How Technology Has Changed The Lives of Teenager Today

The younger generation do appreciate and enjoy using different types of technologies at school such as chrome books, iPad’s, projectors or television. In todays society, classroom technologies have become important so that the students can carry out their daily activities. Some people believe that they can find and prepare a summary for an assignment which can be taken from another summary which has already been posted on the internet. The internet encourages students to become lazy and distracted and by researching. I believe that technology is not dangerous and I like the way technology has changed the lives of teenager. In the following essay I state that we should just use it appropriately because it is available and gain all benefits it can give to us. 

How Technology Has Changed the Lives of Teenager?

Relating this to my self, I have had access to digital technology for many years, and it has helped me as I need to research while completing assignments. However, I tend to get distracted when I open up my laptop during my lecture because I start using social media. I therefore have stopped opening up my laptop during lectures and started writing down notes instead. I find that writing out notes sticks in my head, rather than typing it out on my laptop. I think there are limitations when using technologies because other wise your life can be centred around technology and the internet. Because technology is a huge part of society, young people want to get involved. Heafner’s article discuss how many teachers find it difficult to motivate their students to learn in social studies classroom as the students find it boring. Teachers are sacrificing student interest for content coverage says Heafner. Students do not have the motivation to learn social studies beyond the common justification of “it will be on the test.” Students then lack in interests which inhibits development of metacognitive skills, causing a negative impact on their educational achievements. Technology has been developing everyday and in the 21st century, technology has changed the lives of many people because where every we go, technology is used, such as schools, work, even when socialising. Selwyn believes that technology has changed and developed for the better. Technology is used when trying to do things cheaper, faster, more convenient or more exciting. Technology is there and available to use to what is the harm in using it when needed.

My myth ‘technology is dangerous so we should use less of it’ fails to recognise the importance of digital literacy. This fails to recognise the importance of digital literacy because in the 21st century, the world’s technology has developed magnificently. If you are lacking in digital literacy skills in todays society, it has an effect of one’s access to many facets of life and reducing education and employment opportunities. Being digitally competent means using digital technologies in a confident and safe way for different reasons for example working, applying for a job, learning at schools or university, online shopping, locating information regarding your health, being included while engaging in society. Today’s students use different kinds of technologies such as phones, ipads and laptops for a wide array of learning tasks to take notes, summarise what the teacher/lecturer has said, testing, and searching. This article researched and came with a result of students who expressed great confidence in their ability to use technologies in regards to learning in classrooms such as labs. Students were also asked to rate their attitudes towards their use of technology when teachers/professors use it in the classrooms. The mean scores revealed that these students had positive attitudes when having the opportunity to use these technologies in the classroom. It is important for people to understand that the world is changing drastically and so is technology, therefore we need to be willing to change and be open to new ideas as well. Digital technology allows people to communicate with people on a regular basis because of the ‘busy constraints’ of the 21st society. There is no hard in experimenting with technology as it is slowly becoming the future for us all, children and adults as its being used in schools, home, work, everywhere.

Some people may believe that technology is dangerous and they may have good reasons for it. It may be because there might be bullying on the internet, children are watching too much YouTube, or students are getting distracted on social media rather than doing their assignment. Technology has improved and developed over time so now people all over the world who have access to it can improve their health, travel faster, exchange messages and more. Romano & Schwartz discuss the importance online learning and how it has emerged as a field of practice mainly because of the technological developments which have given students the opportunity to communicate conveniently. In the study done by Romano & Schwarts, the results concluded that the three technology tools (electronic portfolios, online discussion, videotaping teaching), provided a framework for reflection that could potentially be introduced meaning that teachers are able to benefit from the opportunity to interact in reflection by using the three stimuli. Overall the technology tools had provided a way for reflecting on their teaching and to think about their work. This shows that technology is there for us and can help us, help others. A study by Blackwell, Lauricella & Wartelle collected a survey data from 1234 early childhood teachers which showed that the attitudes towards the value of technology to aids children’s learning have the strongest outcome on the use of technology. Next was the confidence and support in using technology.

Conclusion

Students and adults today are learning in ways that are not similar to how people were learning years ago. In this modern world, students are able to use technology to find text sources, videos or presentations to help them learn. After this they are able to teach their elders. I have taught my grandparents how to use a phone so that now they are able to connect and communicate with their family members who are scattered around the world. Being digitally literate means that we can improve our selves, learn more, entertain our selves, it helps us in many ways.   

References

1. Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., & Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2010/02/03/social-media-and-young-adults/

2. Rideout, V., & Robb, M. B. (2018). The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens. Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_researchreport.pdf

3. Twenge, J. M. (2019). iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us. Atria Books.

4. Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social Networking Sites and Addiction: Ten Lessons Learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3), 311. doi:10.3390/ijerph14030311

5. Rosen, L. D., Whaling, K., Carrier, L. M., Cheever, N. A., & Rokkum, J. (2013). The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2501-2511. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.06.006

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6. O'Keeffe, G. S., Clarke-Pearson, K., & Council on Communications and Media. (2011). Clinical Report—The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-0054