Thursday 12 May 2016

Researching for the Presentation

This week I began researching for our virtual environments presentation. I wanted to find out about the future of technology and where it was taking us as a society before looking at how it will effect the workplace and workplace relations. I began by looking into opinions on the positive and negative sides of technological advancements. We live in a world where everyone is constantly connected online through social media and social networking, young children are being given tablets and i-pads to play with, virtual reality is soon to become a readily available household means of entertainment, most people have one or many social media accounts through which they communicate, gather information like news, and even do the majority of their socialising.
There are sure to be some negative implications. What I have found so far is that yes, there are many advantages, for instance people who live in isolated locations can conduct business and socialise through sites like Second Life and other online communities, we can get degrees online, education is more accessible than ever. People have the ability to research any topic they like, yet if we become more dependent on technology, does that mean we could potentially become less human? Can technology be distracting for us by preventing us from focusing on more important things? There are other negative sides of technology such as the fact that it is incredibly difficult for parents to monitor and censor what their children are able to access online which could mean exposure to graphic or unsuitable content. I found an interesting article related to this aspect of my research here: http://www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/

This made me think about things like how it is great that children can sit inside and play xbox games with graphics that would have been unfathomable ten years ago, they can play online with other people from all over the world, however when children have access to this kind of technology they may go outside less, socialise less which means less exercise and less development of their interpersonal skills. I wish to elaborate on these ideas for the presentation.

Another issue is the ever expanding world of social media and how it effects our work ehtic. As a student I am constantly searching online for college related information, for instance I had an exam on film criticism this week. After doing my relevant reading (which I accessed online) I then began to explore podcasts and YouTube videos in order to expand my knowledge and gather a variety of perspectives on the topics I was studying. It provided me with far more insight than I would have had years ago when the college library was the only source of information. However, lately while studying I have noticed it is very difficult when connected to disconnect from the more distracting elements of the online world, for instance, the social media apps and websites that are so accessible to me.

I would like to find out more and weigh up some of the pros and cons of technological advancements for us and our day to day lives.

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