Technology: A Help or a Hindrance

In so many settings, I have seen technology make our lives easier. For example, at the summer camp that I work at, we have computers in the main lodge. Originally, I couldn't see the purpose of having computers for campers to use. Couldn't they unplug themselves for their week's stay at camp? However, eventually I found these computers to be very helpful, especially when I had homesick campers, toward the end of each week. If they were worried that their parents wouldn't get the letter that they had written before camp was over, I could suggest that they emailed their parents. In addition, we would get an almost instantaneous response from their parents, instead of having to wait a few days for the mail to arrive. This was often much more comforting to the children, and also made my job a lot easier. Another example of useful technology is exemplified through my cell phone. I love getting emails on my phone because it saves me from having to log onto the internet several times a day in order to check my mail. In addition, it also allows me to respond to my friends, coworkers, and classmates very quickly.

However, on the flip side of the coin, we have become so accustomed to depending upon technology that when it doesn't work it is very frustrating and often debilitating. For example, most of my classes are set up so that all of our homework is on angel. Therefore, when angel is down, it is nearly impossible for me to get any homework done. This is not only frustrating, but it causes me to easily fall behind on my homework. In another instance, I rely on video chat on my computer to communicate with my classmates in Maui and Guam for a project for my Deaf Education class. When we logged online last night and couldn't locate eachother, none of us knew what to do. By the end, we were all frustrated because we had spent an hour trying to find one another and worked on very little of the actual project itself. Therefore, although technology makes our lives a lot easier, we have come to rely upon it so heavily that when it doesn't work, it can also make our lives much more hectic.