What has always been the one major difference between older faculty and incoming freshmen? Technology. Advances in technology will always set generations apart. The same holds true with political strife. Politics always change. Among with these differences only a few similarities are worth mentioning. Prominent among these is that throughout all of history generations have always been interested in higher education.
Technology is the ruling force in the world today. However, technology was not so prominent or advanced 40 years ago. There were no iPhones or iPods, no laptops or personal computers either. People weren’t constantly checking their phones for text messages or updating Facebook to let everyone know what they were doing at the moment. Because of this faculty don’t understand how and why the new ‘Internet Class’ is so obsessed with technology and their need to always be connected with people and be up to date on everything that’s going on. The new generation has grown up in a time where technology rules everybody’s lives. You can’t look around a room these days without seeing some new piece of technology that affects day-to-day life: smartphones, iPods, iPads, computers, the list could go on and on. Technology used to be used mainly for medicine and communication but now it is primarily for entertainment, music, and even social life. When you ask a roomful of the ‘Internet Class’ who has a Facebook account, 99% of the time every hand will shoot into the air. Today if you want to learn about somebody all you have to do is simply click a button. Technology has changed and with it so has humanity. This is why it will always be the biggest difference between the generations in the world.
Back in the 1950s the main conflict in the world was Communism, the Red Scare, and McCarthyism. Everywhere you looked someone was being accused of being a Communist. But Communism faded and so did the Red Scare. Then came was the Cuban Missile crisis, followed by President Kennedy being assassinated and a country in mourning. Political strife is as old as time itself. The older generations look back to times when this or that was happening and said those were the days and that was the worst moment in America’s history. Older generations try to tell the newer ones about these times but, mostly, the full picture and meaning escapes them. But what does stick with them is what happens throughout their lifetimes: 9/11, the Iraqi War, or the killing of Osama Bin Laden. These are the events the ‘Internet Class’ will always remember, the events they will look back and say that was the day America was attacked. But we came together and then later got our revenge. The political times and strife will always be different and will always set the generations apart.
Higher education is the one thing all generations have been most concerned about. The older generation and the new generation have the goal to expand their minds and to experience new things and to always learn new things. The only difference in this field is the emphasis that the government and people in general put on education. In earlier times the push on education was still strong but the expectations were not as high. Now, students must pass all these new tests and requirements just to get out of a certain class. The expectations are much higher and students are pushed to higher limits. Even though the emphasis has changed the push on education has stayed the same.
On some things the older generation and the ‘Internet Class’ will never be able to understand each other or come to terms. Older generations will never be able to understand why students of today are so entranced by their cell phones and the new devices that seem to come out daily. Likewise, the students of today can’t understand why their older professors and grandparents are so annoyed and exasperated by the new gadgets and how students can’t seem to put them down. One thing is clear though, there will always be differences between generations, that is the main similarity all generations have shared. They are different and have never completely understood each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment