I’m addicted to the internet. It’s kind of a problem. AP
exams are almost upon us, and here I am still stuck on the same chapter in my
AP Calc review book as I was two weeks ago.
Why? Because instead of holding a pencil or my homework or
my Barron’s book, my hand pretty much looks like this from when I get home to
when I go to sleep.
If my mom saw this post, she’d be disappointed.
This would be enough to make a case about how bad technology
can be for us. It doesn’t matter if we are online on a mobile device, or on a
laptop, or on an old dinosaur computer like the one my dear little brother
uses. The internet is addicting.
Which is why at school, most of my teachers do not allow us
to have electronic devices out. However, some do recognize their usefulness.
My AP Environmental Science teacher, for example, allows us
to have our phones out on our desks. We are free to check our text messages and
Instagram notifications, as long as we still do our work. Occasionally, she
even gives us assignments to do online, or asks us to search something up. She
would post worksheets online for us to look at (instead of passing out paper
copies), have us do quizzes (how much water are you really using every day?),
or check out a new app in the app store (used to scan the barcode of packaged
foods and see the health ratings and potentially harmful ingredients). She
integrates technology into our classroom very well.
My AP Art teacher also allowed us to have phones. After all,
most of us needed to use them to look up images for reference and inspiration. This
entire blog website was started at her request, so we can post those pictures
for her to look at in one handy place. As you can probably tell, I did not use
it much, but it was a good idea.
Other teachers don’t go quite as far as allowing cell
phones, but they use technology in the classrooms all the time. My AP Calc AB
teacher was proficient at operating the smartboard to teach us our math lessons
every day. My AP Psychology teacher frequently shows us educational videos to
elaborate further on topics. My AP US History teacher made fun powerpoints for
each chapter while he lectured. And so on.
Technology of all sorts has been worked into the classroom
and into our education, and my entire high school career would not have been
the same without it. I’ve been able to absorb information through all sorts of
different methods. Just having class discussions or textbook work would be so
boring without the occasional fun educational video to break it up. In
addition, we would have used up so many sheets of paper and dry erase markers to
do assignments and notes. Computers, phones, smartboards, and all the rest have
saved resources and made things faster, easier, more organized, and more fun.
My future career will involve the use of lots of technology.
Actually, it would be quite impossible to go without any kind of technology.
Almost everything now is computer-based, and every career field involves new
devices and procedures. Nothing is done in the old-fashioned way anymore.
Do you recognize these things?
I see things like this on a weekly basis, along with much, much more. Hopefully one day I will
get to use them. In case you can't already tell, I intern at the local hospital, and am around technology like this all the time. Some of it is older, like the pager and the dictation device, and some of it may be newer, but you physically cannot step into a hospital without encountering cool technology. Hospitals always have technological advances and new procedures in order to treat their patients.
Technology is everywhere, and we are still advancing. So even though some of the drawbacks of it include me not being able to focus on my homework these past few weeks (although I am a senior.. and I have senioritis... so that may be a factor as well...), it helps us in our everyday lives so incredibly much. I see new methods and procedures and inventions in the future, and I look forward to them. They will be helpful in the educational system and in my future career as a physician.
