Digital Nation

In class on Thursday, we watched a video called "Digital Nation" which discussed how technology is affecting the youth of America and education. They began with a look at students attending MIT who are amongst the smartest and most technologically wired people in the nation. In an interview, a professor from MIT determined that students need stimulation in new ways because of the changing times and the influence of technology. I could not agree more! I find that I have such a short attention span that my focus zips from one thing to another. I find it difficult in class not to get bored or tired in some cases because of the lack of technological usage in each class. I would be much more likely to pay attention with more exciting us of technology such as computers and smartboards. Teachers now have the burden of testing students on how well they are paying attention and how well they are absorbing the information. It is not that students are necessarily stupider or not hard workers but rather they are distracted.

I agree with many of the students when they discussed multitasking. As of right now, I am instant messaging a friend, checking Facebook, writing my blog, and looking up information for my Sociology journal. Everything is getting done. I find that I multitask because I get so bored after a while when looking and focusing on just one thing. The constant shift between subjects and going from education to recreation on the computer helps me stay alert. However, I can see the opposite side of the argument as well. When you are bouncing back from one thing to another, you are not devoting your sole focus on any one thing, which can lead to not doing your best job because you are so easily taken away from it. In the video, we saw that they have done tests determining that multitasking is not as effective as we think. They did brain imaging and other tests to show this.

Another part of the video dealt with a children in Asia who has become completely obsessed with technology and most specifically video and computer games. I am not an avid user of either of these but I can definitely see how that can get addicting. I have a few friends who I know are victim of this. In addition, there was an episode of True Life on MTV about addiction to computer and video games. Furthermore, I thought it was extremely interesting that they were sending some of the kids to Korean rescue camps, which treated their Internet addiction as if it was a psychiatric disorder. I honestly did not know that it was this serious of a problem. I know that I go on the computer and on my iPhone frequently but I would hardly say that I am all that addicted to it...at least not to the extent that these children are. But maybe I'm in denial...and don't they say that the first step is admitting that you have a problem? Haha.

Hasta luego,

Marisa