It’s easy to sit back in ones rocking chair, knitting needles in hand, with the radio blasting in the background while viciously condemning the technology of the new age. A familiar and vivid image for some, completely unfounded for others. For years the gerontocracy has been sounding the alarm of the effects new technology has on the brains of the “young ones”, warning that without severe moderation and control of this infernal technology the fabric of our culture may wash away. On the other hand, perhaps not. What if our improvements are actually that? What if the aids and advancements in technology actually lend aid to further advanced educational pursuits? Well, that would change everything.
Our first change comes with the simple introduction of an idea, accessibility. For the vast majority of the Anthropocene—or human dominated world—scarcity has been the driving force behind everything we do. By the 1950’s however, things were beginning to change. The consumer revolution, coupled with the newfound “American Dream” became the model by which everything was measured. The ability for everyone to have one or two of anything, like a television set for example, was, as the term would suggest, revolutionary. According to a study conducted by Andrea A. Lunsford and Keran J. Lunsford, the “advancements in communication and information technologies” had extremely positive effects on students. The study showed that between 1930 and 1986 the average academic paper length of student essays had nearly doubled, while error per 100 words went up only .02%. Furthermore, between 1986 and 2006 essay length had increased by a factor of four to an astonishing average of 1038 words per essay. The study concluded that the advancements in information technology do have a profound positive effect on students. However, this begs the question, are these longer essays proliferation, due to some technologically enlightened attitude past generations were closed off to, or is it just useless pontification?
The issue of whether the length has any relevancy to quality can be tied into the emphasis our society puts on written communication, or rather, how that emphasis has changed. There is no mistaking the increased capacity that written language has adopted in the recent decades. With the telephone falling out of favor in exchange for a more streamlined instant messaging (IM) service or the more formal E-Mail, written language has broadly surpassed vocal communication on a day to day front it seems. In a 2008 Pew Research Center article a reported 85% of youth engage in some form of electronic personal communication. Of the same surveyed students 57% say that while using a computer they are compelled to make revisions and edits more frequently, meaning the quality of written communication is also trending upwards. Another Pew Research Survey, this time a sample of teachers, reported that 79% of teachers thought increased technology leads to increased ability for students to collaborate. This means that not only are essays getting longer and students are putting more work into revising them, but they are also able to more effectively collaborate on their writings. Additionally, because of the increased emphasis written communication bears, it is more prevalent earlier in the lives of students.
Written language in early life has, traditionally, not played much of a role for children. The process of learning how to move the pencil to spread graphite in the shapes of letters is an arduous process for most and it occupies much of your early elementary years. However, with the increased usage of tough keyboards on phones and tablets, it seems children are learning their letters much faster now. The increased exposure to the alphabet does have its limitations however, with the increase of the before mentioned keyboards, students are not as efficient on desktop computers as past generations have been on their typewriters and early model desktops. Also, the infectious and pervasive texting slang have begun to spread into inappropriate academic settings with an astounding 64% of students admitting that have accidently incorporated “informal writing” into their academic papers according to the student Pew Survey. This, however, is a small price to pay for the seemingly rewired brains students are utilizing today and the increased quality of academic environments.
While the gerontocracy may still not be convinced of all the benefits digital and information technologies have had on students learning to write, they will be gone soon enough, and with them they will take their fearmongering attitude, overly cynical of “newfangled technology”. It is my hope that we, as a society can embrace the fullness of our potential and learn to grow in ways we didn’t think we could because of innovations we didn’t think were possible. Digital and information technology have a long way to go before they are done contributing to the fullness of the human story in the Anthropocene.
