Journal 5

The article “Can you hear me now?” by Sherry Turkle is very interesting and fun to read. This article describes how technology has taken over our lives. Her first quote states: “Thanks to Technology, people have never been more connected-or alienated.” This is the main idea of the paper. She argues that technological devices such as laptops, blackberry’s, and other type of devices have us “tethered.” The only lives we want to live are the ones we create on the internet. She believes that such devices have us working “even on downtime because you can always have easy access to work.” With these devices at hand our presence is no longer required; we can be at different places at the same time. The author focuses on five troubles that have us attached to the virtual world:
“There is a new state of the self”-basically the internet is full of resources an imaginary people that we create our own world. Different from what our real lives are, “blend their real and virtual lives,” is what the author argues.
“Are we losing the time to take our time?”-we are doing more of answering e-mails, texts, IM, then thinking, or we often let these devices do the thinking for us. An expression was “I look at my watch to see the time; I look at my blackberry to get a sense of my life.” To make more time, the author suggest turning off devices.
“The tethered adolescent”- teenager are experience life different now with such technology available to them. There are pros and cons in having such devices available to them like staying in contact with their parents and being able to get help easier if involved in a dangerous situations, the negative aspect is new freedoms
“Virtuality and its discontents”- like exposing our lives, living public, this gives government more access to our lives, giving up privacy.
“Split attention”-texting while talking face to face with someone, “Being put on Pause”
What can we do to be more connected to the world?
Turn off technological devices, engage in conversations, and don’t always use technology!

As future educators we teach students to use technology, should we present students with the dangers there is in using the internet?

I believe the author is not arguing against technology, she just portrays how this has affected our lives and how dependent we have become of these devices, so I do think is important teaching students the dangers of using the internet.