As I was completing my paper about the new health care reform, I looked at my resources and groaned. They were all online since the legislation rendered all of my textbooks obsolete, and I couldn't remember how to cite a web page. So, I used google, of course, and came across something called Easy Bib. It helps you to properly format a bibliography and will even keep a list of your sources and put them into a word document. I was stunned and a little ticked off. I mean, how many hours did I spend as an undergrad, looking up the latest MLA or APA formats in the library, in an actual book, in fear that I would be docked grade points for misplacing a period. You can just push a button now?? Humph.
I got my first email address in college through my university in the mid 1990s. I still have the first personal email I ever had, a hotmail account. I thought it was amazing that I could get my email from anywhere! Was it magic?? I also remember my first friend that got a cell phone that wasn't a car phone. It was a pay per minute plan and it was as thick as a large textbook. We thought she was the luckiest, most tech savvy person that we ever met. When I was growing up we lived in a rural area and our olive green dial phone that matched our olive green fridge was on a party line, believe it or not.
It's amazing how we have adapted to so much change. I think about the childhood that L and E will have and it amazes me. They have access to so much information right at their fingertips. They don't have to actually open an encyclopedia to find out information. They can watch almost any program they want on TV with no commercials and at a time of their choosing. They will never know a world without the availability of internet, cable and gps.
It makes me feel old to say it, but sometimes I think all of this information at your fingertips takes the fun out of looking. I know all of these e-readers are really popular, but I like actually opening a book. Asking a local for directions might give you a better route than google maps. Don't get me wrong, I love the instant gratification of modern life, but I'm not so sure it's good for our kids. That doesn't mean I'm ready to give up using my phone to reload my Starbucks card, though.
I'm the sad Holly Hobby in the front.
believe it or not, i really liked our childhood set of encyclopedias! I loved looking things up.
ReplyDeleteOh I remember spending HOURS of time looking at our encyclopedias. Yes, this is partly why I don't do Kindles or have my son on a DS or Gameboy (or a cellphone). Sometimes being a kid in this technological age can be trying.
ReplyDeleteIsn't THAT the truth!
ReplyDeleteNo more waiting for Saturday morning to catch the cartoons...
Can you even IMAGINE what cell phones will be like when our kids are ready? YIKES!
Won't be long - houses will be built without phone jacks...
It's crazy!
I'm with Lori, I looooved my encyclopedias. But, alas, google is much faster. Maybe this will bring a new kind of treasure hunt for them...
ReplyDeleteI don't have a kindle. I do have a few free books on my ibook but I prefer to hold a book and feel the pages flip between my fingers.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy how much stuff has changed in such a short amount of time. I remember when I could chat with ppl and the screen was just a big black and green picture as we typed back and forth. Weird.
I remember my bff's car phone and how she was only allowed to use it in emergencies but I so badly always wanted to come up with an excuse to use it:-)
I know technology is awesome...I DO love my google and iphone...but it is sad to know most kids won't appreciate a lot of what they have.
Sheesh, I'm sounding like my grandmother.
the instantaneously of it all truly amazes and scares me. how much more instant can gratification get? it will be interesting to see....
ReplyDeleteas a teacher, i'm beginning to see unnecessary some skills are. Like ABC order: who needs it when you have google? or spell check?
ReplyDeleteI'm still teaching my kids to look through a dictionary. :)