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What is Digital Literacy?
Digital technology is a type of transfer that involves breaking a message or form of communication between two machines down into binary code. Some types of digital technology that you are probably familiar with are smartphones, apps, computers, and social networks. Digital technology has changed the world and the way we do thinks. We no longer have to be attached to the wall when we want to make a phones call and we no longer have to carry around a map to figure out where we are going. With all these positive things there have also come some negatives.
Positives:
- Social Connectivity: We are now able to contact our friends and family in an instant. By taking your cell phones out of your pocket and sending a text or making a phone call. This has made life and communication so much easier.
- Communication Speeds: Not only is it easier to contact friends and family but it is almost instant. It only takes the amount of time it takes you to pull out your phone, type your message, and hit send.
- Versatile Working: We no longer have to be chained to a desk to do work on a computer, now that we have compact laptops and smartphones. Many people can do their jobs completely from home.
- Learning Opportunities: Learning things has become so much easier since the invention of search engines. When we want to learn something new, we don’t pick up a book we ask google. You now have all the information in the world at your fingertips.
- Storage: Devices allow you to store all your items including pictures, videos, information, and documents. This makes for people to no longer have to store stacks of paper and go to the store just to get hundreds of pictures printed out.
- GPS: If you want to go somewhere you do not have to look at a map to figure out how to get there, simply pick up your phone and punch where you want to go into the GPS. It then gives you turn by turn directions on how to get to your destination. This has made traveling so much faster and easier and has greatly decreased the risk of getting lost and being late.
- Entertainment: Any entrainment you could want can all be found on the device in your pocket. Through YouTube you can listen to any song and watch a video on just about anything you can think of. You can also scroll through social media, search the web for news, and even play games.
- Banking and Finance: We no longer have to send a check in the mail to pay our bills. You just hop on an app and pay all your bills through the convenience of your smartphone.
- Compact: The first cell phones and computer where extremely big and bulky. They where a pain to travel with and could not fit into your purse or pocket. We can now put our cell phones right in our pocket and throw our laptops into our purses or bookbags and be on our way to anywhere we need to go.
Negatives:
- Social Skills: Years ago, kids used to spend their days running and playing outside, getting lots of fresh air and exercise. Kids now spend their time inside playing on their phones, watching tv, and playing video games. This has greatly decreased the physical interaction with other kids, causing a lack of social skills as they grow up.
- Education: While you can learn just about anything by googling it on your smartphone, a lot of the information you read is often inaccurate. This can lead to people thinking they know things that they don’t really know. It is very easy to get false information off the internet, be sure to check your sources to make sure the information you are getting is accurate.
- Obesity: As I stated previously instead of spending their days outside, kids spend their day inside on the couch watching tv and playing video games. This does not only occur in children but adults as well. Because technology has made things so easy people no longer have a reason to leave their house. This can often lead to obesity which can then cause many other health issues.
Privacy and security: Now that we all use the internet nothing is private. Everything that we search on our phones is tracked. They can tell what movies you like, what kind of clothes you wear, and even who your friends and family are. Just based on the things you do on your smartphones.
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