Tuesday, 02 June 2009

• The information age

  The other day I picked up the free weekly publication at the store. For being a free magazine, there are usually interesting articles. You just have to wade through the pages on pages of advertising which I don't mind doing as I will read just about anything.

  Anyway, there was an article on the onslaught of technology that has overtaken our lives. Two lifeguards were interviewed discussing the lack of noise at our area beaches and upon reflection; they are right. I have two teens in my home and it is a rare sighting of either of them without a phone or computer within their grasp. Some professionals are pointing at this phenomenon as the reason we see a rise in ADD and ADHD. I am not quite ready to make that leap, but I do understand their point.

  Information is no longer gathered by looking in the encyclopedia. Children head to Wikapedia and can have it at their fingertips in the time it takes to enter the topic in the search engine. No longer are research papers worked on during long hours in the library. Fifteen minutes online and you have all the references you need plus a million more. I have even noticed that many teachers are now limiting the number of references one can use from the web. They are also requiring two or more from an actual book.

  Ah, books. Remember when you had to actually go and either borrow a book from the library or purchase it at the store? Books had tangible pages; a front and back cover; you could hold it in your hand and fold down the page before you put it away for the night. No longer. You can now download a book from the internet and sit happily in your computer chair and read away. Bookmark the page, save it to your faves, and come back later for another does. I actually purchased an online book for one of my classes a few years ago. I almost failed the class because I hated not having the actual book to hold. I couldn't take it with me on a long car drive or highlight the heck out of passages. I personally needed the tangible pages in which to absorb the material.

  My father loved to read and passed his passion onto me. Out of my five biological children; Emily is the only one that seems to love books as much as me. Garrett has Dyslexia so reading is more of a chore for him. Whitney will read a book if she is interested in the topic, but more often than not, she waits for the movie. I have long suspected that Alyssa also suffers with Dyslexia, but with her father refusing to allow testing; she has remained undiagnosed. Caleb is my computer geek. He loves all things computer and amazes me daily with his knowledge of the web. Emily loves to be read to. She makes me read the same book over and over again. I happily do so hoping that at least one of them will learn to love the written word.

  I can't help but think about how changes always seem more intense when they are of another generation. As a teenager I couldn't even imagine having a computer at home, much less four. I would have never understood that some day we would be able to communicate with people across the globe just by sitting in our living room and typing on a keyboard. Today, that is not only common, but almost rare to not have a home computer. Is the fact that my four year old knows how to work Google Earth and yet doesn't like to sit down with a book concern me? Not really. I see this as just a different way to access information.

  The fact of the matter is; the world is changing. By the time Caleb graduates high school the things computers do know will most likely seem obsolete. I can recall when the first Star Wars movies came out (in the seventies). The special effects were out of this world. Today, we marvel at how elementary those effects were. My computer in high school was huge and only worked in DOS. Today my son can find our home in less than a minute with a few clicks of a button.

  The way we gather and forward information has changed and I don't see that as a bad thing. I can tell immediately what my balance is in my checking account simply by signing onto the site. I can update all my relatives and friends about Emily's health condition without ever leaving the comfort of my home. I can pay my bills without the worry of not having stamps.

  All in all, some things I miss, but I understand that in order to move forward often times things are lost in the shuffle. So, how do you guys feel? Is technology taking over our world and our minds? Is having so much information so readily available actually a hinderance to the next generation by not teaching them the true meaning of the word "research"? Or, is the next generation at an advantage for having all these things at their disposal?

  I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

  • 7:50 AM
  • 24 Views
  • 4 eProps
  • 2 Comments