The technology of the internet has transformed our brains into depending on it for the answer. It became the downfall of the society because we all depend on it to do our jobs for us, when it is our duty to do it on our own. For example, getting paper work on time to our boss. The technology is not going to get up and bring it there for you. We are non-stop, on the phone and using computers and tablets. Whatever happened to people reading a book on paper, or writing in a notebook and figuring out problems the old way? The technology we have today gives us the answer in the palm of our hands in the matter of five minutes. It is good but, in some cases, it is not always the right answer and can get you in trouble. The world relies on computers and technology, when they could do it by themselves. Schools rely on computers because that’s how the world is evolving. What are students going to do when the real world comes to them, and they cannot use these devices? For example, if you get a job in construction working and have to measure how far the medal has to go to fit in the spot? It takes math and writing out the problems to figure it out, the device is not going to do it for you. What will their jobs be in the future? They cannot rely on technology forever and are going to need to be independent. The world is changing fast, but what could the society do to retaliate and fix the minds of the children?
Students come to class every day and teachers tell them to go online and read this chapter or read this article. Are they actually reading it? It gives them the chance to skim through because they are a computer and have the ability to scroll. With paper and no online sources to distract the students, it makes them realize there needs to be focus and time taken out to read it thoroughly. Nicholas Carr shows the way of “Is Google Making Us Stupid”. When reading a book, thoroughly reading the pages, has the way of letting the brain know this is what happening, and the point that is trying to be made. On the internet, Nicholas Carr states, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” (“Is Google Making Us Stupid”). Stating that he zips along the surface, meaning that he barely reads, he skims through and does not pay attention to the words in front of him. Being a student and wanting to get work done quickly, it happens all the time. It is a process in which students go through of getting the assignment, read the directions, skimming through the reading fast, and saying they are done. At the end, when the teacher asks questions, there is a handful of students going back because they did not read and did not expect to be asked questions. Class and work should not just be forced to be online but split it up. It depends on the assignment in way. For example, having the kids read on paper, and then write a response is a great way to make them understand the work being read and then putting it into their own words. Having the internet do the work for them does not have it stick into their brains because they will rely on the online process. Due to the reading on paper, it will make them work and work for what is really trying to be accomplished. For example, say your boss gives you papers to read through, and you skim through and do not read a single thing. Next day, he comes in and asked you what you thought and how can we elaborate and make it better, and there is nothing running through your brain because you did not read it. Your fired. Reading takes time, effort, and thought process.
Reading on a screen can be the best for some people but it is common that most people like reading on paper. Ferris Jabr gives us the message that it could be good both ways. For students or teachers, it could go both ways because they use both in their everyday life. For example, “teachers and students routinely switch between working long hours in front a computer at the office or school and reading magazines and paper” (Jabr “Science of Paper versus Screens”). It is relatable because the world of technology gives us the advantage of having it all and making life easier. Sadly, we cannot rely on it because not everything is used with technology and for a job that does not use it, what is going to happen? Some students prefer to read on paper and that is okay. It is better to read on paper because it makes the mind understand better what is being talked about. Before 1992, “studies concluded that people read slower, less accurately and less comprehensively on screens than on paper” (Jabr “Science of Paper versus Screens”). Exactly the point. When reading online, it is hard to follow along, and it is very easy to lose track to where you left off and what you are reading in general. On paper, there are no distractions to take you away from the book and stop you from reading. No other than the words on the paper going all the way down left to right.
Besides having students and teachers use technology, it becomes a problem when they decide to do different things at once. It is called multitasking. Everyone multitasks, and some people see it as a good thing, but others say it is bad. Olivia Goldhill comes to explain that multitasking is bad for the brain. In quote she writes, “it uses up oxygenated glucose in the brain, running down the same fuel that’s needed to focus on a task” (Multitasking, Goldhill). Students, especially at the age of a young child, cannot be able to do this. It loses their focus on their work at hand. Their brains are full functional to be on two things at the same time and be able to put the same time into what they are supposed to do. It is the same for teachers. They cannot teach a class, and try to figure something on their laptops, they start to lose focus on what the task is at hand. Technology of course is designed to help us make life easier in a sense, but people take advantage of what it is giving us. It is used for everything around the world, and it could be used just to search the web, which every kid does instead of doing their work. Daniel Levitin found a study on which, “switching comes with a biological cost that ends up making us feel tired much more quickly than if we sustain attention on one thing” (qtd in Goldhill). Precisely, saying that the kids do not have the attention span to do multiple things at once without getting distracted. Students need one thing to focus on to make sure they understand what the task is. Making the child do separate things will cause them to fail on the task at hand and also fail in the classroom.
Life has come to the point where we all think about is what is on the internet. Everyone is always asking what is on this site, and what is going on in the world. Nobody ever focuses on what is actually needs to be done, the actual work. We rely on the internet like it’s our parents in a way. Always asking them what to do, and what decision to make, and whether this answer is right or wrong. One day, there is going to be no one to tell us if the choice we make is the right choice, it is going to be put on us. It is just part of life, and the school systems to make that a point because the students have no idea what is right and wrong. The internet will be there forever, but when you get a job, it cannot help you with every single thing. It is going to take some of the mind to figure it out, and that is what school is here for. To show the students and also teachers’ life is important and what you learn here is going to be used in the future life. Would you rather be the solution of a student’s successful life, or the problem why they do not? The teachers and system are here to educate the students and that is what they need to. No internet or tablets, but the teacher that is in the class. For example, instead of just using online sources, have students read the paper copy and annotate on paper, and then write a discussion online about what they read and how they felt. Students come to school for one reason, to get a degree and become successful. Without success, you are nobody and everyone wants to be someone. It takes hard work, and determination, and everyone has that. It only takes one person to retrieve it and that person is yourself.