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.
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…
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.
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