The Information Highway

Life in the new world (the years leading up to and including the year 2000 that we now call the digital age) is something that is changing and being constantly manipulated. Everything that we knew 30 years before has all been changed. We can clone animals (to the extent of the public's knowledge), we can shoot a vaccination through the skin of a human without the use of a needle, and cell phones have never been smaller or smarter. However, what is the biggest worldwide explosion in the known world (which is everywhere) today? No, I don't mean G.W.'s infamous weapons of mass destructions. I'm talking about the Internet, with all of its inclusivity. Technology today has far surpassed what it was several years ago, and today we as people have a lot to show for it. Technological advances means advances in medicinal research, leading to the cure for diseases. Advances in technology can lead to better driving, easier banking, and safer (yet more automated) lives.

There is one realm that is changing how we as scholars go about our daily lives. I'm talking about the educational system. The advances in technology (computers, the Internet, the iPod) have all drastically changed how we learn. Teachers now frequently use the all-powerful PowerPoint, especially in collegiate settings. Since there are a large sum of students, PowerPoints mean a rise in learning. Or so it seems. According to Hall and Hass, they seem to agree that even though the way we interact and communicate is changing our culture, our culture is not the one changing. Instead, the tools with which we communicate is changing. Instead of papryus paper and a stylus of some kind in ancient egypt, we know have a keyboard and mouse. According to Hall, the Internet (more specifically Second Life) is "an extension of their own real world identity to further their communication networks" (Hall, 408) Is this any different than writing it down by hand? I don't seem to see it that way at all. 

Even though I fully agree with Hall and Hass about how technology changes and writing doesn't, one man (and I'm sure many more who just don't document it) disagrees with. In short, Rashke believes that the information highway is dumbing down the americans of today; in a way I don't disagree with that statement. I'm sure that he can argue that sites like youtube and facebook are unnecessary extensions of ourselves that we portray in such a way that we ridicule our own present and past societies and to an extent I agree. The garbage that is posted on youtube daily is a waste of everyone's time. and so-called "facebook fights" are absolute trash; there is just no need. However, to everyone pro there is also a con. Nothing is perfect, and the Internet is one of the greatest example of that (its right behind Windows Vista ;). One like Rashke can poke holes through the information gateway, but I am more than confident to say that it is not some kind of fad. 

Despite this, the Internet is becoming one of the leading tools that professors today use to fully utilize the teaching and educational system. I have already had a class speaker come all the way from Japan on a school year. How is he able to do this and still be on time for his class you ask? Our one and only. I never thought that one of the first "milestones" for my orientation into college would be setting up an email address, but what better way to conserve paper and get important information to students? What better way for students to communicate to their teachers after class? No, seriously, what better way? The answer is simple that there isn't.

The Internet today is one of humanities greatest achievements, not only in the education world but the everyday world as well. How we communicate with each other is something completely knew and surprising, but it is changing and becoming more friendly everyday. The technological Revolution is happening, and the only thing to do now is let the good times roll.