Journal #5

Can You Hear Me Now?
By: Sherry Turkle

In this article Mrs. Turkle focuses on the fact that recent technology may be affecting the human way of living. She starts with writing about a conference she went to in Japan. She said that while the man on the big screen who was conducting the conference did not get the full attention from the audience that was deserved. They were attending to their e-mails using their blackberry, and their lap tops. People were even in the hall ways talking on their cell phones conducting business. Later she goes to tell the reading five reasons why this troubles her. The first is "There is a new state of the self, itself," this is where people take on virtual lives and play games i.e. medieval quests and second life. In this type of software humans can become someone different, therefore revolving their time around these games inducing isolation from the real world. The second example Turkle gives is "Are we losing the time to take our time?" In this paragraph she writes about people taking to time to answer e-mails at the same time as being in an conference, meeting, talking to your children, or walking down the street with your friends. She wonders if we are really taking the time for the things that really matter. She puts in an example of a woman who lost her blackberry. The woman literally felt lost without it. The next one is "The tethered adolescent," children now have a new found freedom with consequences. Teenagers are now able to leave the house further than before, but not without a cell phone. Their mom's and dad's set check in times for these teenagers, but now teenagers do not have to learn to be without their parents. They now do not have to learn what to do in certain situations pausing their development. In her fourth example is, "Virtually and its discontents," She talks about facebook and Myspace. Everyone puts their personal information on these sites, without thinking who might be looking at it. The primary thought would be "as long as I am not doing anything wrong, I don't care who looks". In this case privacy no longer exists and the government can now spy on anyone life. In her last example titled, "Split attention" was very interesting. She tells a story of when her and her husband took their daughter to the natural history museum, and her daughter made a comment about a turtle that was on display. Her daughter suggested that they should put an electronic turtle in its place because the living one was just laying there. Mrs. Turkle told her daughter that it was not the robots place to be there, that she should have a respect for living species. People are relying on robots more now than humans.

How much technology is appropriate for the classroom?

I am very excited to use the different technology in my classroom, but I think I need to make sure that I keep an appropriate balance of human contact VS. Technology. If I decide to use blogs for an assignment, or a discussion, I need to make sure that my class discuss their writings in the classroom with one another. Or if I decide to create an assignment using the computer or a website, I need to make sure that I teach and give verbal instructions as well as discuss the results in the classroom.

When should I allow my daughter to use these new devices?

I think this is a question that all parents ask themselves. I know that my husband and I discuss this on a regular basis. Like her having a cell phone. He wants to give her one when she is ten, and I don't want her to have one until she is fifteen. I do not feel that a ten year old should have a cell phone that young. She should not be anywhere where there is not a phone near by. Certain computer programs I do let her play now, most are phonics programs that help her learn words and letters. I even have a baby sign program for her and well and sign language interaction with me. Again this is a very hard and controversial questions between parents, I think with a well established set of rules, and appropriate ages our daughter will not lose human contact.