ED 110 students here is where you will find questions that can assist us in reflecting on the role that technology plays in our society and how as future educators can appropriately utilize research-based technologies that can engage students and increase student achievement. Also as educators who are Christians first it is important to reflect how we should use technology and how it impacts our Christian faith.
To encourage reflection please post a response about the two following quotes.This means create read them and create a substantive response that explains your reaction to the quotes. Here are the directions:
To encourage reflection please post a response about the two following quotes.This means create read them and create a substantive response that explains your reaction to the quotes. Here are the directions:
- Read the quotes
- Write a response in at least five sentences that describes your reaction to the quotes.
- Respond to at least one other student's post where you either:
- add to their comments, or
- raise a question about their post.
1) “A constant stream of mediated contact, virtual, notional, or simulated, keeps us wired in to the electronic hive -- though contact, or at least two-way contact, seems increasingly beside the point. The goal now, it seems, is simply to become known, to turn oneself into a sort of miniature celebrity. How many friends do I have on Facebook? How many people are reading my blog? How many Google hits does my name generate? Visibility secures our self-esteem, becoming a substitute, twice removed, for genuine connection. Not long ago, it was easy to feel lonely. Now, it is impossible to be alone.” William Deresiewicz
2) “For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they've been widely described and duly applauded... But that boon comes at a price...And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” Nicholas Carr
Please respond to these by September 15, 2010.
In the first quote, the last line got to me the most. It is easy to feel alone when on the internet just as it is easy to feel alone in the outside world. You can be connected to a thousand people online but at the end of the day those people sign off and disapear. The second quote I find intriguing. It insinuates that the Net takes away from our mental capabilities to concentrate and contemplate. This quote applies to me personally in more ways than one and I believe that this culture is being formed by just that singular concept. Everything now has to be quick and in the moment which leaves little room for concentration on one particular concept.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the two quotes. People are becoming obsess with the net and using it to gain fame, or simply to sell themselves. It is impossible to be alone with Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and YouTube. There is always a way to track you if you are apart of one of the social networks. Everything is evolved around technology these days.
ReplyDeleteIn both of these quotes, the speakers speak negatively against the internet. I disagree with the first quote while it simply mocks those who use the internet constantly. What is so wrong with never feeling alone? I agreed with the second quote more because I believe that while the internet is useful, it also takes away our concentration and contemplation. I find it very hard to sit and write a paper with the distraction of the internet at my disposal.
ReplyDeleteThis is one way to create an online conversation about any idea, topic, lesson, activity, or other authentic learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI believe that William Deresiewicz is right when he talks about today and how people use technology, what I think he is trying to get across is that technology makes are lives a lot easier then back in the day. Nicholas Carr seems to be saying that technology is the best think that has happened to the world.
ReplyDeleteHere, we are given two different points arguing how the adaptation toward technology has had its negative side effects. While the first quote argues that the internet is boosting our self esteem yet making our lives public to all. The second quote tells of the amazing features of technology such as the "net" but mentions how that it is so massive that it is easy to lose his attention span. I have trouble with the first quote because if we do become an internet celebrity, is this not being more alone than walking around in public? As for the second quote, I would argue that it is the internet is something that we must manage carefully on our own. We can use the internet as a source of media (music) while we do our work, but we have to set guidelines for ourselves, forcing ourselves not to get distracted by anything that requires looking at a separate window for, such as youtube extreme car chases.
ReplyDeleteThere are good and bad things that have to do with the number of friends one has one facebook. Are all these people really your friends? Do they really even care about who you are? Sometimes on facebook it seems that one only adds people to see if they can have the most friends on facebook. Sometimes it is also bad to have technology in your hands due to the fact that everyone knows everything about everyone the minute it happens.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is everything in society today. we all use it for things like email,Facebook,twitter, myspace and youtube. i think todays generation is becoming very dependent on technology to do their work for them. many people use it to try and gain quick popularity. so i agree with both the quotes technology is used everywhere and every way possible today.
ReplyDeleteThe technology of today has become what we mainly rely on. The world is at our fingertips, is that good or bad? I agree with both quotes in the fact that we cannot be ourselves anymore because we are too hooked on the technology but in todays world, we need these advances for everyday life. We as a population have done that to ourselves and as a result we have isolated ourselves and we have made ourselves to become introvert.
ReplyDeleteThe second quote is a truth in itself be cause it states how the net is a medium between sources.This quote's presence on the blog is a way for us to access this quote other than from the direct source of Carr's writing. The price that he talks of is something that isn't always supported because in this day and age the internet is more popular than concerns of its negative affect. The first quote is connected to the second in that everything can be accessible whether it applies to yourself or whatever you are wishing to learn. So we are never disconnected from the world.
ReplyDeleteLatrice-
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with what you said about the net being obsessive. It very often happens to take up tons of people's time. This time can be better used for other things.
Emily, it does seem as though there is a negative bias against the internet in the first quote. It seems as though the speaker is using a mocking tone. I had not considered this point before I read your post. I possibly did not mentally address this because I agree on some levels with his statements and sympathize with his points. I did not look at is subjectively but with a personal bias as well. Thanks for bringing that to my attention! (I was japanesefishes in first post.)
ReplyDeleteEmily i agree with you when i use the internet i dont feel alone specially facebook. and i think the internet is useful as well
ReplyDelete@Japanesefishes referring to the statement, "It is easy to feel alone when on the internet just as it is easy to feel alone in the outside world. You can be connected to a thousand people online but at the end of the day those people sign off and disappear." I believe it was talking more in a sense of it is impossible to be alone because you can easily be tracked down. As long as you have information online you will never be alone because people will always find you do to the web and all the social networks.
