Last Sources

 

 

 

My second to last source is an article written in the New York Times by Tamar Lewin. Throughout The article Lewin explains that colleges across the country are beginning to adopt MOOC’s or massive open online courses.  These courses are free and offer an online experience to students, although as of now no college credit will be obtained. It is explained that these courses as of now cover math, engineering, and computer science. I choose to use this article because it directly relates to me, as I am taking an online college course. I found this article by searching for a newspaper article that dealt with technologies impact on education specifically. I think this article will help me because it is another example of how technology is ultimately improving society. Without the ability to take an online class many of us would not be able to attend college so with the evolution of computers and the internet, this is now a possibility. Also liked the fact that the classes that the students are taking don’t actually count towards any college credit, but there are still hundreds of people signing up for these classes. It shows that people still have a drive to learn things and all they need is a way to access the knowledge.

My last source is a Magazine article written by Jennifer L. Deleo. I chose this article because the author presents both sides of the story and also covers multiple subjects. She explains the positives and negatives to communication, computing, dining, entertainment, and travel.  Specifically when it comes to communication the author describes the freedom we now have from traditional communication. She presents text messaging and E-mail as an easier and faster way to get messages to people hundreds of miles away. Deleo describes the negative aspects of evolving technology as a tool that has made our society more impersonal. She says that because there is less motivation for human interaction and more of a focus on quick and easy messaging people are forgetting how to spell and write in complete sentences. I think this last source ties my theme up very well because it covers a wide area of topics I will be more informed on different views. Also because the author provides positives and negatives instead of having one view per topic I now have two.

 

 

Deleo, Jennifer. “How Tech Has changed our Lives” PC Magazine 28 Oct. 2008:

Lewin, Tamar, “Universities Reshaping Education On the Web.” New York Times 17 July. 2012 late ed.:A12

 My 3rd and 4th Sources

 

 

The third source I am using is an internet article by Alyson Krueger titled “6 Ways Technology is Improving Health Care”. I wanted to use the angle of health care because I think it gives my research question another view which might not normally be included. The article is Krueger’s list of why technology is important to health care. Her first two points are about how advancements in technology enabled healthcare information to reach a wider spectrum of people. She uses the internet and social networking as examples to how data is now spread. The next two points talk about improved treatments and patient care. She explains that as technology has evolved so has medical treatment, this makes it faster and less painful than for patients overall. Patient care has improved because everything is now becoming consolidated electronically. This helps people and doctors access information seamlessly, which allows them to keep large amounts of data available and ready. The last two points are that doctors are now more accessible and that they are better able to predict medical trends. She explains that doctors are able to use text messaging, video conferencing, and email to better get in contact with patients. Lastly technology can help predict medical trends; Krueger says that this new technology will help medical officials to respond to outbreaks quicker.

My Next Source is another internet article this time coming from Matt December. This article unlike my first 3 sources is more of a personal experience. December writes about a teacher Janet Austin who teaches special education at her local elementary school. Austin explains that her students began using ipads to see the impact technology would have at the grade-school level. The process took nine weeks and Austin said that she experienced results within her controlled group. She noticed that a student that once had issues with spelling began to improve with the help of an app. Austin also noticed that there was also a spike in her student’s enthusiasm towards learning. Austin is quoted as saying that one student “was so determined that during those nine weeks she would come in during her recesses and before school to practice her words on her own”. I chose to include this source in my essay because it gives a personal look at how technology is improving education. I think that technology and education are intertwined and education would not be where it is today if not for the improvements of technology.

 

 

Alyson Krueger. “ 6 Ways Technology is improving Health Care.” Business Insider (2010): Web. 5 Nov.2012

Matt December. “Technology Makes a Difference in Student Achievement”. Source Newspaper (2012): Web. 7 Nov.2012

 

 

My Two Sources

 

 

My first Source is a book written by Nicholas Carr called The Dumbest Generation: How the digital Age stupefies Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. The book starts off by explaining the way the brain works. It is stated that our brains record and adapt to new experiences both negative and positive. He goes on to say that the internet is changing the way we think and the way we process information. According to Carr the internet is weakening the traditional tools that we use. Also technology is changing how we use memory, emotion, and intelligence. I chose to use this source because I think it is a good way to contrast my own beliefs on this topic. It seems to me that by including opposing views I will be able to look at all the sides of an argument and thus better round my argument. Carr also explains that the more we get use to technology the more accustomed we become to it and its bad habits. For example how texting has ruined the English Language for young Americans who no longer know how to spell.

