My 50/50 with Technology

Prompt: What is my relationship to technology and in what ways can technology help me as a youth worker?

As much as I use technology on a daily basis, I can honestly say I could do without a good amount of it, or at least a lot of the updates and advancements in it. I know I have a pretty strong relationship with technology, but I often times find myself wishing that I didn't. When I am hanging out with my friends and realize each of us in the room is looking down at our phones for a significant period of time, it sickens me, even though I am guilty of the same. When I am at work and have to leave my cell phone in my car because they aren't allowed on the grounds, I find myself wondering too much about who may have called, text, emailed etc., or looking for it to occupy down-time (probably a large reason they aren't allowed to be on our person). So many different environments and times that I am using my phone or wishing I could and I really wish it wasn't that serious. It still seems crazy how relaxing and enjoyable four months in a foreign country was not having an iPhone at hand every and any second I need or want it.

Another negative factor for me in regards to technology is such a common use in classrooms now (this class for example as far as the syllabus goes). I am the type of person that learns and works best when on the paper in front of me. I hate reading off the computer and trying to complete anything other than a paper on the computer. Regardless the amount of pages, I will always print out any readings or pages electronically provided by professors.

Although I do find negatives in today's technology, I do agree that it can be very helpful in many ways. As far as being a youth worker, I believe it could be helpful in various ways as well, benefits varying in the type of work and environment you are working in. If you are someone not familiar in working in largely diverse communities and are unsure of terminology and way to discuss such topics, you can find articles, lesson plans, curriculum etc. in talking about these strategies. If you are in a teaching environment requiring lesson plans and activities, there are places online that you can find templates and/or helpful tips and guidelines.

Aside from using technology to search for help and resources, it can also be largely used to deliver information and materials to the population you may be working with. If you are working with visual learners, being able to show pictures and graphs that you may not be able to draw can be a big help. Technology gives us options; options we may have not had in the past that could greatly help people. For example, robotic prosthetics, giving more people the opportunity to take part in many taken for granted every day activities. There are countless areas of life where technology can come in handy and be very helpful, but we cannot ignore the negative effects it can have as well; I just fear that technology will eventually take over and it will be too late for us to turn around and be more selective in the areas of advancement.