Journal #1

Finding New Ways to Connect: Professors adjust their methods to reach technology-savvy generation. By Eleanor Yang Su

This article, Eleanor Yang Su discusses the use of technology in and by colleges. She points out the many ways in which students now use technology in their daily lives and the effects of their multitasking. The way in which colleges and professors are finding ways to relate and integrate new technology to better reach the students and even keep them involved.

1. What are the effects of “multitasking”?
According to students there are many advantages to the multitasking allowed by technology. Cell phones allow a constant connection to others (talking or texting), and laptops being used for note taking and web surfing. All these things being done at the same time, is the world of speed and mobility that students live in. A UCSD freshman, Anjali Nigam says the key to multitasking “is to adjust to the situation”. However research shows, no matter how comfortable with technology and multitasking a person maybe, “that people make more errors and complete tasks more slowly when trying to do several things at once”.

2. How will colleges and professors overcome the distractions posed by student’s multitasking?
Many colleges and professors have shifted to online tools, anything from registration to chat groups for discussion. Professors are integrating technology into the classroom as well to help “make an impression in the classroom”. Multimedia and digital presentations, such as PowerPoint, are finding their way into the classroom supplementing lectures.