Technology on Campus

As I sit at my desk in my dorm room I am surrounded by pieces of technology that have come a long way in recent years. My dorm room now, in the twenty first century, is very different than the rooms that my parents stayed in when they were in college in the 1960s. On my desk is my laptop computer, my cell phone, and my ipod speakers. Behind my desk is my television and dvd player. As my mom explained to me, I am very privilaged to grow up with all of this technology. She told me that when she was in college the only form of communication that she had was by a single telephone in the hallway of her dorm. I, however, have a phone in my room, a cell phone, email and instant messanger. I am very grateful to have grown up with all of this technology and definatley do not take it for granted. I realize how difficult it must have been to stay in contact with family and friends from home without any of these forms of communication. This technology is not only present in my dorm room, but also in the classrooms and everywhere around campus. In 2006, Forbes Magazine ran an article titled, "Dorm Rooms: 2006 vs. 1976" and it explained how technology has been integrated into college life. It describes the accounts professors posting assignments online, emailing their students their grades, and downloading class notes to websites. This is reality now. Going to class, you see students taking notes on their computers, not writing them out, using search engines to investigate things that they dont understand and sending instant messages to eachother when the class gets boring. The end of the article states that experts are in constant disagreement over whether or not all of this technology improves the quality of the students education or whether it distracts them. The conclusion they came to was the obvious conclusion that the college world is a very different place from what it was 30 years ago. I feel that the technology is useful in improving student learning. Interacting, not only taking notes, is an important part of learning. This is more of a direct instruction method, in which students interact and do groupwork to learn, rather than an indirect instruction method in which students individually learn exactly what the teacher tells them and makes them copy down. Overall, I am very grateful for all of the technology that I am surrounded by in my dorm room and classroom.