I'm not a huge user of mobile applications but I know many people who are on their smart phones and applications A LOT. I even see young children playing with their parents smart phones and using the applications. I see it as a positive and negative.
One night while I was out at dinner with my other half, we noticed an entire family sitting at the table across from us each on their cell phones looking down. There was no conversation going on and I was actually curious as to what they were doing on their cell phones. Were they playing games? Reading the news? Facebooking? Texting? I'm not sure but I notice that with all the mobile applications and enhancements with cell phones, society is spending a lot more time on their cell phones. Will this negatively impact the social skills of our society as time progresses and more enhancements are made?
One positive about mobile applications, especially relating to education is that learners in developing countries have the same access to these applications (if they are fortunate to have a smart phone with access to internet/applications) as learners in non-developing countries have. It seems the playing field of access to education is slowly being leveled out. Of course, it will not be completely equal but with the use of mobile applications, at least a little more access to materials and resources are being provided to learners who may not have direct access to it in the first place.
Aloha & Have a wonderful, Blessed day everyone!
Hi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI definitely share your concerns on the dependency of smart devices. What you experienced with that family at dinner seems to be a rising trend. I notice it all the time, people sitting in a group, not speaking, using their phones or ipods. I have noticed this quite a bit amongst my friends and it troubles me. I also worry about the impact of this dependency on education. While I think the potential for mobile apps to be used in education is very exciting, I fear an over-reliance on technology in education. I worry that students will lose the basic skills of reading, taking notes, listening to a lecture. It seems like to be considered engaging, things have to be flashy, noisy, colorful, etc. Sensory overload. I definitely incorporate a lot of technology iin my classroom, it is fun and we just have to, in order to prepare students for the future. However, I am still strongly enforcing group discussion, reading, observing, brainstorming, traditional forms of art, etc. Thanks for sharing!
Aloha,
Alia