Reading Response #1

In “Vision of Students Today”, an online video, students and a professor, Michael Wesch from Kansas State University demonstrate that, networking, music, socializing, etc. is becoming more of a concern than studying, academic writing, and education. Wesch and his students prove that many students spend more time focused on online socializing, socializing via texting, talking on their phones, listening to music, etc. than they are on studying, academic writing, paying attention to their lectures. Although Wesch does not say so directly, It seems as if he assumes that technology is taking over student lives and ruining academic writing. What message you personally believe Wesch is trying to get across is debatable. It is an interpretation of what message you take from his video “Vision of Students Today”.Based on my experiences technology may be ruining our academic writing since students spend more time texting, emailing, instant messaging, than students spend on academic writing. Even while writing essays for classes, we are ruining our abilities at good spelling and grammar since while we writing those essays, when we make a mistake spell check is essentially correcting our mistakes, it is the same thing with our grammar errors that are done in our writing. While doing our nonacademic writing we are less focused on our writing errors and more focused on face booking, texting, and etc. The video in fact could be very debatable some may feel that he is trying to prove that technology is doing a positive effect on students academic writing while others may feel the way I do.My own view is that Wesch is trying to prove that students today are more focused on socializing via technology than they are on their education. I do feel that I am also involved in this even while writing this response I am not sitting here completely focused but on MSN Instant Messenger. Though I concede that technology may be ruining our academic writing, it is also true that it is beneficial to our writing since we can use technology as a great source for studying, maintaining our schedules, looking for extra help, etc. I still maintain that technology today is doing a negative effect on our academic writing. For example many people, myself included in our academic writing end up using the texting short forms, grammar and spelling may be since we don’t give it much thought when texting or any other form of writing that we do that isn’t academic. Although some might object that technology is only beneficial to our academic writing and it has no negative effect on our writing, I reply that in fact is that it is negative to students academic writing if technology is abused, those who feel that technology is not negative to their academic writing may not be in the same situation of those who do feel that technology is negative to their academic writing. This mainly depends on how technology is affecting your every day life. The issue is important because it is affecting almost every students lives depending on personal choices.