ReplyDeleteThe post by japanesefishes is so true. It even seems like a better summarization of the quotes in just a few sentences. And I agree with the intrigue of the second quote.
ReplyDelete-Japanesefishes
ReplyDeleteWhen you said that at the end of the day your online friends sign off and disappear it made me really open my eyes and think about how true that statement is! What a great quote yourself!
Latrice I believe is totally right in her statememt in that "everything is evolved around in technology"
ReplyDeleteLatrice,
ReplyDeleteYeah facebook and other sites like that have made a big impact on our lives. Of course, there is the possibility to delete accounts such as this but the thing the makes people cling on to that account that reveals their privacy is because they are willing to give up this privacy for those friends that they have kept or have made through the social networks. In addition the reaction friends would have upon deleting a social networking account is perceived as unacceptable in today's society.
There are advantages and disadvantages to every thing that forces progression within a culture. The internet can be the perfect place to acquire knowledge and learn but it can also be the perfect place to seek attention without physical verification. When the internet is perfect in one aspect it is usually defective in others. Nicholas Carr gives an answer by showing that the effective aspects of the internet come at the price of its defects.
ReplyDeletei agree and disagree with the quotes. yes the net has become a place where people are being obsessed with it and worried about the little things. But not only has facebook or blog.com been a website that people over use but it is also a site that people communicate and get current events or find lost friends all the time. This is our new life technology so why not use it and take knowledge from it.
ReplyDelete@nicole i agree there are good and bad things to every friend on fb
ReplyDeletei agree with melanie the second quote is totally right it is a the net is a medium between sources. Things are much easier to access with the net.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of these statements. While technology has many good uses, it is increasingly being used for the purpose of always be connected. It is difficult to feel lonely when you are constantly connected. Being popular from a technological standpoint is a way many people secure their self-esteem. Genuine connection is no longer valued, instead being replaced by being visible.
ReplyDeletei really like the question... ' how many friends do i have on facebook....? i feel like that if you have alot of friends on facebook you might be missing the attention that an individual needs or want. i feel like when people are alone you get alot of things accomplish.....
ReplyDeletepeople are using the net for fame... but its not a bad thing. do what ever is needed to be successful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of these quotes. The Internet is incredibly beneficial for us in that we can have so much access to so many different topics. As Nicholas Carr says, it comes at a price. We spend so much time staring at the computer screen, staring at the same things we have seen time and time before. We become so concerned with how we appear to other people who can read our information over the internet. It's a whole new world, where through social networking we become so much more introverted.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with William Deresiewicz, that it is very hard now to be alone. Also how he was saying the visibility secures our self-esteem, due to if you have less friends, you are not the "best". Nicholas Carr was saying that it is amazing to have technology at our fingertips, which I agree, but at the same time it can take us away from the true info that we can find in books and other sources. Yet with both of these quotes, make me wonder if I am a subject of the "system" that technology has put together for us. Also has me think if I spend my time trying to be a top "friend" on facebook more than getting into my studies not only for school but in the Bible.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the first quote is very true. People are so sucked in with the internet world (facebook) and they're trying to see how many friends they have but in the end they honestly don't even talk to 90% of them. Similar to facebook, is youtube and all the people on youtube are just trying to get more and more hits on videos that are pretty pointless. I think that technology has a lot of positive things that come from it, but I understand how it's really hard to be alone when your so involved with these social networking sites.
ReplyDelete@japanesefishes:
i get what your saying with the 'at the end of the night everyone disappears' but with the people that are so involved with facebook, its not just on their mind while they're online, its constantly on their mind. so it is really hard to be alone in the internet world.
@Domnique...
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response, but at the same time what would you classify as successful in the technology "world"?
i agree with tyler that technology is a part for everything that we do today.
ReplyDeleteJasmine, I love when you say genuine connection is no longer valued, instead being replaced by being visible. We've always heard the saying that quality is more important than quantity. How overwhelming and significant facebook has become, however, makes the saying irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteI think that things like facebook is a great way to stay connected to people. Especially because I have friends in Europe and Africa and without facebook I would never be able to see what is going on in their lives. However I think people become to consumed with the internet and spent way to much time on it worrying about what others think of them. We get preoccupied with what we are doing and before we know it three or four hours have gone by. I think the internet is a great thing as long as we watch how much time we are spending on it.
ReplyDeleteNicole
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how everyone seems to know what is going on in everyone's lives as soon as it happens. What ever happened to surprises?
Nicole, I totally understand what you are saying about friends on facebook. It almost becomes a competition to have the most friends, when in reality you don't know half the people you are friends with on facebook.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the first quote is discussing how we can never be alone because we have so much technology around us. Technology is currently our most popular way of communicating, and we shouldn't have those immediate ties to everyone we know. I think that it is still possible to feel alone because getting involved in that kind of technology to communicate it a choice. There are still ways of feeling alone especially when all your friends are receiving constant texts and you haven't received any. Yes, in this day and age it is more difficult to feel alone because you can constantly be talking to someone anywhere you go, but in some ways that can be beneficial
ReplyDeleteThe second quote is mainly discussing how much technology is taking away from our concentration which I think is very true. Technology is also helping us discover new things that before we weren't able to do. There are pros and cons to each quote and situation when it comes to technology.