Cause and Effect Technology

Apart from a large upturn of anonymity on the internet, the increased power and presence of the Internet have effected the way people communicate, positively and negatively. High school and college students are among the most tech-savvy generations ever, and this has influenced the way they are taught. However, the Internet can also disrupt learning with all the distractions readily available to students. In addition to the effects on learning, the Internet has effected the way people interact with each other in an average day.

High school and college students are part of the most technologically aware generations that has ever existed. Schools need to adapt to the technology craze, and this would allow students to learn because having access to the internet can make learning subjects easier as well as being able to increase problem-solving skills. Wendy Schwartz said that students can also use computers to access sources that can not be accessed by a textbook.

The Internet has had an increased effect on classroom dynamics, with most of the lessons from a computer, and students having laptops. During class, students are surfing the web, or instant messaging instead of paying attention. According to The Internet Can Disrupt Learning written by Tim Lougheed, “…as schools increase the availability of wireless Internet classrooms and offices and encourage or require students to own laptops, they must balance the advantages,” by incorporating “a new electronic etiquette for them to follow in respect for instructors.”

Some schools have even set up a “kill switch” that authorizes a teacher to disconnect the classrooms internet when they need the attention of students, so teachers can pick and choose the moments the students have access to internet, and shut it off certain times, like presentations. Carl Cuneo, director of the Network for the Evaluation of Education and Training Technologies stated, “During the presentations the other students were chatting with one another, making snide remarks about the student doing the presentation…This had nothing to do with the presentation.”

The increase in presence of the internet has had an impact on the way students write papers. Students are able to go to Google and type in a subject or even more specifically, the title of the assignment, and get a copy of that paper. The name on the paper can be interchanged with a small fee. As technology increases in favor of the students, technology is also being created to help the teacher. Turnitin.com is a website that shows how much of a paper is truly the students work. It uses the colors green, yellow, and read as indicators. Green means that it is all the students work, yellow means it may be copied, but some of the words have been switched around, and red means the section of the paper is completely copied, word for word. This website is allowing teachers to decrease the amount of cheating and plagiarism.

Physical communication has been reduced since the Internet has become a part of a normal routine. Hours are spent talking to friends through texts, chat rooms, and e-mails. Since the increase of technology, people don’t go out as much, and they believe they get enough social interaction online. Communication has also changed in the way it is worded. People take less time correcting themselves, and more time figuring out ways to make something more condensed.

Technology has also changed the way teachers communicate with students. Jen Hogan, a senior at Maple Hill High School, stated that her physics teacher uses a “teacher twitter” which allows him to tweet assignments and questions to the students. Another change in the classroom is an application for the SmartBoard that gives you a phone number and allows students to anonymously “text” in an answer to a question. Teachers are adapting to the new technological advancements and are making the best of it.

The advancement of technology has positively and negatively impacted the world through changes in effective teaching, as well as how people interact with each other, and a decrease in social interactions. High school and college students are among the most technologically aware, and this can help and hinder them by increasing learning ability, as well as cause distractions. Technology has caused people to participate in less face-to-face interactions through the use of instant-messaging, chat rooms and social networking sites. Communication has changed significantly since the increase power and presence of the Internet, positively and negatively, and people are adapting to the changes everyday.