 

My second source is an Article by Lisa Miller in The Washington Post titled: The religious authorities and pundits are wrong: Technology is good for religion. In the article Miller talks about a point in which I hadn’t considered and that is the religious side. She explains that contrary to many religious people beliefs; technology actually compliments religion. She says that we can us apps to get closer to our respective religions. By using these apps it helps people who might not be able to attend services like mass or church. Religious leaders believe that physical contact is best when talking about religion. Miller counters this argument by saying that technology gives us an opportunity to progress our religious beliefs and therefore cannot be condemned. The Reason I chose to include this source is because not only does the author go along with my belief that technology helps us more than it hurts; it also gives a unique view on a highly debatable topic. I had never thought about how technology affects religion. This allows me to open my mind and look at other areas that are affected by technology

 

 

Carr, Nicholas. The Dumbest Generation: How The Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future. New York. Penguin, 2008. Print

Miller, Lisa. The Religious Authorities and Pundits are Wrong. Washington Post June 1 2012. Digital.

 

      

 

 

This photo has no captions or background at all but perfectly summarizes the artists’ feelings about this subject. He decides to use a picture “The Evolution of Man” but instead of its original form the artist adds two extra men at the end.  The artist also changes what the men are carrying showing the progression for a rake to a jack-hammer. As each of the figures in this photograph has evolved their technology has grown with them, from nothing but their hands to a computer. When looking at the final figure he is shown crouched and hunched over similar to the monkey at the beginning.

       This shows that the author believes that we are actually in a state of regression. Although our technology is currently at its peak, the people using it are similar to the monkeys we evolved from. By using the chart in this way the creator not only shows the evolution of man but also the deterioration of man in the same picture. By showing humans in this way it serves as an example of our laziness and stubbornness to further grow. In the picture before the man is holding a jack-hammer, this is the final step of evolution in this picture. Up until that point not only was our technology improving but we were evolving as well. We had gone form bent over chimps to proud upright walking humans. But in the last picture we are reduced to a shell of our former selves. No longer are we walking towards a better tomorrow but instead we are sitting completely focused on our mundane task; totally oblivious to what’s going on around us.

 

 

"The Evolution Of Man Parody". drawing. biterebels.com/design/evolutionofman. 2011

                    Free-Write Response

 

My Research question: Does technology make people dumber?

Answering this question today I would say, no, technology does not make us dumber. As we continually evolve and improve technology, I believe we gain a better understanding of ourselves. Learning can now become catered to specific children by means of programs like, leapfrog and Rosetta Stone. These applications have helped open a new way of learning to our generation. Some people may argue that technology has made things too easy for our society. I would agree that technology has streamlined a majority of information to make them more convenient for us to use. But I would argue that by making information easier to access, we are no able to find limitless sources of knowledge. The development of technology also helps to people attain goals that might otherwise not be possible. For example our online classes, most of my classmates work full-time or have families, some juggle both. For my own experience I work from 8:30am to 7:15pm 6 days a week. Unfortunately that does not leave much time for me to actually be in a classroom. Without online classes I would not have the opportunity to get my college degree.

Someone with an opposing view might say that technology has had a very negative impact on our culture. They could bring up the fact that children no longer hang-out with friends but instead have thousands of virtual friends on Xbox live. Also they could say that hurts us monetarily, every year a new television comes out or a new car. Each year brings new feature or function that we must have. Cell phones are a perfect example of our “latest and greatest” society. People are paying hundreds of dollars every year to upgrade their phones to the newest handset.

I would like to gain more credible information about my topic from multiple views. I think that by gaining a better understanding of different views, I will be able to represent my own belief. I would also like to gain some credible sources that share my same values. At first glance it seems as though there is a lot of information available on multiple sides of the topic. So I think it will be very interesting to learn what other people think about it.

Hello, my name is Richard Wyrick. I am a 23 year old Computer Science Major at Front Range Community College. Originally I am from Palmdale California, born and raised, I moved to Colorado when I was 18. I have 4 brothers and no Sister, which means a lot of testosterone. Currently I am studying to become a software engineer and working full-time for a loan company. I love playing and watching basketball, although I don’t have time for much of either these days. Also I like playing video games, watching movies, and eating. We are learning about argumentative essays in my English 121 class. I have chosen to focus my essay on the question “is technology making us dumber?” I think because I have a computer background people might think I side with technology making us smarter. But I have also seen how technology has hurt us especially when it comes to the English language.