We often hear about media and technology in a negative context. We hear about the problems that occur because people spend all their time on the computer and they no longer interact with others in person. If this is the case, they have stopped part way through the purpose and potential of social media.
Last week, I had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Zappala, who is one of the professors for the Digital Civilizations class that I am taking. He said something about how technology and social media today should be helping us interact with more people and if successful, should lead to in-person interaction.
If we use technology and social media to our advantage we have the opportunity to connect with and meet up with others faster or more often. I have seen this in my own life. Thanks to texting, Facebook, etc. I can contact someone usually in a number of minutes, regardless of if they are at work, in class, out of the country, etc. As we have been counselled by our church leaders, we need to be careful about using moderation and not "living" in the virtual world. (Elder Ballard's talk, "Let Our Voices Be Heard" and Elder Bednar's talk, "Things as They Really Are"). We need to recognize the amazing tools that are at our finger tips though. We have the opportunity to connect with people who we otherwise may not be able to connect with and contact.
This applies to our opportunities to learn today too. As Marshall McLuhan stated, "today . . . most learning occurs outside the classroom". We no longer are able to learn everything we need to learn in the classroom and from our textbooks. As students today, we need to learn how to learn beyond what we learn in the classroom so that we are prepared for jobs and life out in the world. We have so many opportunities to learn from the ever-growing mass of information on the internet, and this class has helped me realize the valuable sources that are available to us.
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