Textology

Text from: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Genie says:

Hello. R U there?

Message Sent

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I really like and appreciate technology.

I have almost all the Nintendo systems along with games, especially Zelda and Mario. I don't have a Wii... yet. I love playing a quest game that challenges my mind and my reflexes. I feel smarter when I play. Sometimes, I feel a little frustrated, but I know when to walk away. I know when to open a book, or get out my paints, or make a necklace.

I have a cell phone. I like being able to find a friend in a huge department store or at a theater using our cell phones. I like being able to text a friend when one or neither of us is available to talk, to connect; but I know when it's time to hear a voice, when it's time to talk, when it's time to turn the cell phone off, like when I'm driving. I know when it's time to leave the cell phone behind and take a walk or go for a coffee without being reached.

I spent 5 years in the online chatting world. I tried it all, from 2D IRC chat to 3D virtual reality chat. For many years, it absorbed me; it became my real life. I learned a lot about myself and others. It was quite the experience. I love Skype and the ability to talk to someone who is another continent away without the long distance charges. I love online social networking and the ability to connect with people I haven't talked to in years.

I love blogging. I love being able to throw my random thoughts out, and see where they settle. I love reading other people's thoughts, looking at their art, their crafts and pictures of their kids. I love being part of a global community. At the touch of my fingertips.

I love how technology has enhanced my life, but I am also aware of its dangers. It's easy to get caught up in things far away, or convenient at the expense of the immediate and inconvenient.

Today, I watched as student after student navigated the crammed hallways, head down, thumbs working, oblivious to the world around them. I had to tell five different students in my classes today to stop texting and to put their phones away. Three of them were texting during someone's presentation. Two girls got into a fight in school over something that was posted on someone's wall. I had to remind two students that they had 3 more days left before the finals, to stop talking about who they were following on twitter and focus on their essays.

More and more, I feel like I am losing them to technology, losing their focus, their attention span, their desire to learn something as archaic as reading between the lines or building a really good argument, or learning to spell and understand the word "archaic". I feel like I should gather their cell numbers and text them the lesson. Fifty characters at a time. We have class blogs, Facebook pages dedicated to novels, twitter accounts to deliver instructions. That's all very creative on our (read: teachers') part, but we have to be, in order to feed knowledge to our students byte by byte.

This idea scares me a bit. Especially when a colleague states at a meeting, "Why do we need to get books? They can read it online."

I see a future of exclusively plugged-in people, bumping into each other like drones on the street as they are fed "information" or entertainment (read: celebrity gossip), or music with lyrics about women's junk and getting shanked. I see a future with people losing the ability to communicate fully, to sit face to face over a coffee, chatting or just enjoying each other's presence. Students will take courses such as Textology, History of Chat, Social Networking etc...

Am I exaggerating? Is the fear talking? Am I getting outdated and being shortsighted? I don't know, but the idea of it becoming real scares the blinking modem out of me. :)