Technology: Help or Distract?

Technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions, and

the extracting of materials (Ramey, 2013). It is also the use of science in industry, engineering,
etc. to invent useful things or to solve problems (Merriam Webster). Most student uses
technology such as laptop, cellphone, computer, etc, as part of their daily lives for it gives a lot
of benefits and entertainments. However, it can distract them to their studies and focus more
of their attention to what technology can do for them.

According to Karehka Ramey, Educational Technology aims at improving a student performance

by creating and managing various technology processes and resources in or out the classroom.
But this benefit can lead to having an imbalanced learning and can be reliance for students to
not effort physically as said by Pamela Deloatch in The Four Negative Sides of Technology (2015
May 2), “The time spent with technology doesn’t just give a kids newfangled ways of doing
things , it changes the way their brains work.” An article in Psychology Today gives example that
while video games may condition the brain to pay attention to multiple stimuli they can lead to
distraction and decreased memory, Children who always use search engines may become very
good at finding information – but not very good at remembering it.

For entertainment, students more likely to use it as stress reliever but in some cases they use it
recklessly and put their privacy at risk. As said by Pamela Deloatch in her article The Four
Negative Sides of Technology (2015 May 2)”Improper use of technology can expose a child in
numerous risks. Children who use technology may unwittingly share information that can put
them in danger. In 82% of online sex crimes against children, the sex offenders used social
networking sites to get information about the victim’s preferences. And the anonymity of
technology can also make it easier for people to bully others online. A quarter of teenagers say
they have been bullied either by text or on the Internet. Sexting is another high-risk behavior of
concern, with 24% of teenagers aged 14 -17 have participated in some sort of nude sexting.”
Technology gives students the idea and access to what they shouldn’t be doing.

One of the issues as well is the finance, technology can be used in any educational purposes in
school but not all students can afford to have one. In the article of Jennifer S. Lee, (1999 Sept.
2) A Question of Equality; Some Schools Can't Afford Hardware and Training, said that “In
private schools and suburban public schools, students usually buy their own graphing
calculators, which cost around $100 each, or their schools provide them. But less-affluent
students and poorer school districts cannot always afford the calculators, which educators say
can put students at a disadvantage.” And also may direct to leave some students behind.

Students tend to consume most of their time using technology whether for studies or for
entertainments only. They’re more likely sit all day and face in front of laptop screens just to
done their paper works without considering their health. In Digital Responsibility said
“Time identifies “Computer Vision Syndrome” as the complex of problems associated with
excessive screen time, including eyestrain, blurred vision, and dry eyes.” And with less physical
activities it may leads to obesity, as said by Pamela Deloutch (2015 May 2) “Pediatricians also
say that severe obesity is increasing among young people. Although one traditional focus is on
the amount and type of foods kids eat one study says that obesity is on the rise, not just
because of food, but because as we use more technology, we exercise less. With technology
that includes cars, television, computers and mobile devices, the amount of time we spend
sedentary increased and our time in physical activity dropped.”

In my conclusion technology serves us great benefits and opportunities but it can only access
the surface of what it is, we thought technologies do us a lot of favors when using it we do not
notice that it’s leading deep behind to what we know and results in awful situation.

References:

What is Technology-Meaning of Technology and It Use (2013, December 12)

Techucation. Retrived from

https://www.useoftechnology.com/what-is-technology/

The Four Negative Sides of Technoogy (2015, May 2)

Edudemic. Retrieved from

http://www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/

A Question of Equality; Some Schools Can't Afford Hardware and Training (1999, September 2)

The New York Times. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/02/technology/a-question-of-equality-some-
schools-can-t-afford-hardware-and-training.html

Technology and Vision Problems

Digital Responsibility. Retrieved from
http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/technology-and-vision-problems