The main thing I use technology for is schoolwork. I use my laptop in almost every class for usually the entirety of the class. That is mainly for note-taking because I type faster than I write and a lot of teachers lecture too fast for me to write everything down by hand. Many teachers also have a slideshow for their notes, so I like to download that and add anything they say onto the slide, but that is not really feasible to do by hand and it would be way too many sheets of paper to keep up with. Almost every assignment I have to do for a class also requires me to use my computer for. Assignments are posted on Blackboard, which means I have to access them through the site and I also have to turn them in digitally, so I am required to use my laptop to get work done. Any research I might have to do is also usually done online since I have access to more sources that way and can do it at any time of the day. Libraries are great, but they are not always easily accessible either because of their location or hours. In college, it can get more difficult because of the niche subjects being researched and the library may not have books on those subjects. The internet is truly the best place for research because it gives you access to everything, no matter how specific the subject matter is.
This reliance on technology I don't think is entirely my fault though. It is mainly because of the way society, especially education is run today. When I was in high school, there were only a few teachers who handed out paper assignments, information, or anything. Since I arrived in college, that number has dwindled down even further. I have only had one teacher who hands out paper and that is for my acting class because we use paper scripts. In all the rest of my classes, everything is provided to us digitally. Even textbooks can be purchased and accessed online now. Assignments too are another place where I can't escape from technology. Every paper I have had to write was required to be written in either Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Or if I have to answer questions for a class, those are done through a digital platform like Blackboard where I have to write and submit my answers through a post.
This is not to say that I hate technology. I enjoy using technology. I love being able to watch movies everywhere or play games with friends or the ease of having the world at my fingertips. I love not having to carry huge binders full of documents around everywhere or haul huge textbooks to every class. It is all so great and I would hate to lose it, but I know technology has its downsides too, which can't be ignored either. It is a hard balance that I think we as a society are still learning to contend with. With the rise of AI and machines, we are going to have to figure that balance out soon. We can't keep doing things the way we always have. Things are changing too fast and we need to adapt now before it is too late.
I think my relationship with technology comes down to how I was raised. Since my generation was the transition generation, I am more used to not having technology around and maybe that's why I prefer physical things too. When I was little I did not have a lot of technology in my home or school. But the newest generation will not experience this. They will be raised during an era where technology is everywhere. They won't know what it was like before, which is not inherently a good or bad thing, it is just something we as a society are going to have to realize. I will admit, I am a little worried for the youngest generation and the ones to come after. Kids will never have the same childhood that I did or even that their parents did. By the time I have kids, everyone could be attending school through virtual reality. There are just so many unknowns. My only hope is that we learn to be more careful with technology and don't completely lose our humanity to it.
