Journal 5 - Can You Hear Me Now?

I found the article from Forbes.com entitled Can You Hear Me Now? By Sherri Turkle to be very informative and at times humorous. The way she talks about technology’s good and bad aspects are a refreshing change from the typical 'this is good/this is bad' articles we see so much of these days. What I found particularly interesting was how she used the extended metaphor of us being tethered to the daily grind by our technology. This is a fascinating perspective as it holds a negative connotation while emphasizing the necessity for it. For example, if one was accustomed to doing business on their smart phone all hours of the day, every day, they may feel like this is necessary to survive. They define themselves in this way and do not know any other. Depending on how you look at it, the negative of this is that we pass this way of life on to our children. Students have multiple identities, as she states in the article. They have their everyday “real life” identity and their technology identity. The world is able to create a separate identity, whether real or not, online and through the technological advances. But at what expense? As the world loses out on more and more alone time as well as face-to-face contact with others, are we losing who we really are? The article reflects on this thought and I believe that we are. Being someone who is guilty of losing some of their person-to-person skills due to the advances of technology, I feel like it is time to require more interpersonal relationships without the use of technology.

 

Question 1: How has technology inhibited student networking and relationships?

Students are constantly on their phones, computers, and other technological devices. While this has provided many positives, such as the ability to get to know those from all over the world, it also takes students away from talking to others in person. Instead of walking to classes having a discussion about current topics, students are texting someone from outside of school planning their next video game session. Students are losing out on time to build relationships, and as educators we are able to gain some of that time back in the classrooms.

 

Question 2: How does tethering our children negatively affect their upbringing?

As Mrs. Turkle describes in her article, tethering our children slows areas of the learning process. Giving our students cell phones provides them with a comfort zone of knowing their parents are simply a phone call away. This does not allow them to gain independence as fast as in previous generations, nor does it allow them to experience and cope with the wide range of emotions we, as adults need to address. It also does not provide children with the means to analyze their thoughts and themselves as a whole picture, focusing more on instantaneous sharing of feelings.