The disconnect with being connected
Introduction
Technology has made life as we know it today; it has changed our lives in more ways than one. With so much information at our fingertips and many ways to communicate with each other, technology has driven us farther apart more than ever. Technology has imperfections; there are pros and cons to its effects on society. Technology has positively affected how students learn, especially those with learning and or special needs. Technology has made people connected in ways that were not present decades ago with social media platforms. Overall, the development and advancement of technology are affecting the growth of society.
Positives
Technology has impacted the world in things such as phones and computers, especially in its distribution to people, enhancing learning for students with disabilities and providing aid to those who are physically impaired. Due to Covid experience of school online, students today log in and carry out the daily tasks that teachers instruct for that lesson. For students with learning disabilities, this is not relatively as easy. Disabilities are ranging from autism, blindness, deaf and many more affect student's abilities to learn. Many students in the past with these disabilities were limited in what they can learn and what schools they can attend that can accommodate them. There was not enough material or a way to translate the material for students with learning impairments to learn. Compared to those of today, past students had a much harder time due to lack of technological advancement. Students today that are visually impaired have access to braille display or tactile drawing boards that allow them access to course materials (Baker, 2019). Assistive technology has made a significant impact on education, giving children more opportunities to learn. Text to speech is an assistive technology designed to aid children with difficulties with reading. Students with dyslexia or any visual impairment or a learning disability impede their ability to read be assisted with this new technology. How it works is by scanning text, then it reads aloud the text using an automated voice. Another learning disability is dyscalculia; it is challenging to grasp numbers, making learning or understanding math difficult. Math Talk is a program that functions as an E-worksheet that allows students to organize math problems and work them out on a screen. With students with learning disabilities increasingly being enrolled in schools, special needs instructors are lacking. Assistive technology is helping not only the students but teachers that cannot provide one on one assistance. Overall, technology in education is positive in its ability to aid with most learning disabilities and options for students to learn alternatively.
Another positive in technology is its advancement in aids in medicine and health. According to Thielst, “Technology is a tool that comes in many forms and usually helps improve efficiency and effectiveness.” From x-ray machines to surgical practices, technology has impacted medicine to make us healthier and increase life expectancies. Health records in the past are traditionally kept in physical files that eventually be damaged or lost. With tech, electronic health records are available from doctors straight to their patients (UIC Health Informatics, 2020). Telemedicine and Telehealth allow patients to meet with their providers without coming in for a visit. With remote monitoring, wearable tech and genome sequencing technology has changed the medical field overall and is only advancing in its capabilities. Although tech has aided in the medical field it has also contributed issues to health especially in mental health. Technology has many negatives the ones highlighted are the growing social issues, obesity and job market competition.
Negatives
Video games were created not in the way most people would believe them to be; video games were created to show that science primary purpose is not war and destruction. An invention created to change the narrative about the views of science created an ecosystem that branches off from multiple companies that create different consoles, games, and accessories all for gaming. Video games bring people together; it can be de-stressing for some and especially for children to provide entertainment. Too much of anything can be destructive, and video games are no exception. Playing video games does not cause obesity; it is the amount of game time played and diet and exercise contributing to possible obesity.
According to a recent study, its research is based on the difference between gameplay and weight gain. It found that children who were overweight/obese had more minutes of video gameplay per day (Kracht, 2019). Video games can also cause other health issues such as repetitive stress injuries, meaning injuries caused by repeated use of the muscles and tendons to the point of pain and inflammation develop. If they are left untreated, it can result in numbness and weakness, causing permanent injury. Injuries such as carpal tunnel and inflammation of the wrist can cause pain and numbness. Another issue by the name of “Gamer’s thumb” occurs when the tendon that moves the thumb becomes inflamed. Gamers also experience vision problems due to eye strain; gaming has also resulted in a few seizures, which led to companies providing a warning label on the packaging of games, so consumers are aware. However, it is primarily obesity that affects gamers the most, and it is caused by gamers not being active other than being glued to a screen for several hours. With increased food intake and the body being stagnant multiple hours a day with low activity, gamers will gain much weight. It is not only video games that are providing a negative impact on society with the invention of computers and cellphones/smartphones came the creation of social media and apps;The use of internet, social media, digital gaming and smartphone at the level of addiction hinders real social relations and consequently social connectedness is reduced (Dwyer, D. S., & Kreier, R. ,2015).
