The benefits of "Living and Learning with New Media"

The article, Living and Learning with New Media, made me think about the benefits of technology in children and young adults' worlds. The article mentions they are "always on" but that does not necessarily equate to being a bad thing. Before the online community, kids could interact at school, in person during their own time such as play dates or organized sports/activities, and on the phone. However, now, kids have the opportunity to interact with each other where ever they are and anytime they need to. This gives them the opportunity to connect in more settings and in more ways.

Not only can they connect in more ways, but they can connect with different kinds of people. They can connect through shared interests with people outside of their local community. Before these technologies, in order to meet with people who have shared interests in other communities, you would need to travel long distances or talk on the phone. However, it was harder to get large amounts of people together this way. With the internet, kids from all over can come together to discuss their interests from the comfort of their own home. They are able to connect with a diverse group of people that they may have not been able to without the internet. This gives them social experience with people from different backgrounds who have different experiences. People may think that using the computer is an anti-social activity; however, it can be very social when you are interacting with others. This act is actually increasing social skills, not decreasing.

Using the internet, students are learning from doing as well as learning from what others are doing online. This is motivating because it is self-directed learning. In many school experiences, students may not be as motivated if they are not interested in what they are learning about. If self-directed learning through the internet is brought into the classrooms, students will be more motivated, and in turn, more engaged.