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Stephanie RichterEnglish Composition 289Dr. Sonja Andrus20 May 2012 Even E.T. Phoned HomeLove it or hate it, technology is not only here to stay but also ever changing. Long gone are the days of watching children play telephone with two tin cans attached by a string. Today there are nearly as many children walking around with cell phones as there are adults. Smartphones have surpassed any expectations I could have ever imagined for a telephone. Smartphones are the equivalent of having a computer in the palm of your hand. In today’s fast-paced world, one is only as current as the information at our fingertips. Students today can literally take their education anywhere they go. Technology advancements have been designed to aid amateur users in a manner that allows them to multitask while still living life at a fast pace. Having the ability to access random or specific information at the tap of a key has increased the literacy of our society. Smartphones allow their users unlimited contact to a world full of possibility. Using apps, technology has increased literacy on a mobile level. A few of my favorite apps are speak-to-text, Blackboard, New York Times, and social media sites. I also love the dictionary/thesaurus app and use it the most. Being able to just open the app, type in what I am looking for and have a response in seconds saves me a lot of time. I honestly cannot remember the last time I sat down with an actually dictionary/thesaurus in book form. Technology is rather costly and those that need interactions do not always have the means to attain them. Dennis Baron, author of “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies”, explains that, “literacy has always functioned to divide haves from have-nots, and the problem of access to computers will not be easy to solve” (83). Prices do come down as new technology is released that promises to increase our literacy skills, but the cheaper versions of them become obsolete to those that purchase them based on cost over need. My current favorite upgrade in technology is White Cloud. I can write my assignments on the go, and then upload them from my phone to my home computer. The function I enjoy most is spell check. However, I think it has also made me a lazy writer when I have to go “old school” for a time. One thing that cannot be shown through a written message is tone and verbal affliction. These are but two reasons why face-to-face conversations are necessary for certain topics of conversation. Written words can cause confusion without “tonal cues of the human voice as pitch and stress, not to mention the physical cues” (Baron 75). I once had a friend read a text message with the wrong “tone” and we did not speak for months! She was already in a bad mood and read my message as snarky when that was not my intention. That is an example of a time we should have used our cells as “phones” and not rapid message senders. Our society has become addicted to social networking. It seems no matter where I go there are always people with their cell phones in their hand. An example by Baron is that, “the introduction of the telephone for social communication also required considerable adaptation of the ways we talk” (78). Whether one is checking the stock market, texting, or working on a presentation, our society has lost the ability to make eye contact with another human being. Now I may have mastered the art of walking and chewing gum, but I have not yet managed to be able to walk and text, nor do I wish to do so. Literacy has come a long way since the stone ages. Then a “tablet” was just that, a chunk of stone and a chisel. Today a tablet is a laptop like device that weights under three pounds. They can be used in classrooms as literacy aids or for personal use. “Of course first writing technology was writing itself” (Baron73). I have become so dependent on my Word program that it has begun to carry over into my “old school” writing. When making a list of references for a paper I once sat staring at the paper waiting for the web address to turn blue, so that I could continue. One of the most iconic moments from the film, E.T. is watching his finger light up as he points to the sky and says “E.T. phone home”. Individuals may now use phones for so much more than verbal communication alone. With apps such as Skype and Face Time, people can interact with friends and loved ones face-to-face over distances both near and far. Ultimately, technology is what a person chooses to make of it. Increasing ones literacy is also a state of mind. I choose to expand my vernacular by using my Thesaurus and I choose to also be lazy and allow my spell check to chase and correct my spelling as my thoughts flow through my fingertips onto my qwertyboard. I do not feel that this makes me any less literate than writing by hand. Properly using technology has helped me to feel that I am providing a more professional version of me than I would with pen and paper. Work CitedBaron, Dennis. “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies.” Readings in Literacy A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Ellen Cushman, Eugene R. Kintgen, Barry M. Kroll, & Mike Rose. Boston, MA: Bedford/Sr. Martin’s, 2001. 70-84. Print. ................
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