What are your concerns about students' use of new media?
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Some new media is overwhelming to me because I fear that people will begin to interact in virtual contexts alone, and that non-virtual interaction will fade out. The extreme would be that a person would never leave their house, just order everything they need from the internet and interact with people only through the internet. I also do not want books/newspapers and other print media to disappear. I like the tactile experience and having something tangible in my hands.
while the facts presented by "shift happens" are startling, I do not believe that a computer will ever EXCEED the intelligence of a human being. I do not believe that creativity or moral reasoning can be programmed. On another note, people are already growing frustrated with the trend of replacing people with machines (i.e. automated menus when calling 800 numbers). Will we allow this trend to continue?
I found the piece "shift happens" pretty vapid. It keeps talking about computational ability, as if that has a lot to do with leading a quality life. Computation is a very small percentage of what human, minds, hearts, and bodies do.
In a way the title, a parody on "shit happens" is further evidence for the above argument. "What does this mean?" the final question sounds quite ominous after the barrage of words. Yet, in the end, "shift happens" says very little that's different from "shit happens." Yup, change is constant, and we produce shit constantly. Where's the new information?
So I get confirmed in my view that technology is a tool, neither positive nor negative, but with all sorts of interesting possibilities. Technology, however, cannot end poverty, hunger, or war, and those are our major challenges in the coming era.
Will we take seriously the challenge of using media in order to support the struggle to end poverty, hunger, destruction of the environment, and war? For me, that's the question that matters.
When I see the reports on how quickly technology is evolving, and how much information will be easily accessible to us, I wonder if this is a good thing or not. I believe information is empowerment, but only if it translates into knowledge. Knowledge signifies understanding. Information is just information. What's the use of having all this information if we are not being taught to discern, and understand how this all this information can make us better human beings. The question for me is how all of this can make us better people.
4 comments:
Some new media is overwhelming to me because I fear that people will begin to interact in virtual contexts alone, and that non-virtual interaction will fade out. The extreme would be that a person would never leave their house, just order everything they need from the internet and interact with people only through the internet.
I also do not want books/newspapers and other print media to disappear. I like the tactile experience and having something tangible in my hands.
while the facts presented by "shift happens" are startling, I do not believe that a computer will ever EXCEED the intelligence of a human being. I do not believe that creativity or moral reasoning can be programmed.
On another note, people are already growing frustrated with the trend of replacing people with machines (i.e. automated menus when calling 800 numbers). Will we allow this trend to continue?
I found the piece "shift happens" pretty vapid. It keeps talking about computational ability, as if that has a lot to do with leading a quality life. Computation is a very small percentage of what human, minds, hearts, and bodies do.
In a way the title, a parody on "shit happens" is further evidence for the above argument. "What does this mean?" the final question sounds quite ominous after the barrage of words. Yet, in the end, "shift happens" says very little that's different from "shit happens." Yup, change is constant, and we produce shit constantly. Where's the new information?
So I get confirmed in my view that technology is a tool, neither positive nor negative, but with all sorts of interesting possibilities. Technology, however, cannot end poverty, hunger, or war, and those are our major challenges in the coming era.
Will we take seriously the challenge of using media in order to support the struggle to end poverty, hunger, destruction of the environment, and war? For me, that's the question that matters.
When I see the reports on how quickly technology is evolving, and how much information will be easily accessible to us, I wonder if this is a good thing or not. I believe information is empowerment, but only if it translates into knowledge. Knowledge signifies understanding. Information is just information. What's the use of having all this information if we are not being taught to discern, and understand how this all this information can make us better human beings. The question for me is how all of this can make us better people.
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