"Technology Autobiography"

       A smart phone, email, and my laptop have been the three most influential forms of communication technologies in my life. For better or worse each item has impacted my life. Each form listed has come with its own process. As I watched the video “Learning to Change, Changing to learn” I realized technology though often used as pleasure can be overlapped with the bettering of a person (especially communication technology).

            As a child of the nineties I have to rank my “Smart Phone” at the top of this list. As a communication technology it is capable to access all of the technologies I have mentioned in the previous statement. Having my email directly at my fingertips at all times is extremely beneficial. My smart phone is able to access each of these technologies and is fully compatible. My email is forwarded straight to my phone. My laptop backs up everything that is within the memory of my phone. The compatibility between my phone, and my laptop has created steps forward for my learning process. New information is streamed directly to the palm of my hand. Internet accessibility allows my academic life to travel with my every move. I can be contacted immediately for substitute teaching jobs. Websites, digital-books, and peers are always one click away with my smart phone. As with any technology my smart phone has had its downside towards my learning experience. Early before I respected the power the phone had to distract me from my academics, I allowed it to do just that.  I had to mature as a person to learn that each device had its appropriate time and place.           

            As an English major, writing has changed my life. Responding to text and writing for class has allowed me to move progressively towards my goal of becoming an educator. “Email”, in so many ways has made my writing substantially better. My writing is strengthened each day through email-based conversations with my professors. I have fully advanced most predominately through the use of email. My writing has grown through the comments and suggestions threaded in each email. Writing tips, and motivational blurbs have allowed me to grow academically. Email can be damaging towards learning as well. Emails may be lost. Computer crashes could result in files being forever whipped clean. Junk mail can overwhelm a folder and allow for emails of importance to never reach the recipient. For me, the positives of email outweigh the negatives. The benefits my writing has gained is immense. The writing I do is a process. My laptop is where I place my ideas.

            For many students a “laptop” embodies much of the importance towards his or her learning process, as shown in the video “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn”. I too have benefited from my laptop. Though similar to a cell phone, the laptop has generated distractions in the past for my learning experience. I now am able to separate these distractions when learning or creating is taking place. Each student in this video smiles as they talk about each different device. I feel the same when I gaze at my laptop. My personal, academic, and professional life is connected. The one student tells how video games allow him to work on problem solving within the classroom. He understands the importance to be able to draw connections between passions and expected work.

            Within the short Internet video one young lady addresses the fact that her phone allows her to take pictures for projects. I may not use my phone for this same purpose, but the accessibility I have with my phone in my hand allows me to draw a similar connection with this young lady. The young people in this video focus on the learning that stems from these advances in technology. When I gaze at my phone I think of email, which connects me to my laptop. The young people within this video find enlightenment in each of their selected objects. I too feel the ability these devices have over us. These students in the video seem to have figured out how to benefit from these advances sooner then I did in life. They allow these devices to define them. Early in my life I would have allowed my devices to distract myself from understanding myself academically. These young people allow for the definition to create a cross between academics, and pleasure. It is important for the viewer to understand that pleasure and learning should never be separated.