Essay 3: Digital Learning

Online classes are becoming increasingly popular within mainframe society. Turn on the television or listen to the radio and there is probably a advertisement for some form of online university. This is because the convenience has appeal to anyone wanting a college degree. From the single mother working two full-time jobs to the new high school graduate to the career driven woman who wants to get an master’s degree while keeping her full-time job, online classes are becoming the normal educational tool. With the new format of the classroom, different techniques and rules apply. Ong, Baron, and the NY times analyze some of the concepts that will be engaged in this essay.

The technology of online classes is only possible with the technology of the computer and essentially writing. In ancient cultures, writing was non-existent. Early Greek society, for example, was considered an oral culture because writing was not created. Eventually someone did create the alphabet and writing. Although thinking of writing as a new technology is farfetched in our minds, it wasn’t for the people at that time. In Ong’s essay, “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought,” he describes Plato’s Socrates reaction to writing: “writing…is inhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind what in reality can only be in the mind. Writing is simply a thing, something to be manipulated , something inhuman, artificial , a manufactured product” (Ong 21). Plato’s Socrates, though trying to be insulting, makes some interesting and true points. Writing is “artificial, a manufactured product” because it didn’t come from nature, it is a man made product. What I find interesting is his argument that it is non-human, because it is human. Only humans created writing, no other species are capable. It can be argued that all species are oral (with the vast “talking” within the rainforest), but only humans can use writing. And although writing was new for Plato’s Socrates at that time, we cannot live without it today.

Writing as a technology changes the way we interact as a society and culture. Oral cultures for example got (and get) their information from word of mouth, and as a consequence stories changed. Writing is permanent; it can’t be changed (at least when it is printed) unless someone creates a different piece of writing separately. This is important in history as a discourse. Written documents provide a look into the past. Ong states that “writing separates past from present” (26). This can be exemplified by early writings, like The Iliad of Homer. Without his stories written down, people today may have heard a extremely different story than that of the people in Homer’s day. By having this story written down, we can understand and listen to the same story that was told centuries ago. Our society today views writing and the ability to write important to survive. Many jobs entail a degree of the ability to read and write and most successful people can. If our society was an oral one, I believe things would run quite differently.

Computers are another technology that has increased in use over the past 30 years. People rely on computers for their jobs, school, and everyday lives. As the same with writing, computers change the way people interact in society. Information and knowledge are exchanged at a faster rate than a piece of paper can. This digital technology can also complicate things. Baron describes some conflicts with computers and internet including fraud and authenticity (80-81). With more papers, journals, books, textbooks, etc on the internet, it is more difficult to judge the reality of what is written. With so many people being able to access anything, anything can be written and posted. With books in print, for example, we know who wrote it, and where it came from. The NY Times article also addresses this issue. With children being able to access these areas, the learning they acquire is different than in a traditional classroom. This is where online classes come into discussion. With the increases and different uses of developing technology (from writing to computers) children and students are learning differently than before and I believe we as society must adhere to these changes. Online classes are a step towards shaping our lives to our changing society and culture.

{conclusion}

My mind is a whirlwind right now with the end of the semester approaching, so I think I might go off on a tangent in this essay. I think I need to rethink my introduction. I know what I want to say, but the way to say it right now, I’m having problems. I will put in my conclusion when I have a firm idea on my concept. I just wanted insight if this seems like a good direction to go. Also, I will have to go back and look at that NY times article to maybe find a quote, and Baron. THANKS!