prohibit inappropriate contact. Before you declare me a hysteric concerned with the improbable, let me give you some examples of just how hard it is to screen out the reality of uninhibited exposure to the cyber-world. A few years back, students gained access to a shared computer after hours. The students, left unsupervised in this area while parents attended a meeting at the school, explored the possibilities of this open portal to cyber-space. Admittedly, the controls were limited at the time as the school experimented with the level of blocking needed. These clever students altered the home page to an explicit sexual site - much to the shock of the music teacher, who nearly spilled her Starbucks after having been the first person to log on that fateful morning. This was the day I found myself reconsidering my opinion on censorship. Yes, you are correct; today there are very stringent blocks on the schools system. Today it is not the students but the websites that have found their way around the blocks. Just last week, while helping a student find information on the Chinese astrology signs for his Chinese New Year project, web sites boasting that they could help you find your sexually compatible mate, which used said signs, came up in the search results. I ask you, how many eight-year-olds should begin looking for their sexually compatible mate?

“Henny Penny” you may say. To which I ask, what about the obvious maintenance issues? Will it be cost prohibitive to replace those left on the playground in the rain and snow and… think I am being silly? Check out a playground after dismissal - there are books, coats, lunch boxes, backpacks, and more abandoned unintentionally in the nooks and corners of any given playground. Better still consider long-term power outages. Just his last fall, October's freak snowstorm had me on the verge of nervous collapse, trying to create a take home lengthy mid-term and on-line response paper due following the weekend. I do not know about you, but in my little corner of the world, we lost power for hours and hours, and Internet for longer. I went from computer to computer trying to e-mail it from one computer to the next and then just working piece meal, hopping from one device to the next until the batteries ran down. This did not endear me to my children. Left hoping that I would connect it all together when the lights returned. Luckily for me, the power came back late on Sunday, I had just enough connectivity to go through the house and patch the pieces together on my computer. Fate looked kindly on me that Monday morning.  The internet came back that morning just long enough for my wireless printer to pick up my signal and print out the multiple pages of mid-term. As for the on-line response paper, that is still out there, wandering the wireless highway, I eventually printed a copy and presented it to the professor. My computer says, “Sent,” but hers says, “Nope, I don’t think so.”

Do we want to replace “My dog, baby brother, iguana… ate my homework” with panicked pleas of, “but I sent it to you!  Honest, I did!” No, I am not anti-technology, I myself have an iPad, which contains most of my texts. I have health issues that make carrying all of these books, on my commute to class each day, impossible. I, however, am an adult; I can (usually) find practical solutions to improbable scenarios. Who will be responsible for guiding children through solutions? I know myself as a child.  I would have lost it, dropped, it, and when it had no power, said “Oh well, I can’t do my homework.” Here is a thought; will students e-mail themselves in ill? It might be much easier to forge a parent’s note. Who knows when mother might get to her e-mail? Rats!  I might never have attended high school, oh wait, I think that information is for another blog…

  

Informational knowledge on our topic: having an awareness of technology, the kinds of things out there, and its effects.

Procedural knowledge: taking the information you have learned to make informed decisions regarding the usage of such technology.

As you read through our blog, we will do our best to break up our concepts in the following manner: providing helpful information on technology and its effects.  We both agree that it has done positive things for our society but that it is terribly overused and therefore, our societal dependence on it is becoming increasingly negative.  We will always inform you, the reader, with the necessary information before explaining its effects and our opinions.  Ultimately, it is your choice to take the informational knowledge that you gain here and choose your own procedural path.

