Overly Positive

By now, many of my friends and those of you who have kids or know students have returned to the Back to School grind. With summer nearing its end, and beaches and grills giving way to schoolbooks and classrooms, students drag themselves off to yet another set of classes on the road to bright futures as part of the working force. Sure, it might seem like it sucks to be sitting in class instead of out taking in the sun, going out with friends, or otherwise relaxing, but hey – you should see what it’s like not to have summer vacation, right? Count your blessings, students!

Anyway, the really cool part about being a student these days is the veritable technology toolbox that they have at their disposal. I’m really going to be revealing just how old I am (I can still go, by the way, I just need a nap first), but “back in my day”, the Internet was at its genesis. Google was just a simplistic search engine and a twinkle in the eyes of its creators. Wikipedia didn’t even exist as a resource. Collaborative efforts through online classes and activities were crude and primitive at best, limited to a couple of “hyperlinked” webpages meant to show that yes, professors could keep up with technology as much as they could their books.

Nowadays, professors have had to adjust to make writing papers more of a challenge than just looking up a few things on the Internet and slapping something together. Classes can take the form of online chatrooms, streaming live media of lectures, and community blogs where students can edit, discuss, and work on content together, sometimes in real-time. Technology in the actual classroom has become more prevalent, with laptops making more of an appearance as a supplement or even replacement to notebooks. And technology-related classes have turned from an interesting perk to being an essential part of one’s career in that chosen field.

Some crazy luddite-types out there would decry the advancement into technology in the academic and educational world, saying that resources like Wikipedia and the Internet at large cheapen the learning process, turning out dumber students overall. I say, not so much. To use the technology tools out there is actually an enhancement to a student’s career, not a detriment, and computer skills in general are becoming more and more of a necessity in today’s fast-paced, Twitter-fueled need for real-time updates. Academia, like everything else, should be adaptable and malleable, able to adjust to the new information age and the Internet as a medium for delivery for – well, just about anything. The long and short of it is, the Internet isn’t going anywhere, and the technology tools that it delivers are more of a benefit to students.

Frankly, I wish I was still a student. There are these crazy things called “responsibility” and “bills” and the ever-looming “mortgage”, and were I to have access to the technology that students have today, I’d have had a much more fulfilling experience in school than I did. But I suppose being independent, successful, and cutting a paycheck for myself does have its benefits.