Frontline broadcast a film Growing up online in 2007. The children and teenagers use the internet to talk to their friends. A person can also pretend to be more eccentric online than in reality and it is a way of satisfying their inner needs. Parents are usually surprised by what their children are doing online. Some people say that multitasking is making people numb. Even the military has changed because of the world going digital. People chat and play games with other people who they never met in real life.
The virtual world is being created and people will actually live in that space. Families can live in the same house, but in different worlds and that is scary. People use social networks and call their lives digital. Rachel Dretzin explored this phenomenon. She began research on MIT. Their students are always online. They are addicted to their smartphones because they even use it while eating dinner. However, it distracts them from lectures. Multitasking learning environment doesn’t have good results.
People are addicted to games and internet in Korea, but it is not only a problem in Korea, it has affected the whole world. This problem can be tackled by introducing policies which make rules about the hours and situations when students and workers who use technology while doing other more important things.
There is a difference between children who grew up with technology and people who were born before the world becoming digitalized. Our culture and society survived the switch to the digital world because most people are still effective because of using various technological devices. Even grandmothers are starting to use social networks. There is the example of a grandson and his grandmother having a cooking show online.
It is also interesting that gamers met their emotional partners while playing games online. Some of them got married and they feel that it was romantic. They connected through technology. The same experience led to them feeling connected. The game Second life is also one of the games which simulates reality but where a person can create their characters the way they want to live. It is exciting for them because it gives them a feeling of being able to live their dream.
There is also a virtual reality therapy which helps people from the army emotionally. It helps them cope with stressful situations more easily. The pilots have difficult time to switch from the war zones to their family lives, so they stay focused on their flying jobs and stressful situations by playing on simulators.
Even pre-school children and young students use computers to learn. Their teachers believe that playing the games is similar to reading novels. There are also teachers who disagree, so everybody has their own approach. Some teachers believe in traditional methods only.
Works cited
“Digital Nation”, PBS.org, Feb. 2010. Web. 21. July 2015.
