Sunday, June 21, 2015

The Power of Technology

As this year has truly opened my eyes to global issues, one issue that is very applicable to me and many of my peers is the use of technology.  Technology is what we use to communicate with others, to entertain ourselves, and even to learn.  I'm doing my English final on a blog on the internet for crying out loud!  Most of my classes require that I have a phone, computer, or even tablet to complete assignments nowadays.  Technology is so vital to our society, and it seems as though it would be weird to live without it.



Although technology can have a bad reputation, I strongly believe that technology is what created the best experience I could have had in AP Language and Composition.  I took this course to learn how to write, while also getting the great opportunity to learn about authors, controversial issues, and how to express myself.  With the use of technology, we have been able to watch speeches of people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK.  We have been able to watch interviews, see and read the news to begin a discussion, read other students' writing to get inspiration, and we were even able to share our own work with other students for feed back.  To be honest, before coming to this class, I was sort of scared of technology.  I had no social media, and I was a rookie smart-phone-user.  After taking this class, I look forward to sharing my opinions with others and I even read (and follow) the news on social media to stay in touch with the world.  I have really opened up, and have changed as a person in some subtle ways.  I have embraced change in order to learn and move forward.  The incredible experience from this one class has made me change my habits, my views, and my way of expression that I hope to carry on with me for the rest of my life.

The following is an excerpt from an essay I wrote, called "A Vast Thriveland, a Vast Wasteland: The Power of the Internet". I argue about the positives and negatives that technology (specifically the internet) can have on society.  For me however, technology has opened doors, especially for learning and thriving in AP Language and Composition. 
 
A Vast Thriveland, a Vast Wasteland: The Power of the Internet
            Newton Minow addresses the power of television to the National Association of Broadcaster in May of 1961 to his audience.  Very seriously, he makes a reasonable claim that although television does has limitless capabilities, he does not agree that all of those capabilities are for the good.  However in the “Vast Wasteland” address, his assertion of having the responsibilities be carried out by the government is incorrect.  Much like the awesome power of television, the internet in today’s modern technology creates good and evil influence.  It provides people knowledge of occurrences in the world, but is not always beneficial to society, and definitely should not be controlled by government.
            The internet provides easy access to news in an instance, whether it be local, national, or even international news.  From this technology, our world view is broadened, we become informed citizens, and essentially have front-row seats to history whenever and wherever we are.  Above all, news keeps mankind safe in emergencies.  In New York City on September 11th 2001, a group of Muslim terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, resulting in about 3,000 deaths.  Once this had occurred, the internet was a valuable resource for keeping the nation and rest of the world updated on the terrorist attack.  As a result, people not only became informed, but also became aware and cautious of other people and their own surroundings for their own safety, all because of the good influence of the internet.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mv_CnbCJW_btRM8BI-n9NErnrHjifsn2iWoEB1kYSLk/edit

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