From the moment I wake up, I am overwhelmed with technology and information. In many ways, technology has come to dictate how I live my life and how I interact with others. While I was assigned the task of logging my interactions with the internet for my DCI 180 class, this activity was of great interest to me. Where do I spend my time online? How does technology inform my knowledge and interactions with others? Is it an impediment to my day or a facilitator? These are all questions I hoped to answer through the study of my interactions with technology this Tuesday.
At 8:00 am I woke up to my alarm, and the first thing I did was check my phone. I sent texts and snapchats to my friends in far places before scrolling through Instagram and getting out of bed. While I got dressed, I listened to one of my playlists on Apple Music. While walking to LexCo, my favorite study spot, I checked my school email for any relevant emails.
After getting coffee, I sat at my favorite spot (the high-top table near the storefront) and settled in to do work. I used Sakai to access my Poverty homework for the week and spent about an hour and a half online reading a narrative essay and a research document on poverty. I then used the Sakai forums to post my responses to the corresponding reading questions for each assignment. I also finished my French homework for Wednesday while at LexCo. I used vhlcentral.com to access the assigned activities, which included watching a video example of a French interaction and answering questions about the content of the interaction.
I then went to my French class at 1:30, in which we used the internet to access speaking and verb conjugation activities. After class ended, I went to my 2:45 soccer lift, quickly checking my phone for texts and groupme messages inbetween. After the lift, I walked over to the soccer locker room and, after getting ready for practice, sat down with my computer to work on my French homework for the next day on vhlcentral.com once again. After practice, around 7:20 pm, I met with my partner for our upcoming poverty project and used Sakai, powerpoint, and past poverty assignments to help structure and organize our project. After then grabbing dinner, I ran over to the library to finish some homework. I uploaded my questions on Padlet for my DCI 180 class and completed my Reading Evaluation worksheet in reference to the assigned online DCI readings. After finishing the rest of my homework (which I used material non-online resources for), I headed back to my dorm around 11:00 pm. While walking, I listened to a playlist on Apple Music. Once home, I face-timed one of my high school friends for about 30 minutes. Around 11:40 pm, I was in bed for the night. Before falling asleep, I scrolled through Instagram, responded to Snapchats, and texted my parents. Once finished, I set my alarm and plugged my phone in to my charger before falling asleep.
Logging my interactions with the internet was enlightening in a few regards. I had never realized how much of my academic work takes place online, and how essential online informational resources are to my education. However, almost all the assignments and readings I was assigned were in digital form. Personally, I do believe this is an advantage and a privilege I am lucky to have. The ability to access educational resources so easily offers me the ability to study most anywhere and do so thoroughly. However, as we discussed in class, there is also a negative aspect to the increasing technological aspect of education; Maryanne Wolf discussed how reading online negatively impacts one’s “critical analysis and empathy” in her article on skim reading. This drawback of reading online causes me to wonder if the accessibility of online educational sources is worth the negative ramifications to critical analysis and empathy and if I should limit reading online to extreme situations.
I also found it interesting how many times I felt so compelled to just pick up my phone. After assessing my total screen time this Tuesday (image provided below), I found that it was the time I spent “social networking” and sending texts that took up most of my total screen time. This, actually, is not a huge concern for me. I try to keep in touch with my friends that are far away and am grateful to have the opportunity to do so through technology. However, what is concerning about my given screen time report is how much time I spend on Snapchat and Instagram. These apps are big distractions for me that I don’t think are helpful to my overall well-being. In my view, Instagram, particularly, can often foster an unhealthy relationship between technology and one’s self. While it is certainly nice to stay in touch with others through such a platform, I wish I didn’t spend quite so much time on Instagram. It’s apps like Instagram and Snapchat that make me feel drawn to my phone in such a way that I believe is unhealthy.
The major issue I have with technology is that, on some occasions, I think it prevents us from actively participating in reality. When I was walking home from the library with my AirPods in, I walked past multiple people but failed to acknowledge them with even a simple “Hi!” Connecting with technology rather than those around me puts a wall between me and my immediate, real, environment. It is definitely something I want to work on more. I hope to be much more intentional about how I use technology throughout my day now!
Work Cited:
- Wolf, Maryanne. “Skim Reading Is the New Normal. The Effect on Society Is Profound.” The Guardian, 25 Aug. 2018. www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/25/skim-reading-new-normal-maryanne-wolf.