There are many similarities and differences between the children of the Information Age and the older generation that teaches them. In most cases, the technology gap causes either a lack of understanding or a belief that students are becoming lazier. With the inventions of new technology comes new understanding and a lesser work ethic.
Most of the older faculty still believe that spam is a type of canned meat, not an e-mail term. A lot of my professors dislike the use of cellphones due to the dishonest things that can be done with them, such as looking up answers to test questions. Students, however, find them useful and informational. Technology has also changed the math curriculum completely. Graphing calculators allow a student to work an entire and complex problem without ever having to work it out by hand. In my college algebra class last year, my teacher voiced several complaints against the use of calculators because they do the work for students. Soon, page-long equations will be a thing of the past.
The Internet allows for book reports to be completed without ever cracking open a book. This can be credited to Spark notes and online book summaries, as well as to audio books. The luxury of audio books is that they require no reading at all. Traditional educators have always been involved in the news and current events in the world. With the invention of cell phones and news apps, most young people never watch news on the television anymore. They don’t see the point, when it can be viewed on the Internet with the click of a button. This leads to a lack of knowledge regarding the world around them. The biggest change that I have found while on this campus has to do with the library’s lack of fiction books. Literacy is no longer encouraged. That young people are not reading for enjoyment is both saddening and scary.
Much remains alike from when the educators themselves were in school. The basics of the curriculum are still very much the same. With the exception of the occasional laptop, most students still take their notes by pen and paper, and tests are still given in paper format. Most classes are still 50 minutes long, and the grading scale hasn’t changed much. The college experience itself is very constant in that students still have to leave home for the first time and abandon their comfort zones. The dormitories are still very basic and students still have to learn to cope with a roommate. School spirit has and will always be an important common area for students and faculty. The Mulerider sports teams have always experienced increasing support from the school, and the community. This is very unlikely to change anytime soon. Although, tuition rates are ever-rising, the fact that they are terribly expensive has always been clear. Technology hasn’t changed the way that faculty and students can still carry on intelligent conversations with one another, and connect with each other on an intellectual level outside of the classroom. This teacher-student bond will continue to strengthen even as the Internet grows. Online classes,however, may be an exception. Lastly, the reasons for being in the classroom have not changed. Students and faculty have always gathered in class to reach a common goal, whether it be to obtain a degree or to earn a higher salary.
With the advancement of the Internet and other technology, education is always changing. There are many similarities as well as differences between today’s learners and the older educators that teach them.
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