Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How does technology influence education now
How does technology influence education now
Education technology and its impact on education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How does technology influence education now
Amusing Ourselves to Death: The Entertainment in Education Television and the visual culture are “creating new conceptions of knowledge and how it is acquired” (p. 145). Neil Postman in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death explains the effects of television and visual culture on the youth education curriculum. Postman believed it necessary to warn society of the consequences of living in a culture dominated by television. As for my opinion on this matter, I do not agree with Neil Postman’s statements in regards to television and our youth’s education. I believe it is not the crisis Neil Postman makes it out to be. In our youth education curriculum, teaching has developed to make learning easier for our youth to understand based on television …show more content…
I believe when a new technology is created we should use and enhance it to the best of its ability. If the new technology can be used to change the education curriculum, then I believe we are enhancing both the technology product and the education curriculum. If technologies change our culture it could quite possibly be for the better, and humankind could be developing for the better. The vital difference between the tradition youth education curriculum and the television curriculum lies within the main objective. The main objective for traditional education in schools is to encourage the development of language. The main objective for television is to demand attention to images. Neil Postman writes, “we face rapid dissolution of the assumptions of an education organized around the slow-moving printed word, and the equally rapid emergence of a new education based on the speed-of-light electronic image” (p. …show more content…
Television tells a story, but without any arguments or discussions of reason. Television is supported with images, and amusing music. I do agree with the third commandment. Television avoids explaining the entire theory or idea. I believe this to be true because, if it is explained the view does not have a reason to keep watching. Neil Postman’s thoughts toward television and education would sadly not change after thirty years, but more technologies such as laptops, tablets, cell phones, and even social media would be added to the curriculum. Neil Postman would most likely be appalled at the amount of information I learn through the internet, and the formats that I learn the information in. For example, BuzzFeed News is an application on my cellphone that give information through videos, music, and images. All the formats that television used, but quicker. In 1985, television was a platform to use for educational purposes and entertainment. It did teach our youth that teaching and learning could be both fun and educational. With new developing technologies, it is only natural for our culture of education to develop. Although the format of education changes, change is not a bad thing. I see images, video, music, and all media as tools for our youth to learn. Making viewers and users aware of the impacts is necessary to inform the generation to
Not only educational shows accomplish these goals, but fictional television programs can often incorporate information that requires viewers to grapple with a topic using logical reasoning and a global consciousness. In addition, not to diminish the importance of reading, television reaches those who may never pick up a book or who might struggle with reading problems, enabling a broader spectrum of people to interact with cognitive topics. Veith has committed the error of making generalizations about two forms of media when, in truth, the situation varies depending on quality and content. However, what follows these statements is not just fallacious, but
Even with these weaknesses, Postman makes a significant contribution to enlarging our understanding of television and the epistemology it establishes. He may be too fond of typographic America, but he has some very important things to say about how television works, and we should be paying attention.
In his novel, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman describes to the reader, in detail, the immediate and future dangers of television. The argument starts out in a logical manner, explaining first the differences between today's media-driven society, and yesterday's "typographic America". Postman goes on to discuss in the second half of his book the effects of today's media, politics on television, religion on television, and finally televised educational programs. He explains that the media consists of "fragments of news" (Postman, 1985, p.97), and politics are merely a fashion show. Although Postman's arguments regarding the brevity of the American attention span and the importance of today's mass media are logical, I do not agree with his opinion of television's inability to educate.
Postman has valid points when he claims that television and media are destroying the American society. Postman is right to assume that television is manipulating the way Americans think. However, television can provide Americans with both right and wrong morals. Since this book was written in 1985, Postman could not have predicted the influence technology has on the current American population. The theory he applies to television is similar to the theory he probably would have used on modern day media. The dependency we have on media reiterates Postman’s thesis that Americans are losing critical thinking skills and basic human values.
Postman wrote three different commandments emphasizing why television debilitates the rules that are applied I schools, and colleges. These three commandments are “Thou shalt have no prerequisites” which he explains as not needing any previous education nor continuity to watch a show, also a viewer can watch when ever they desire to do so without punishments being implied if they do miss an episode. The second commandment is “Thou shalt induce perplexity” which postman defines as a learning that does not remember or cares for the content of the show. And the last commandment is “ Thou shalt avoid exposition like the ten plagues visited upon Egypt” which means that as long as the content in television is placed in a theatrical manner in which music has to be playing in the background, it has to be written as a story, and it has to include drama, action, or emotions then television will never be educational instead just way of
...d that television holds on us, Postman give two ideas. The first idea that he gives, he describes it as ridiculous to create programming that demonstrates how “television should be viewed by the people” (161).
