Technology - Don't Let It Ruin Your Life

 

Here is a fun video my wife and I made about too much technology.

Hi-Tech Relationships: What is Lost?

Here’s the YouTube video I made which basically shows negative affects of computer mediated communication and how technology is affecting personal relationships.  I believe many people don’t understand some of the consequences that come from using Facebook as a way to connect with others.  Some of the drawbacks of computer mediated communication include:

• ·      Too much performance
• ·      Time consuming, addicting
• ·      Overly personal through disclosure
• ·      Overly impersonal, being open to all
• ·      Takes away from face-to-face relationships
• ·      Losing interpersonal skills
• ·      Misunderstanding from lack of nonverbal communication
• ·      Distractions and ambient awareness
• ·      Authenticity of relationships (Cummings, 2013)

Stephen Benson says, “Postmodern man does not participate in face-to-face collaboration, and is impoverished as a result,” (Benson, 1998).

The video is a bit long, but the people in the interviews mention many of these drawbacks.  Each person comes from a different point of view, but they seem to feel generally the same way about the unintended consequences of connecting through technology.  The entire video is worth watching!

Benson, Stephen P. "Village People? The Net Generation." IEEE Communications Magazine 36.1 (1998): 32-35. Ebscohost. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=649325>.

Cummings, Jennifer. "Computer Mediated Communication." University of Utah, Salt Lake City. 26 Sept. 2013. Lecture.

New Book Review

We have a new book review posted. Please go to our book review tab and learn about the exciting book of Cyber Junkie!

todays kids: the iGeneration

Studies are showing that

technology is changing the way that

 children are growing and developing. 

I came across a book that would be fascinating to read -

Rewired:  Understanding the iGeneration and the way they learn

 by Larry D. Rosen. 

"Look around at today´s youth and you can see how technology has changed their lives. They lie on their beds and study while listening to mp3 players, texting and chatting online with friends, and reading and posting Facebook messages." 

 



In the meantime I found an article in Psychology Today, adjunct professor Jim Taylor discusses How Technology is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus in his article  The Power of Prime -The cluttered mind uncluttered.   He states that technology "isn’t just affecting children on the surface of their thinking. Rather, because their brains are still developing and malleable, frequent exposure by so-called digital natives to technology is actually wiring the brain in ways very different than in previous generations.

What is clear is that, as with advances throughout history,

the technology that is available determines how our brains develops." 

He goes on to discuss that the amount of exposure to technology actually "conditions the brain to pay attention to information very differently than reading". 

And he argues that all technology is not bad and that it is not really making children more stupid, it is just making them different. 

Jessica asked a question in regards to how technology is changing the way children are growing up, in compared to her childhood - which consisted of playing outside in the dirt, eating and sleeping! 

Dr. Taylor says "The effects of technology on children are complicated, with both benefits and costs.

Whether technology helps

 or hurts

 in the development of your children’s thinking

 depends on what specific technology is used

 and how and what frequency it is used.

At least early in their lives, the power to dictate your children’s relationship with technology and, as a result, its influence on them, from synaptic activity to conscious thought." 

His bottom line is:

"What does all this mean for raising your children?

The bottom line is that too much screen time

 and not enough other activities,

such as reading,

playing games,

and good old unstructured and imaginative play,

 will result in your children

 having their brains wired

 in ways that may make them

less,

not more,

prepared

 to thrive in this crazy new world of technology."

 

 

 

So much of what Dr. Taylor presents in his article is important to me because I find myself quite concerned with the amount of technology and media that my children are being exposed to.  Gone are the days that ended with me dumping them in the tub to wash off the dirt from a day of outside play.  Children, mine included, are consumed by the buffet of media choices; social media to technology needed for their homework.  All aspects of their life seems to revolve around an on/off button; the off being rarely used. 

It concerns me as a parent that the more time they spend being wired to technology and media the less prepared they are to "thrive in this crazy new world of technology."  I absolutely agree with studies showing that the demands of technology on this generation is changing the way they develop and I would suggest even stunting their growth.  In a sense they sit at a buffet of media in a technological world and starve to death.

Taylor, J. (2012) "The Power of Prime: How Technology is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus". Psychology Today. December 4, 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-children-think-and-focus> Accessed February 2014.

#redthumbreminder

Jonathan wrote about The Deadly Side of Technology.  It reminded me of seeing this.  I thought I would share it.  Link to the website below - or click on the picture for an article about the campaign!

LINK:  #redthumbreminder 

from the website:

"THE STORY:

Inspired by my daughter's technique of tying a piece of yarn around her finger to remember something for school, I decided to paint my thumbnail red so every time I picked up my phone from behind the wheel, all I would see was a big red thumb reminding me to put the phone away. As silly as it sounds, it totally worked. And now my hope is that it'll work for everyone else. One red thumbnail at a time."

 

The Deadly Side of Technology

 

Do you consider yourself a good driver? I usually do.  I have had a couple speeding tickets, but I have never been in a car accident.  I always use my turn signals, I always check my blind spot, and I try to avoid the crazy drivers around me.  The one thing that could get me in big trouble though is my cell phone.  I often talk on my cell phone and sometimes I even text.

With the growing abilities of cell phones to have texting, games, internet, and almost any app imaginable, there is a growing risk of people using cell phones behind the wheel.  The distraction potential is increasing every time we “take our eyes off the road, our hands off the wheel, and taking our mind off what we are doing”. In 2008 the United States Department of Transportation reported over a half-million people injured and almost six thousand people killed because of distracted driving. (Tarafdar, Gupta, Turel, 2013)  Our use of technology behind the wheel can be a very dangerous thing and many of us have a bias that we are good drivers and that we can multitask with our cell phones.  The scary reality is that we really cannot. 

Many states have been passing laws against texting and driving or driving without a hands free set due to all the accidents and fatalities that have been associated with cell phone use. Texting is very distracting because it takes our eyes off the road, a hand off the wheel, and our mind off our driving.  When I have texted while driving I have seen this and I have had some close calls because of it.

Texting and driving is bad, but is just talking on a cell phone driving really that bad? According to Professor David Strayer at the University of Utah drivers talking on their cell phones “are just as dangerous behind the wheel as drunk drivers.” I am not sure if everyone fits this description that talks and drives, but I have seen plenty of people driving crazy and when I pass them they are talking on their cell phones. (Tarafdar, Gupta, Turel, 2013) 

Cell phones behind while driving can be bad, but it is our choice whether to use them or not. If someone texts me when I am driving I usually try to text at stop lights or I try to just call the person. A good practice would be to not text at all and if we need to make a call make it very short.  Our best practice should probably be no texting while driving and no talking while driving

Tarafdar, M., Gupta, A. and Turel, O. (2013), The dark side of information technology use.

Information Systems Journal, 23: 269–275. doi: 10.1111/isj.12015 Accessed from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/doi/10.1111/isj.12015/full

This commercial brought to you....

...because technology has it's affect

 on both the young...and the old!