What Do You See In Technology Teacher?

I interviewed my councilor, Chip Straley, about technology and how it affected his life, his students, and the way he teaches. His opinion, hilarity, and honesty made this one of the best interviews I have done in a while.

Chip, Straley. Email. 4 Dec. 2012.

Theatre teacher
Chip, Straley
(Picture taken by me)

Q: “Do you have a certain technological device (cellphone, laptop, etc) that you can't live without? And what makes that device so important?”

A: “No. I absolutely enjoy being detached from those damned evil contraptions that snare the unaware user and make themselves (the contraptions) an indispensible part of one's daily life. I sometime "forget" my phone on purpose. If I am not working, I seldom check my email. If I can separate myself from those things I do. Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!!!”

Q: “Being a teacher, do you see your students being mostly benefited by the use of technology (cellphones, laptops, iPods, etc), or do you see them as a distraction to their learning?”

A: “Both. I do see students using the devices to take notes and keep schedules and other organizational things that might provide some benefits. I also see them being an avoidable distraction and a problem in many other areas. I think the thing to recognize is that the device is not the issue. The focus and discipline of the individual using the device is the issue. Social obligations and polite niceties often get thrown out when the damn thing rings. Such issues are not the fault of the device but of the user. As in most things: training and education can overcome the idiocy.”

Q: “What is your opinion about the ever changing, technologically dependent, world we now live on?”

A: “It round and mostly blue and white. I like that it is here and that I am living. Other than that, TV helps me spend/waste my time and the computer games help keep me from killing colleagues and students and children - oops did I actually say that? Ooops. I mean, technology is only as important as we choose to make it. As I wrote earlier, escaping from that connection is one of my simple pleasures and if we (the users of the technology) choose to not use it when we wish, then we control it and it does not control us. I personally enjoy being able to disconnect and I think that ability helps keep me sane. More people (especially administrative types) should do so much more frequently.”

Q: “Do you think that the more we use technology the easier our lives, or the lazier of a society we become?”

A: “Again, the question implies that the device and not the user is responsible. Busy people are more busy because they can do more with their time. Lazy people are still too lazy to read the instruction manual and therefore do not use the devices exceedingly well. I do think that most of society is a lazy ass bum! Ask your fellow students if they actually read the assignment for the day: I believe that most will not have done so.”

It’s good to get the teacher’s perspective on things like technology and students once in a while. Chip's opinion and view of technology and students is bright and clear. He is not as attached to his phone as the students I’ve meet so far in college. I agree on not blaming technology but blaming on how people use it. If we were taught from the beginning how to use it we would not be so distracted by it and would have probably been able to use it appropriately. He is friendly about technology, sees it as something positive. Again, it’s all up to the user that determines if the device is well used or not. From here we can see that at least one teacher understands why students might get distracted so on so forth, but also does not accuse technology to be the main cause. In the end, it’s all up the student to choose how to use the technology around them to benefit or harm them.

                                     Perhaps one day, technology will be teaching us, literally.

Arizona Western College Student's view on Technology

I decided to interview an Arizona Western College student who I always see with his cellphone. While in class, outside of class, in the middle of a conversation he would take his phone out and text. Never the less I asked him some questions on his point of view and usage of technology. These were his answers:

Matt Red
(Picture taken by Me)

Interview questions-

Red, Matt. Text. 1 Dec. 2012.

Q: “Do you use any technological devices to communicate with others, work, and to get informed other than your cellphone daily?”

A: “No, I use my iPhone for all those things.”

Q: “What is it, other than calling/texting, that you use your cellphone for?”

A: “Emailing, Google to look up movies, to listen to music, mostly for entertainment.”

Q: “What would you do if you didn't have your cellphone?”

A: “I'd have no contact with anybody, I'd have no idea what's going on, I would be bored. When I'm around people I am fine, but when I am alone I HAVE TO have it.”

Q: “Because of the ever changing tech (cellphones, video game systems, etc) do you believe it is important to keep updated with it or does it matter? “

A: “I don't pay attention to those updates. To some it is important but not to me. I'm fine with slightly outdates technology.”

Q: "How is technology helping/not helping students these days?"

A: "It's giving students more opportunities and chances to learn using different methods. Technology helps expand the way teachers teach and the way students learn."

Matt Red is one of many students who depend so much on their phone. IPhones now are like mini computers and can be taken everywhere. Some students though are too dependent on technology, "I'd have no idea what's going on." At least he sees something positive other than technology being used for entertainment; he believes that it can be used in benefit to help teach students in new creative ways.

         Fun and short video relating to kids from today interacting with technology from the 1980's.

Arizona Western College's Technologically Hooked Students

Arizona Western College students eating lunch in the cafeteria
with their electronic devices.
(Picture taken by me)

I spent a morning in the Arizona Western College cafeteria observing students. As most were eating their meals, what caught my attention was the amount of students using their laptops, cellphones, iPods, almost never putting them down. They ate, they talked, while being connected to their devices. I asked a couple of students what they were doing, some were browsing the internet, others were simply wasting time, others were even working on homework due the next class period.

