By Jennifer Davis
Walking around campus a few years ago, greeting people and smiling was a common practice. But now, especially around 3 in the afternoon, it is increasingly more difficult to greet anyone because of the cell phone or iPod attached to people''s ears, said Janet Young, assistant professor of teacher education.
Young addressed the rise in technology and how it is influencing how individuals relate to each other, how they think and act, and how they see themselves as literate individuals, in her House of Learning Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006, in the HBLL Auditorium.
'We live in an era of cell phones, blogs, e-mails, internet, television, movies, CDs, iPods, cell phones, laptops, which have created opportunity for us to connect with anyone, anywhere and anytime,' Young said. 'We may also become increasingly insolated from one another when it is so easy to interact with those not present. We can readily isolate ourselves from the world around us.'
Losing interaction with people occurs when one always tailors to their own audience instead of those who are presently around. This may lead to a missed opportunity to meet someone who was meant to uplift or influence, she said.
Young said she saw an example of this when she was walking on campus and saw a young woman repeatedly yelling out to a friend she recognized. The friend just kept walking away without any notice to the young women. Young then recognized little white strings coming out of the friend''s ear as he walked into the library and the young woman gave up trying to catch his attention.
Every time we choose to be on the cell phone, we choose to not be speaking to someone else around us, but all life decisions are like that, we cannot have it all, said Roni Jo Draper, associate professor of teacher education.
'I am a mother of teenagers, and I can be in contact with my kids all the time,' Draper said. 'I am a different mother because I can talk to my kids on the cell phone.'
Young said she knows technology is marvelous and amazing but wonders at what cost.
'I just wonder where is the balance,' she said. 'Who we are as literate individuals allows us to create harmony in our lives.'
The rise in communication tools could possibly be affecting students to be more dependent on other people. The thought of turning off the cell phone for more than a couple of days would more than likely shoot fear into people''s lives, Young said.
Before his mission, Austin Alm, a freshman from Sandy, didn''t have a cell phone but now that he''s away from home he uses it to call his parents four of five times a week.
'I feel dependent on my phone because when it broke, and I didn''t have it for a day, I was freaking out,' Alm said.
Another effect the rise of communication is having is that people are far more aware of the more personal details of other''s lives. It is easy to be aware of exact locations of friends, to know when someone is eating dinner, in the library, or wherever they may be or what they''re doing, Young said.
The way people think is also being influenced by their literate abilities. Literacy was once defined as the ability to read and write, but now there is a much broader definition. Literacy now includes computer literacy, listening skills, language skills, ways of thinking and viewing images, icons, logos, videos and more.
What we do shapes who we are and the tools we employ influences the way think, Young said. For example, the laptop changes the speed and motion in which we work. The easier editing of a laptop compared to pencil and paper allow a writer to dump ideas and think more freely.
The way individuals think of themselves is also influenced by their literary activity. According to research, people form sense of self in the ways others interact with them, Young said.
'I like to use the metaphor of a mirror,' Young said. 'I don''t know who I am until I interact with others and see how I interact with them.'
The rise in technology and our need of technology is compared to a mountain and river. The river flows according to the shape of the mountain, yet the shape of the mountain is slowly shaped by the way the river flows. The technology industry is changing because of the consumer needs, and the consumers are changing because of the rise in technology, Young said.
'I am fascinated by the idea that we, as literate selves, are shaped by the technology we use, but our literate selves also shape technology that is available,' Draper said.