Although they provide an abundant amount of information at our fingertips and allow communication/connection with other people, it also drifts people apart. Social media affects the mental health of many young adults today. Users create a profile, add anyone they want, and post or share status updates. With the freedom to say or post what the user desires, the content can be positive or negative. Users can express themselves for the world or their inner circle to see. However, anything posted on the internet stays on the internet is impossible to eradicate—platforms such as Instagram where users post photos or videos. The issues start exactly where they begin; users post what they think other people want to see. Staged photos edited using proper lighting, makeup, and enhancers make most of a user's page. It creates a sense of a false reality that affects other users' mental health, especially young adults. Young adults think what they view online is real, compare it to their own lives, and question its differences. They begin to belittle themselves, especially young women who see images of other women with a specific appearance that they do not have. It is not limited to young women; men who see other men who are physically fit with many likes on their posts eventually believe that other people want and feel undesirable if they do not appear similar to what they are viewing online. This issue slowly deteriorates self-esteem to boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging in their social circles; people post content with the hope of receiving positive feedback (McLean Hospital, 2021). As the world progresses and technology advances, it leads to the question of where the world goes from here? What is next?(Lammey, 2019).
The future of technology rests in AI and different forms of energy being used as our next primary source. People are becoming more and more divided, although they are technologically more connected than ever before. Technology has slowly incorporated into our lives; as this continues, it will soon replace many things that we do already. It is separating material from immaterial. Natural and organic, manufactured and processed. AI is making progress in the supermarket, such as self-checkout kiosks (Smith, A & Anderson, J, 2020). Consumers can purchase their grocery items without the aid of a cashier. Stores monitor people through cameras to make sure or to document any theft taken place. Companies such as Amazon have already created supermarkets that have no cashiers due to technological advancements by creating shopping carts that scan items being placed in them for consumers to pay for at the end. It is said that among experts, the number of professions will be automated in the next five to ten years (Thomas, 2019). Although technology has its fair share of negatives, technology itself should not be categorized as a negative. Technology itself should not be viewed as a negative; too much of anything is a bad thing. It is how humans use it that is the problem.
Conclusion
Today, people cannot function without a phone, let alone carry out a conversation due to the anxiety of actual face-to-face contact. It is the future for our kids to be a better relationship with themselves and tech rather than themselves and another human being. Human beings need to backtrack on the involvement of technology in our daily lives. The development and advancement of technology are affecting the growth of society. However, technology itself is not bad the way we overuse it and rely so heavily on it is when technology becomes the issue. Technology has made life as we know it today; it has changed our lives in more ways than one. With so much information at our fingertips and many ways to communicate with each other, technology has driven us farther apart more than ever. Technology has imperfections; there are pros and cons to its effects on society. Technology has positively affected how students learn, especially those with learning and or special needs. Technology has made people connected in ways that were not present decades ago with social media platforms. Overall, the development and advancement of technology are affecting the growth of society.
Positives
Technology has impacted the world in things such as phones and computers, especially in its distribution to people, enhancing learning for students with disabilities and providing aid to those who are physically impaired. Due to Covid experience of school online, students today log in and carry out the daily tasks that teachers instruct for that lesson. For students with learning disabilities, this is not relatively as easy. Disabilities are ranging from autism, blindness, deaf and many more affect student's abilities to learn. Many students in the past with these disabilities were limited in what they can learn and what schools they can attend that can accommodate them. There was not enough material or a way to translate the material for students with learning impairments to learn. Compared to those of today, past students had a much harder time due to lack of technological advancement. Students today that are visually impaired have access to braille display or tactile drawing boards that allow them access to course materials (Baker, 2019). Assistive technology has made a significant impact on education, giving children more opportunities to learn. Text to speech is an assistive technology designed to aid children with difficulties with reading. Students with dyslexia or any visual impairment or a learning disability impede their ability to read be assisted with this new technology. How it works is by scanning text, then it reads aloud the text using an automated voice. Another learning disability is dyscalculia; it is challenging to grasp numbers, making learning or understanding math difficult. Math Talk is a program that functions as an E-worksheet that allows students to organize math problems and work them out on a screen. With students with learning disabilities increasingly being enrolled in schools, special needs instructors are lacking. Assistive technology is helping not only the students but teachers that cannot provide one on one assistance. Overall, technology in education is positive in its ability to aid with most learning disabilities and options for students to learn alternatively.
Another positive in technology is its advancement in aids in medicine and health. According to Thielst, “Technology is a tool that comes in many forms and usually helps improve efficiency and effectiveness.” From x-ray machines to surgical practices, technology has impacted medicine to make us healthier and increase life expectancies. Health records in the past are traditionally kept in physical files that eventually be damaged or lost. With tech, electronic health records are available from doctors straight to their patients (UIC Health Informatics, 2020). Telemedicine and Telehealth allow patients to meet with their providers without coming in for a visit. With remote monitoring, wearable tech and genome sequencing technology has changed the medical field overall and is only advancing in its capabilities. Although tech has aided in the medical field it has also contributed issues to health especially in mental health. Technology has many negatives the ones highlighted are the growing social issues, obesity and job market competition.
Negatives
Video games were created not in the way most people would believe them to be; video games were created to show that science primary purpose is not war and destruction. An invention created to change the narrative about the views of science created an ecosystem that branches off from multiple companies that create different consoles, games, and accessories all for gaming. Video games bring people together; it can be de-stressing for some and especially for children to provide entertainment. Too much of anything can be destructive, and video games are no exception. Playing video games does not cause obesity; it is the amount of game time played and diet and exercise contributing to possible obesity.
According to a recent study, its research is based on the difference between gameplay and weight gain. It found that children who were overweight/obese had more minutes of video gameplay per day (Kracht, 2019). Video games can also cause other health issues such as repetitive stress injuries, meaning injuries caused by repeated use of the muscles and tendons to the point of pain and inflammation develop. If they are left untreated, it can result in numbness and weakness, causing permanent injury. Injuries such as carpal tunnel and inflammation of the wrist can cause pain and numbness. Another issue by the name of “Gamer’s thumb” occurs when the tendon that moves the thumb becomes inflamed. Gamers also experience vision problems due to eye strain; gaming has also resulted in a few seizures, which led to companies providing a warning label on the packaging of games, so consumers are aware. However, it is primarily obesity that affects gamers the most, and it is caused by gamers not being active other than being glued to a screen for several hours. With increased food intake and the body being stagnant multiple hours a day with low activity, gamers will gain much weight. It is not only video games that are providing a negative impact on society with the invention of computers and cellphones/smartphones came the creation of social media and apps;The use of internet, social media, digital gaming and smartphone at the level of addiction hinders real social relations and consequently social connectedness is reduced (Dwyer, D. S., & Kreier, R. ,2015).
Although they provide an abundant amount of information at our fingertips and allow communication/connection with other people, it also drifts people apart. Social media affects the mental health of many young adults today. Users create a profile, add anyone they want, and post or share status updates. With the freedom to say or post what the user desires, the content can be positive or negative. Users can express themselves for the world or their inner circle to see. However, anything posted on the internet stays on the internet is impossible to eradicate—platforms such as Instagram where users post photos or videos. The issues start exactly where they begin; users post what they think other people want to see. Staged photos edited using proper lighting, makeup, and enhancers make most of a user's page. It creates a sense of a false reality that affects other users' mental health, especially young adults. Young adults think what they view online is real, compare it to their own lives, and question its differences. They begin to belittle themselves, especially young women who see images of other women with a specific appearance that they do not have. It is not limited to young women; men who see other men who are physically fit with many likes on their posts eventually believe that other people want and feel undesirable if they do not appear similar to what they are viewing online. This issue slowly deteriorates self-esteem to boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging in their social circles; people post content with the hope of receiving positive feedback (McLean Hospital, 2021). As the world progresses and technology advances, it leads to the question of where the world goes from here? What is next?(Lammey, 2019).
The future of technology rests in AI and different forms of energy being used as our next primary source. People are becoming more and more divided, although they are technologically more connected than ever before. Technology has slowly incorporated into our lives; as this continues, it will soon replace many things that we do already. It is separating material from immaterial. Natural and organic, manufactured and processed. AI is making progress in the supermarket, such as self-checkout kiosks (Smith, A & Anderson, J, 2020). Consumers can purchase their grocery items without the aid of a cashier. Stores monitor people through cameras to make sure or to document any theft taken place. Companies such as Amazon have already created supermarkets that have no cashiers due to technological advancements by creating shopping carts that scan items being placed in them for consumers to pay for at the end. It is said that among experts, the number of professions will be automated in the next five to ten years (Thomas, 2019). Although technology has its fair share of negatives, technology itself should not be categorized as a negative. Technology itself should not be viewed as a negative; too much of anything is a bad thing. It is how humans use it that is the problem.
Conclusion
Today, people cannot function without a phone, let alone carry out a conversation due to the anxiety of actual face-to-face contact. It is the future for our kids to be a better relationship with themselves and tech rather than themselves and another human being. Human beings need to backtrack on the involvement of technology in our daily lives. The development and advancement of technology are affecting the growth of society. However, technology itself is not bad the way we overuse it and rely so heavily on it is when technology becomes the issue.