For our service learning binder, we are thinking of contacting the following six places: the Peabody Essex Museum (161 Essex St, Salem /  978-745-9500), the Children's Museum (308 Congress St, Boston / 617-426-6500), the Museum of Science (1 Science Park, Boston / 617-723-2500), the Revere Public Library (179 Beach Street, Revere / 781-286-8380), Joppa Flats Audubaun (1 Plum Island Turnpike, Newburyport / 978-462-9998), and the Harvard Independent Bookstore (1256 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge / 617-661-1515)

Julia:

For my take-action, I signed a petition to save the St. Marks Bookshop located in East Village, New York, which you can read about here: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/st_marks_booksh.php and sign the petition here: http://signon.org/sign/save-the-st-marks-bookshop?source=s.tw&r_by=563413  As you can see, they are in need of 45,000 signatures and mine brings them to a total of 44,436.  It felt amazing to sign this petition.  I strongly believe in (and frequent) independent bookstores, record stores, everything, but with our increasing dependence on technology, these places are becoming extinct.  The act of signing a petition connects with democratic values in that it allows the people to fight for a cause and to have a say in something that they personally believe in with the hope of turning said situation around.  

While I believe that education is an instrument for the public good, it is very intimidating to imagine teaching these topics.  I agree with the fears of the teachers in article that I have read and experience them myself: “Where is there time for us to explore urgent social matters?  Will I get into trouble by administrators or parents?  Am I forcing my political ideals upon my students?  What if I lose my job in this market?  Is such talk even appropriate with little children?"  However, with careful consideration, social justice topics can be discussed in the classroom.  I agree with the followng quote: “Struggle for social justice is central to our nation’s history… Concerns about the common good and the rights of the individual, no matter how humble in social standing, transcends politics and holds a definitive place in the realms of morality, ethics and federal law, and therefore in the world of teaching social studies." It is first important to establish a respectful classroom community, one in which students will be able to maturely handle social issues and in turn, contribute thoughtful commentary.

Jen's Interview

            When first seeking responses to questions on technology in the classroom, I found a great deal of people I asked had no opinion. “It’s good don’t you think?” or “Kids have to use technology today, so why not?” where extent of replies on the subject. Choosing not to ask anymore full-grown adults, I decided to go after students who had most recently experienced public school education, Alex who is a junior and Sarah who is a freshman.

            While both were very thoughtful in their responses, each came away with different priorities on the Blog, which I think is a reflection how long they have been away from the public school classroom. Alex appreciated it from a technological standpoint, while Sarah was affected by the information on the legal case.

            Each experienced some technology in their classrooms. Sarah from kindergarten and 

Alex from Second grade as he recalls. In the elementary grades computers were used as a
supplement to the direct education experienced in the classroom. Primarily as a reward for
finishing work in a timely manner. Alex recalls also having computer vision therapy at this time.
Alex received small doses of technological education, while Sarah received direct education in
the early elementary grades, in the upper elementary and middle school years students actively
used in the classroom. In high school, she received program design classes as well.

          Alex and Sarah both feel technology in the classroom is important. “Technology in the classroom can have many benefits but also some risks. I think the increase in technology in the educational environment is inevitable, so the problems with it are going to need to be addressed,” says Alex. He was less specific as to what he felt these problems would be. Sarah on the other hand is very concerned about right to privacy saying, “I think the problem of invasion of privacy through borrowed electronics is very important because it is immoral to use computers that are used outside of school to spy on students.” She goes on to say that, schools have greater rights during the school day, “Though they may use that technique in schools to make sure they are doing work during school hours, it is not the school's responsibility, nor should it be their concern, to oversee what students due outside of the school after or before school hours.”

         They also agree that people in general will have opinions on technology for various reasons. “I’m sure those who are involved in the educational field think it is an important problem because they actually have to deal with it. I’m not sure about other many other people,” says Alex. “I think others in the community care, but some for the wrong reason,” maintains Sarah. She still has misgivings about technology being a source of control over students and that they (students) would be more receptive if there were stronger guidelines for usage in place. “Some may genuinely feel the same way about the immorality of the subject, but some, namely some students care because they believe that if policies were initiated regarding student privacy, that the overseeing of computer activities during school hours and on school property would be eliminated as well.”

