My top three most influential communications technologies were my laptop, my cell phone and my iPod. Although these three technologies have definitely had a positive impact on my life up until now, I regret to say that they have also had negative implications.
I chose my laptop as my number one because without it I do not think I would have gotten this far in school. It has been my right hand throughout all my high school and college days and continues to play a major role today. I use it to do all my research as well as all my typed papers. For me personally, my laptop helps me learn new information about my subject field of ESL/Linguistics. For instance, I browse the web and read about different techniques to help English Language Learners. Although my laptop has helped me excel in my major I find it very unfortunate that I do all of my research on it. This is a negative aspect to me since I never find myself going to libraries or doing any of my research through actual books anymore and I feel as though this takes away from truly absorbing information.
I chose my cell phone as my number two because without it I would not be able to communicate with my family overseas as much. Through applications such as Viber and Whatsapp I am constantly reaching out to them. My cell phone helps me learn new information in my field since it is my medium to speaking with my Arabic speaking family. Whenever I have an idea to help English Language Learners I always contact my Arabic speaking cousins with my cell phone to ask them what they think as they themselves were once English Language Learners. While my cell phone really helps, it also plays a negative role in my life since it takes away from me socially. The use of cell phones has gotten me to a point where I could be out with a group of friends but sit on my phone throughout the entire outing.
I chose my iPod as my number three because it is my escape. I find my iPod really helpful especially as a Linguistics major since it takes me away from all the stress of my classes. It allows me to relax and clear my mind of the outside world. Without it I would probably go crazy with the amount of school work I have! Even though it relaxes me and teaches me patience it also hurts me since it disconnects me from reality. Being disconnected for too long is never a good thing since being disconnected from what is going on in the world does not allow you to be in complete control. How can you be in control if you do not know what is going on?
After watching the video, I realized that everyone is different in the ways which they use technology. Everyone uses them for different things and not everyone is going to rank my top three as their top three. However, I also came to realize that we are still similar in the sense that we use these technologies to get ahead. These technologies, whether it be a laptop or a camera, mean something to us and are things that allow us to express our passions for whatever it is we are passionate for. From helping us in school to helping us feel good, these communications technologies play major roles in all of our lives and of course everyone and everything has its flaws. Can't live with them; Can't live without.
To sum it up, communications technologies are for the better since they teach people to not be afraid to take risks and to try new things. They allow you to teach yourself how to learn and think in new ways which differ upon what type of technologies you are using. They are for the worse at the same time since they cause their users to become less independent and more dependent, for the most part.
