Mariah's Reading Response #1

In the works of Clive Thompson's "The New Literacy" and "Vision of Students Today", the controversial issue that technology is corrupting the education system as far as writing goes. In this issue I believe that it can go either way. People say that technology is distracting students from doing their studies because the students go on facebook, myspace, texting, etc. But I believe that is not entirely true.

Technology is a benefit to students because it is access to information at quick speeds rather than searching through text books. It also allows people to access their work assignments online if for any reason they missed class or was not aware of a certain assignment. As well as doing work on the internet, technology is a quicker more efficient way to communicate with others when there is no time to send a letter or making a phone call.

The fact that technology is taking time away from studies at school is a good point. People do tend to use technology for social purposes and for fun more than they do their school work. Having a laptop in class would be distracting for students who like to go on facebook, or having a cell phone would cause the temptation to text your friends instead of listening to lectures or doing work assignments. Also, while texting or emailing, people do not have to spell words correctly or use the correct grammar. Which is ultimately making learning those punctuations in english or writing classses pointless.

My personal oppinion is that technology is not what is distracting students from their studies and corrupting parts of the education system. I think the students are the ones who are distracting themselves. It is the students choice to go on facebook or text during class. It is the student's choice not to pay attention to the instructors. So it comes down to the fact that it is the students who are losing out on their own education.

Even though the students are the ones paying for their education and paying for their forms of technology, it comes down to it being their fault if that money is being wasted. The students should take advantage of the time they spend in class by paying attention. And if they chose to bring a laptop, cell phone, or music device to class then they should use it wisely. This is just my own oppinion.