          Neither is aware of any government policies in place at this time. Alex states, “There is no policy for this problem.” Sarah tells us, “I am not sure of any policy that the government has to deal with this issue.” She goes on to say, “The legal item proves a point and it should be illegal for the school system to monitor the activity of students outside of school grounds, before and after school hours. it's up to the parents to monitor a child's activity and reprimand them accordingly outside of school, unless a teacher is put in charge of a student (i.e. detention, field trip, rehearsal, etc.), but that is also only for a set period of time, not consistently.”

         Sarah admits that her feelings are based in her own school experiences. “Unfortunately, she concludes, “due to ageism and the seemingly stereotypical "attitude and behavior of teenagers," allegations made by that age range may be looked upon as an excuse to have more freedom and rebel against the system of law and education.”

         Alex did feel that there were a number of sources on the internet, but choose not to share any. Sarah had no idea where more information could be found.

Jen

Julia's Interview

Julia:  Do you think our growing dependence on technology, both inside and outside of the classroom, is important?  Why/why not?

Rose (parent, secretary): There are many factors here, each of which make the problem important.  First, children today are not learning the importance of penmanship.  As an individual who works with kids, I can say that most have completely illegible handwriting.  When I went to school, we were taught cursive writing and how to form our letters properly.  In fact, a woman would visit each grade level once a week to instruct us and to observe our handwriting.  In today's world, students are hardly ever required to write with pen and paper, except for bubbling in circles on tests or completing their in-class assignments.  I recently had a conversation with a little boy who was thoughtfully arguing in favor of technology.  I told him that it is beneficial to learn how to properly write, as we cannot afford the luxury of a computer every second of every day.  He strongly disagreed with my opinion, stating that computers can be found everywhere and in response, began noting the location of several in the classroom.  This discouraged me.  Even artistic activities such as map making have become a challenge, as students would rather find a computer program that will draw it for them.  In addition, students are losing the wonderful feeling of being able to curl up with a good book.  I have always regarded it as a very comforting feeling, especially if it is one of your favorites.  You will enjoy turning every page.  Essentially, there is so much technology in the world today.  Can't we just say "no" to electronic books and to the dependence on technology in general?

Julia:  Do you think that others in the community think this is important?

Rose: Yes, I believe they do.  I hear many people talking about how fast technology is moving today and how it may actually be causing harm to our children.  When operating a computer for so many hours a day, some students say that it sometimes causes them to have the feeling of being "hyper."  The printed word is also becoming obsolete.  Many magazines and newspapers are losing business because people are downloading information rather than purchasing hard copies of books and other publications.  This will certainly result in economic changes in the workplace.  More and more people will be out of jobs in the printing industry.  After all, why should a company pay to have brochures or books written and pay for printing and bindery when the information can simply be downloaded?  This is a shame because these printing industries have been around for years and they are, in themselves, an art form.

Julia:  Rose is not aware of any policies surrounding this issue/problem/topic.

Julia's Reflection:  Rose's views proved very similar to my own.  An avid reader, she is evidently very passionate in her belief that an abundance of technology is taking over the world of print.  I especially appreciated her thinking question: "Can't we just say 'no' to electronic books and to the dependence on technology in general?"  The reality of it is that we certainly have the power to say "no" and to refuse these advancements, but do we really want to?  The majority of us do not because, frankly, technology simplifies our lives.  Rose is absolutely right when she discusses students not knowing how to properly form letters or to complete specific school assignments.  Our dependency on computers has most certainly increased and will continue to.  Although we can never completely rebel in favor of the "good old days," we can take steps to preserve the ways of our past.  Individuals can opt for print books and, as I have, amass a physical library that they can be proud of.  Another thing that I enjoy doing is penning letters and mailing them.  Such a practice exercises one's penmanship while also helping to maintain traditions, though some might refer to them as "old-fashioned."  In interviewing Rose, many of my own thoughts were affirmed.  It is comforting to know that I am not the only one against our growing technological dependence.