Learning Reflection

We are able to get more done with all of the technology that has been developed in recent years compared to 20 or 30 years ago. That may be true, but we are also more distracted by all of the things going on. When it comes to the internet people have to be multitasking and looking through three things at once. We try to multitask so much that we actually get less done. The quality of the things that we do is lower than what it should be.

On PBS there was a documentary that I watched called “Digital Nation” and it showed how people are being distracted by their life in the digital world. Students don’t pay attention during class anymore. They are busy doing something on the computer. Teachers are trying to make class more stimulating, but are unable to compete with the internet. Grades are supposed to be higher but they aren’t because they are not paying attention during class. We have all seen other people on their laptop during class searching for things on the internet, looking at their facebook, or playing games.

They also showed the impact of the internet on our brains. There is more brain activity, but it is bad for our brain. It is over stimulating our brains to the point were we are unable to think well and clearly. It said that those growing up are becoming the dumbest generation. As kids get older reading and writing skills degenerate. Their basic skills are worse than they were a decade ago. There are constant interruptions. The writing of college students is getting worse. Students write in paragraphs, not in full papers. The reason is that they write one paragraph and they do something else and then they write another paragraph. Students get distracted by email, facebook, chatting, and just staying connected to their digital lives. There is an information overload in all of our lives. I can see it happening in mine.