Student Outcome: Technology and Communication

Technology and Communication/Relationships

Outcome Criteria:

Compare/Contrast the different variations of communication available today compared to the past.

Analyze how each variation has an impact on communication between people.

Explain your own personal experience with using technology to communicate with others.

There are many different types of communication available today, more than there was even ten or twenty years ago. Way back then, people mainly communicated by “snail mail”, or regular postal service. Depending on how far the mail went, it could take anywhere from a few days to weeks to arrive to the recipient. Nowadays, the major lines of communication between people are cell phones and email. With cell phones, it is possible to instantly call anyone, anywhere, provided you have a signal. And with email and internet usage, it is possible to do the same. This opens the doors for new relationships and friendships to emerge. People can use technology to keep in touch like never before, and stay connected with friends and loved ones. Long distance relationships are now much more likely to succeed than they were in the past, and I for one have experience in that area. Back in the past, if you graduated high school, you probably did not hear from at least 90% of your old classmates. Nowadays, with such websites as Facebook and Myspace, keeping in touch is just a click away. The interesting thing is that people still use the good old fashioned “snail mail” too. Mainly it is used for sending packages, and handwritten letters and such. Text messaging is the new emergence in the communication area. Now it is possible to keep an ongoing conversation with someone throughout the entire day, without actually talking on the phone or speaking to them in person. Email has also taken over as the prime way of communicating. What do you do when you are stuck with a school project and need help? You would probably email your instructor. Way back in the past if you had a question, you would probably have to wait until the next class session in order to speak with your teacher. So basically, today’s communication compared to the past is drastically different. So nowadays, you can pretty much get a hold of anyone, anywhere, instantaneously, whereas in the past it could take days to weeks to communicate with someone far away.

I myself have a lot of personal experience with all of this. I use technology daily to communicate to my friends and loved ones. Every morning I take my cell phone with me out the door, text message people, pick up calls, etc. In fact, my cell phone is such a big part of my life that I don’t know what I would do without it. From the moment that I wake up to the second I go to bed, I keep my phone right beside me in case I get a text or a call. Keeping in touch with other people is a big thing to me. Technology is also what makes it possible to stay in my current relationship. My girlfriend and I went to different colleges, and are now in a long distance relationship together. She goes to Humboldt State University, which is hundreds of miles away from Sierra College, but we make it work. Every day we either call or text each other and every night we talk on instant messenger, and try to keep in touch with each other until we see each other again. All of these things are communication with technology. Along with that we use webcams to see each other, so the distance really doesn’t seem like that much. In fact, I am talking to her this very second, as I am writing this outcome. So this is what I meant when I said that communication with technology can open up new types of relationships. Way back in the past, those kinds of things probably didn’t exist, but today, they are definitely possible. I am also signed up for both Myspace and Facebook, two of the largest online communities out there today. Using these websites, I am able to keep in touch with old high school classmates and friends, and even family that is out of town. My parents have hardly any contact with people they went to high school with, yet I talk to everyone I knew almost daily, and that is because of the huge impact that technology has on our communication. Myspace even has a bulletin feature, in which friends can post comments and have them broadcast to their entire friends list. My friend Eric, for example, posted something today about going hiking in Arizona. He also had posted some pictures of his endeavor. Now outside of Myspace, I really don’t talk to him that much, so I would never have known about his trip. Someone else I know works from her own home. She has meetings and conferences on the internet, and that’s how she gets things done. How amazing is that, you can have a meeting with your coworkers in your pjs from the comfort of your own home. That’s technology for you.

In conclusion, technology has drastically changed how we communicate with one other. You can pretty much get in touch with anyone, anywhere, provided that you both have the correct technology to do so. People can work, stay in touch with friends, a special loved one, family members, coworkers, anyone really, with just a click away.