The Low-Tech Times, a fun Neo-Luddite blog on technology, linked to a blog post by Mr. Patty, an Ohio schoolteacher, who asked his students what they thought about the hyper-connectivity of today’s technology. His theory is that many technologies isolate us (texting, emailing, etc.) but that hyper-connectivity tools (twitter in particular) work to bring us back together and feel more connected. At the same time, they can make us into “connectivity addicts.” It’s certainly interesting to see a teacher talk about trade-offs with technology using a blog!
Selected Responses from Students
One positive aspect about being “hyperconnected” is you always can contact a person and know what they are up to. This allows you to keep tabs on all your friends and arrange plans much faster. … One negative factor about being “hyperconnected” is people are constantly on their phones, (me being one of them) and they don’t pay as much attention to the world around them.
There are so many awesome things about being hyper-connected!!! I mean when your bored and there’s nothing to do you can always just text or e-mail someone and have lots of fun. I mean you can’t hold on ten conversations on a phone, but you can hold up ten conversations in text message easy!! It’s a wonderful way to stay connected to old friends; I mean the only time I even talk to my childhood friend is on Myspace. I think its okay as long as it doesn’t get weirdly overboard … There are some down sides; people loose their lives doing this. I mean if you’re to the point where you don’t even go anywhere anymore than you have a problem. Or if you’ve gained ten pounds because all you do is lay around on the computer that’s bad…real bad. People still need to go outside, play some sports, and have contact with the outside world. That’s my opinion!!
The only problem with it is the fact that soon, if not already, we will become too reliant on technology.
Would You Do This in Church?
It’s interesting to see that kids who never experienced the world before hyper-connectivity are still able to see that there are pros and cons to these technologies. I hope Mr. Patty’s thoughtful exercise will not be the last, and that churches (youth groups, in particular) would also engage in this kind of thinking. If so, we might be able to prevent those cases where instead of us using technology, technology is using us.
Hey John I recently found your blog via a friend (Josh Lake who is a leader at GBC in College Station). I was a student in the youth probably your last year (I think…that was a long time ago.) Anyways, I think you’ve got a really interesting niche that your writing about and plan on keeping up with your blog and Twitter. your last comment about technology using us reminds me of an interview I saw with Kevin Kelley on technology as the “seventh kingdom of life” and discussing what exactly technology’s goals and wants would be if it had such desires. Thanks for the interesting thoughts.
I say,shut off your phone,close your laptop, and listen. Later on, they can go home and download my notes.