Greener Pastures
jigual@theguidon.com
The availability of technology makes our generation very fortunate. No longer do we labor in front of typewriters for a reflection paper, spend hours developing a photograph for a class, and write key points for a presentation on Manila paper. All these can be done on a laptop with Microsoft Office and perhaps the right set of Adobe Programs. In a span of 10 to 20 years, technology has changed the landscape of education in the country. But as we become more reliant on technology, institutions expect more from our generation compared to the previous one.
Our parents will constantly remind us how lucky we are to have all these technologies at our disposal, citing that it has made learning so much easier. Yes, without a doubt, the internet has revolutionized the way we learn, the way we think, and the way we behave. It has come to a point that our lives are very much dependent on the internet because of social networks and instant messaging. Everything, in theory, should be easier.
Given all the power we have now, students are expected to have better presentations in class, well-thought-of papers, more research sources, better video presentations and photographs. While excellent output normally does not pose a problem, the insane time pressure to finish all the work is sometimes quite unrealistic. This is the pay-off for the wonderful things technology has given us. This increased quality of output has taken a toll on most students, reducing our sleeping times to almost zero during those dreaded hell weeks. Yes we are a generation blessed with technology; however we are also a generation blessed with coffee, Sting, Cobra and an increased pressure to do better.
Has it occurred to you that 20 years ago, new technologies were emerging so quickly that the demands from students during that time were also drastically increasing? Going back 40 years ago it’s the same thing, the emergence of newer technologies were also changing the way students adapted to education, and likewise the output as well. So what we are experiencing now is not really something new.
We are in a vicious path. We now live in a different era, an era of adaptation. HTML we learned back in High School is no longer the same HTML used now. Actionscript 1.0 for Flash is practically obsolete, as Actionscript 3.0 is the new standard. Dial-up internet is a thing of the past, tablets are becoming essential, communication and connectivity is perhaps the most important thing in the world right now.
Times have truly changed. No longer can we sit back and relax because every few months something ground breaking comes out and changes just about everything. It has come to a point that we learn, forget, and learn new things so quickly that we may have just forgotten the true essence of learning. We are generation learn, relearn, forget and learn more. Welcome to education in the 21st century, students are no longer the sponges we were metaphorical compared to. Quite frankly, students are like computers now.
