Week 3: Thing 7

A technology-related topic that I think about is how to be selective in deciding which web applications to use and follow.  I guess I see a potential downside in that it's very easy to become addicted to all of the online social networks, gaming, etc,  and how this can have a potentially deleterious effect on one's real-life relationships, be it with family or academic standing. Perhaps it's akin to how we're encouraged, as teachers, to give students time to explore a new material (such as math manipulatives in the primary grades) prior to beginning instruction using those materials.  It seems that our society in general is in a major exploratory mode with regard to constant use of technology and the rapid changes in online applications and developments. We discussed this in a previous class, and there clearly isn't an easy one-size fits all answer. Anyway, I think using these tools, we need to think of ways for them to have an additive value rather than a subtractive value. The amount of time that children are engaged with some technological device or another is key to my concern.  I need to realize that people are still connecting; it's just a different vehicle. I do sometimes miss the more personal, face-to-face connections of old, however. Would I have lamented the replacement of the horse and carriage for the Model T?!