What surprised me about this is the fact that not even because they were eating did they let go of their electronic devices. Everywhere I looked there was always someone holding their phone texting or on a call. As people walked to and from class they would be checking their phones, there were a few people who instead of being technologically connected were instead talking or hanging out with friends. Though for the most part Arizona Western College students seem to be “up to date” with technology, as shown in this video:

Arizona Western College Students

(Video by Me)

As silly as the video may seem, as you can see outside on campus, inside in the cafeteria, at the school’s Starbucks there are people using their phones or laptops all the time. College students can not seem to be able to let go of their devices even when around friends or classmates. From what I could tell it was not a bad thing, they were simply multitasking. Though I can not say if this one day will affect the students negatively  is but it sure does entertain them. In conclusion, to finish school work, communicate through social networks, or text one another Arizona Western College students will always be on the hook with technology.

Observing Myself As I Waste Time

11/30/2012, I woke up around 10 in the morning and immediately turned on my iPod to check my Facebook and email. Afterwards I skipped breakfast and part of lunch to play some games on my Xbox. At around 2 P.M. I decided to finally go eat, telling myself afterwards I would work on my homework. After eating I watched TV for a couple of hours checking my iPod every 15 to 20 minutes. I completely forgot about my homework. I kept playing Xbox after watching TV and was online chatting with friends for the rest of the day. I did not realize I had wasted so much of my time until I checked the clock and realized my day had gone by. At this moment I recognized that I need help. Technology is taking over my time.



"Help!"
(Picture taken by me)

Not help as in, I’m addicted to technology, but technology has a lot to do with how I manage my time. My time now revolves around technology. The time I spend listening to music, to the time I spend playing video games, and even when it comes to checking my email do I lose track of time. I mentally do schedules of what I’ll be doing and how long will I be doing it during the day, but I never write it down and easily get distracted thinking, “I will have the time to do it later.” Technology does help me get connected with my friends and classmates, but there is so much to it, the amount of things I can easily get distracted with do not help me get anything done.

I’m surprised by what I found out about myself. I thought that because I had a mental schedule of my day I would actually do it, but I had never felt so not in control of my time. Everyone gets distracted every once in a while by the technology we have around us, all we have to do is manage our time better. There are many things I do in one day that I can change, one thing I will start with is making time management a priority.

Do you have the same issue as me? Take a look at this, you can start changing those little bad habits with the help of this video.


:] Thank you for reading my blog!

I am... Technologically Me



Me and Sarah Williams.
Me as singing hyper clown in the play "He Who Gets Slapped."
(Picture taken by me :] )

Hello! My name's Leticia Bridget Carrasco.
Anyway, skipping to the interesting stuff now. I'm a video gamer by heart, believer of science, starving artist (both in theatre and in the arts), stitched together with ink and imagination.
At the moment I am searching and developing theatre and stage skills. My most recent part in a play was in "He Who Gets Slapped, The Musical." Thanks to Chip Straley and the cast this has been far yet one of the most amazing experiences I've had working on stage.

My last year in high school I was the president of the video game club. It was the most satisfying and heartwarming experience. At school video gamers were stereo typed as lazy and nerdy. I turned such a stereo type into a much better one, a hard working group of people who love video games. Technology has not only followed me to this point in my life, but has been also introduced into the world of art in my life.

I also paint, sketch, feed my inner soul. It's a different type of "yoga" for me. I sometimes use "tablets" to paint on my computer, it's so much neater and any mistake can be easily fixed. I sometimes use the internet to look up other artists and get inspired by their words or art. The thing that sucks about this is that sometimes I feel the need to draw something that is closely the same as to what they have and does not let me be creative. It sucks to say, but even in art can there be plagiarism.

Inspired by a friend of mine, Tino Garza. Painted by me.

And I love the psychedelic band Infected Mushroo. http://infected-mushroom.com/
What is even more amazing is that I work for them. They might be all the way in Los Angeles, California, but because of the internet I can connect to them and work from miles away fixing their websites, posting and updating information on their facebook, etc. I don't think I would have the chance to be working with such a great musical band if it wasn't for the internet. It might some times distract me from doing homework or cleaning my room, but cleaning my room wouldn't have given me the chance to find a job and work for a band.

 

There is much more about me, I'm not much of a cellphone user, only when it comes to work or school. My fellow AWC classmates are probably more cellphone needy than me. I listen to music on my iPod, but I am mostly a computer and an Xbox user. I know of many classmates who share the same taste as me when it comes to technology. We some times send each other funny pictures through text in the middle of class, send a picture messege of the notes we might have missed, technology keeps us connected in one way or another.
I love silly videos, I am straight forward, and hopefully you keep reading these blogs to find out more about me and we can share this weird and new adventure of blogging and technology.


(Video Not related, but related to my likes :D)