The world is rapidly becoming digitalized, and the young generation is leading the pack with technology. This has rendered some other items obsolete as the young generation turns to digital services for education, entertainment, and interactions. Technology has been embraced as part of daily living and almost used in every aspect of life. This is no surprise that the young generation has been massively influenced to the extent that they have changed in the trend in which they retain information, and how they develop opinions on culture.
In most instances, the growth in technology and its usage amongst the youth has been criticized in creating shortcuts for thinking. For instance, teachers have done away with text books and replaced with computes which do the research. This has, however, been mistaken by the older generation as making the young generation ignorant and lazy, but teachers substitute printed books to computers as a match with the modern world, and in reinforcing concepts from text books. The challenge lies on what would happen if technology is withdrawn. As much as this has minimal probability of ever happening, learning would be affected. The young generation would find it hard to cope, learn traditional cultures, and change behavior to fit in such a society. The debate, therefore, lies on the pros and cons of dependence of technology among the young generations.
PROS.
Technology is globally depended as it boosts accessibility of information and knowledge. Jenny McCune indicates “we have come to depend on technology for every motive” (page 34). The youngsters use the materials available through technology to gain knowledge, information and skills required in the modern market. Even though using text books is considered as the best way in boosting concentration and thinking, technology allows students to conduct research in a faster and effective manner. It reduces the bulk of text book research and provides more details as compared to text books. It also serves as a solution or referential point when teachers are not available.
Technology provides equal chances of education and survival to the disabled youth. Such facilities such as iPads assist in communication, memory and hearing senses, which allow learning among the disabled. Most of the disabled suffer memory loss, which impacts on their learning and concentration. In their work, Sternberg and Preiss indicate that “Technologies for storing, transforming, and appropriately retrieving information provide an occasion for ‘turning around’ on our own usages, for seeing them in new and more detached ways, and for sharing our representation with others” (Sternberg and Preiss, page x). This implies that if this technology is applied in learning, storing, transforming, and information retrieval becomes easier even to the disabled. This is in contrary to traditional learning where the disabled go through different syllabuses and these create differences even in job opportunities.
Technology provides the power to engage and run businesses. Currently, at least 75% of available jobs require skills in use of modern technology. The production process has been integrated into a single unit where technology controls the production process. Equipping the young generation with these skills imply preparing them to work productively. The fact that technology is interactive implies that the young generation can engage each other through sharing of ideas, which leads to creativity and innovation. The availability of social sites such as twitter, Face book and you tube among others allow sharing and integration of information in coming up with new ideas. Clement Chau, a writer, views the young generation as content creators and indicates “These websites combine media production and distribution with social networking features, making them ideal place to create, connect, collaborate, and circulate” (Bers, 8). With such technological features generation of new information becomes easier in comparison to traditional methods of knowledge sharing and distribution, which are considered slower.
CONS.
Technology development and usage is considered as a prime cause in the modern changes, in educational patterns. Most cultures are at risk of being forgotten or modified into different meanings as technology becomes assimilated in the young generation. In her quest to reveal the effects of technology amongst youths, Jane Jacobs feels “Western culture is at a risk of disappearing as agrarian society gives way to one with its roots in technology” (page, 40). This implies that as the youths continue depending on technology in education and other applicable areas, it may not necessarily lead them to acquire new skills. The reliance of technology only allows them to concentrate on what technology offers, but they do not become diverse. Diversity in this case would allow them to have a broader thinking capacity than what they have currently, and also in learning and embracing culture. Dependency on technology affects the levels of human intelligence, and this impacts of memory functioning. Torkel Klingberg warns “huge burden overload and multitasking can exceed the limits of our slowly evolving ‘stone-age’ brain” (page, 13)
The problem is not with depending on technology but on the amounts of skills acquired while using technology. Traditional skills enable embracing change, and working out solutions and forming strategies in cases of failure. Contrary, over reliance of technology does not offer support if any of the strategies fail; there lacks skills beyond technology. This implies that the young generation lacks some practical skills required in daily life. For instance, most of them do not have general skills like planting, gathering, or even manual labor. This poses a significant threat to their survival in cases of technology failure.
Conclusion.
There is no doubt that technology is the prime force in initiating change resulting to individual and economy transformations. Technological impacts are significant on people’s lifestyles, safety measures and health of the users. The young generation is faced by the challenge of growth in diversities and different consumer demands, which call for innovations. Unlike in the past, the current generation has the advantage of having technological referential points in acquiring historical knowledge as well as coming up with new ideas. Though many amongst this generation would hate to admit it, the reliance and dependency on technology has become pathetic. Many lose potential as their abilities are diminished as they refer to technology. To reduce this loss of potential, the dependency on technology needs to be minimized. The young generation needs to know the benefit and the negative aspects that over reliance on technology may have. Parents and teachers need to establish means to strike a balance on the use of technology as well as applying traditional means of knowledge acquisition. The youth also needs to equip themselves with both traditional and modern means of knowledge and skill acquisition so as to increase on their ability. Additionally, this will assist in maintenance and inheritance of culture, so that heritage is not lost with technological changes ad growth.
Works Cited
Bers, Marina U. New Media and Technology: Youth As Content Creators. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2010. Internet resource.
Jacobs, Jane. Dark Age Ahead.New York: Random House, 2004. Print.
Klingberg, Torkel. The Overflowing Brain : Information Overload And The Limits Of Working Memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 23 May 2013.
McCune, Jenny C.“Technology Dependence.”Management Review 88.1 (1999): 10-12. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 May 2013.
Sternberg, Robert J., & Preiss, David D. Intelligence and Technology: The Impact ofTools on the Nature and Development of Human Abilities. New York: Routledge, 2011. Ebook Library. Web. 22 May. 2013.
