The future looks Bright

       

Bright Future

Technology has advanced at astonishing rates, making daily living easier, making communication cheaper and simpler. With the growing popularly and accessibility of Smartphone’s, tablets and computers, it’s like the Internet is everywhere. As technology developers so are the technology skills of the consumers. Each day more new content online is being created. With the rapped development of technology and boundless creativity, the possibilities of the future are endless.

            New forms of education have flourish through this period of Internet creativity and technology accessibility. Sites like Khan Academy have emerged, which have ample amounts of videos varying in different topics like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Personal Finance, etc. Salman Khan in a TedX presentation, emphasis the power and influence Khan Academy can have in a teaching system. My two favorite examples are, 1) Teachers being able to track students development and being able to see in which areas specific students are excelling and struggling at and 2) students can learn at their own pace, with out the pressure of keeping up with others students or being held back. This is not to say that classrooms teachers will become obsolete. I believe that it’s important that different fields adapt as technology develops and becomes more intertwine with our daily lives. Perhaps the role of teacher standing in front of a classroom and “teaching to a group” of students is not the answer. Maybe through technology and convergence programs like Institute of Play, where they believe  “The real work of a 21st century education is to spark the passion for lifelong learning that our kids will need to navigate their way to a promising tomorrow”.

            With the accessibly of the technology and the interment people are creating content at an astonishing rate. The ability of creating and share content endlessly and in a cheap manor has given rise user generated content and Mass Amateurization. Technology and the Internet have granted the everyday day person the ability to voice their opinion and share there lives online. This phenomenon is the reason why Content Generating and Sharing Sites like Facebook, Instragram, twitters, etc are so popular. They let people interact with one another in a simple and cheap way. Clay Shirky would argue, “Most-user generated content isn’t ‘content’ at all, in the sense that of being created for general consumption, any more than a phone call between you and a relative is “family” generated content” (85), and I agree. But I think this “family” generated content serves greater importance to the person sharing it than the 3^rd person viewer. This amateur generated content may lack interest or professionalism but it doesn’t stun creativity. Much like rather side with In Henry Jenkins. Jenkins “Why Heather Can Write” illustrates how fans and fan fiction can great a place where people can meet and create content based on a favorite show, movie, book, story, etc. This illustrates the true power and benefit of mass Amateurization, the power of creating continent, which is what makes social interaction on the Internet so appealing.           

Self Learner

Some people are spectacle of the future and others are excited. The Internet and technology are tools that have made our lives easier. But they are just that, tools, they are not to blame for any negative or positive effect they may posses in technology. Because they are only tools, the responsibility of how they are used the content created is solely to the people who use it. With the massive amount of content created by people, Shirky argues, “has created a filtering problem vastly larger than we had with traditional media” (99). Although this is true, Mass Amateurization effect creates more of a demand from Professionals and us as content creators and consumers. People have to become their own guardians, dictating right from wrong and choose where they receive their news and information. I’m all for people being their own gate keepers and questioning the integrity of the content they consume.

Reading is still Very important. A deep appreciation of reading and Learning through reading has to continue to be instilled into future generations.  Much of the adversity and our inability to properly resolve problems come from people’s apathy and lack of reading. When it comes to news and learning, too much is dependant on what we get from the television. Peter Finch, A character in the film Network (1976), goes on a rampage speech attacking viewers for their simple-minded naiveness.  Reading and learning allows the mind to develop and handle more complex and challenging thoughts and ideas. A person who reads is a self-learner. This same person has to be thought to questions the content of which he reads his information’s from, being his own gatekeeper. The accessibility of technology and the Internet have made our lives much easier, but have also demanded more from us. It demands us to keep up with technology and to continue to grow as it does. Technology and knowledge will not stop growing or expanded and nether should people.

My goal is to inspire and challenge people. To create content that will require my audience to think, use prior acquired knowledge, get emotionally involved, and appeal to their better nature, in order to inspire them to achieve what ever their minds in vision. Convergence Culture, Storytelling and Technology are essential to Human life, they help people communicate and make sense of the world around them. But they are all tools, tools that if miss used can hold back the growth our civilization. As the 1^st generation of Internet users, I don’t think the mass majority of people don’t realize the potential the interment has. The future looks bright, but it is what we make of it.

Citation

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.

Pavlik, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication. 4nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.