As I read Television as a teacher written by Neil postman, His main argument throughout the article is that television isn’t a good or effective way to use education, and he describes how it’s actually worst for us and were not learning the full purpose of education and learning by watching tv. His main example was Sesame Street, and how children sit in front of a television for hours watching what they call education television and claiming they get knowledge from it but they're getting no social interaction by watching it. Also, Neil postman makes excellent points by comparing education television to a real classroom, saying how a classroom has social interaction, the ability to ask a teacher question, development of language, and it’s a
Moses, Annie M., and Benson McMullen. "What Television Can (And Can't) Do To Promote Early Literacy Development." YC: Young Children 64.2 (2009): 80-89. Education Research Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Television is an invention that has revolutionized the way people think, comprehend and receive information. Although television in today’s world is not the leading media source, however it still remains to be a prime example of media influenced outlet of information. Television over the course of the past few decades has intertwined its way into society’s day to day operation and will remain to influence people’s decisions.
These important questions on the topic of children’s television viewing in its early beginnings continue to be debated in society. The creation of children’s television shows in the 1940s and 1950s offered children pure entertainment and very little smart education. According to Palmer, “there were a few shows that did teach children values and morals, but the true educational television shows for children did not appear until the late 1960s(28). Not only educational shows, but public television shows, dialogue, help in increasing a child’s vocabulary and in improving he/she speaking skills. Therefore, parents should encourage their children to watch more public television today because public television helps children to read.
According to Paediatrics & Children’s Health, T.V can teach kids many different things, such as “watching Sesame Street is an example of how toddlers can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic, and the alphabet through an educational television format.”(2003) T.V shows can teach very good lessons to children about many important things, that these kids can use in their adult life. Another positive effect of television for kids is that it sort of opens their horizons to different things and people. For example, according to The Raising Children Network, teens and children can benefit from media exposure by developing cultural and political awareness. Television, films, magazines, and social media sites expose teens and children, who might be otherwise be limited to interactions with people from their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds, to an array of different people”. (Mokeyane) Children can really benefit from watching T.V, they can learn many educational things from shows like Sesame Street, Barney, or Caillou. Also, older children can learn about other cultures and political things that might not be talked about at home. Television really helps kids learn more important personal and educational lessons, that the generations,before, never had. Children, nowadays, have a great advantage in learning much more
Technology has had a huge impact on education. It continues to shape the way we learn and what we learn today and in the future. As technology advances, so does the quality of education and that is nothing but good news for the students of today and of the future.
Media literacy gives us the ability to understand the information and process the underlying meanings within. According to the video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009), media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in all its forms. The video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009) refers to media literacy as a skill that allows people to be critical thinkers, which makes it more difficult for others to influence a person’s thoughts and ideas. With the massive amounts of media available, we need to be able to decipher the meanings beneath the messages. Media literacy is more important than ever in today’s society because of the advancements in technology and the increase of all forms of media. In today’s society, we should make an effort to change our ways and use a culturalist approach to media literacy. “A culturalist approach to media literacy education views mass media as an integral part of the cultural lives of youth, not an outside force to be resisted or overcome” (Mittell 391). With the amount of media we are all exposed to, we need to give our younger generation the appropriate education on how to analyze and evaluate the media that they will be bombarded with. With the evolution of technology and media, it is absolutely crucial that we include media literacy in the education process for the sake of the younger
Imagine someone born in the early 1900’s entering a modern-day classroom. They would likely be confused as to what televisions, computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices are. It is also likely that they would be overwhelmed by the instant access to information that the internet provides. Digital media has become a large part of people’s everyday lives especially with the rise of digital media in classrooms. Digital media is growing so rapidly that people who are not adapting to this shift in culture are falling behind and becoming victims of the “digital divide”, this is leaving people misinformed. Digital media has a large effect on the way that people communicate, this is especially evident in the way that students interact with
As a college student who would like to become a teacher, I believe that technology will help a child. All children learn differently, and technology is to help the children who have no other place to go. Some children are just unable to learn from a teacher, that is when technology plays a big role. Some children have to show themselves how to do things and technology will allow that.