The Costs and Benefits of Being a Student in the Digital Age
- Vincent Rotondo
- Nov 19, 2019
- 4 min read
WITH ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY TALK, I REALLY WANT TO GET THIS OFF MY MIND SINCE I AM HAVING FLASHBACKS THAT I RIGHTFULLY SO DESERVE TO BE SHARED! (Feel free to read and Vinny brownie points if you do)
Once lost in the realm of innovation that technology has transposed, I later became grounded back to my surroundings because of procrastinating my AP Calculus Summer Assignment. (Maybe that’s why my score on the assignment matched the derivative of X lol) Hand in calculator, mentally exhausted, my father approached and explained to me how our generation is vastly different from the one that preceded us. He told me, “Well, Vin. This class did not make sense to me when I myself took it, however, the material was way simpler before calculators were involved.” Reflecting on the painful torture that is AP Calculus, I can truthfully attest that having this little gadget of technology made matters significantly worse; my limit of understanding the material did not exist.
As a future education administrator and current student myself, I believe that viable sources of technology must be implemented in every primary and secondary institution; every school needs to do so in efforts of preparing students for course-work at the university level and beyond. In terms of compiling research and committing to my love of wisdom through learning, I fear the thought of not having technology as it has made my life much easier than my parents. In fact, my mother recently returned to school and called me up hysterically crying because she was lost in the process of navigating EasyBib and Google Docs for her assignment (LIKE WHAT) After successfully calming her down, I sarcastically asked her, “How did people a hundred years ago conduct research?” To that, my mother replied by saying the one word that always manages to have our generation’s heart sink to their stomachs: the library.
Instead of flipping through old books that are encrusted with diseases, (WHERE THE LYSOL AT!) technology has enabled me to refine the quality of my research from home because of the excellent sources of research and inquiry like Newsela, JSTOR, or my personal favorite; EBSCOhost. These methods of inquiry are credible and easily accessible. However, a common struggle among students like myself today is that we do not fully understand the Boolean method of narrowing down our potential sources through eliminator clauses like and or not. This presents a problem because the internet provides an enormous extent of information that it is overwhelming. To avoid stress, it is common for many individuals to select the first search result that appears on Google because “first is the best and since the article is listed first, then we are good to go.” WRONG!!!!!!!!!!! While some websites are an obvious no-go like Wikipedia without an attached bibliography or BuzzFeed, our generation is cohesively at a lack of understanding how to conduct appropriate methods of research. Not only does this make the life of a student more confusing, but it alters the instructor’s ultimate vision and method of pedagogy for carrying out the course. (THAT WORD MAKES ME THINK OF GOGGLES AND GOGGLES MAKE ME THINK OF THE POOL…I really want to go swimming)
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Sorry to keep you waiting so long but that goggles and water talk inspired me to go jet skiing as I wrote the first draft of my art history paper. Metaphorically speaking, jet skiing has transformed the process and quality in which we research; the common student is researching by the process of skimming articles rather than implementing close reading skills. While skimming is enabling the process of research to occur, it is far less effective than close reading; something I am a personal fan of since I have the reading comprehension level of a five year old, yet despise because of how long it takes. My educational platform up has been developed upon a process of close reading, thus if skimming were to become a staple of the modern-day education system, then what was I doing all these years? (#refund)
NOT PART OF MY RESPONSE BUT I WANT TO FIRST CONTEXTUALIZE IT TO THE TOPIC AND WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU SIGNED THE PETITION BELOW!
While not disclosed within either of the articles, I believe that it is necessary to discuss an additional instance in which being a student in the digital age is difficult. As you read along your computers, realize that other education systems undergo cuts in school funding and do not have the resources we have. Traditionally taking place in low-income neighborhoods, there is a rise in budget cuts among wealthy ones too. (Trust me on that one, I know. My own school district was cut off during my senior year and I am currently leading a campaign as we speak to help save my former school district) These students are the future leaders that deserve the proper resources now in order to create a better tomorrow. As a result, I rest my case in declaring that technology has created a division among social classes and other factors related to corruption from government spending. From my experience, being a student researcher in the digital age has provided me with an endless range of sources to conduct research, however, I think it is important that we realize the harm it is doing to poorer corners of the earth.
Again, thank you so much as this means so much to me!
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