What a discovery! Almost every important aspect of my life
is connected and interconnected using technology and the Internet/World Wide
Web! I keep in touch with friends,
family and acquaintances mainly via the online social network on Facebook. I read and post on walls; I contribute to and
read newsfeeds and discussions threads from the President and First Lady, to
Walden University’s Facebook page, MSNBC’s page, and so forth. Not only is social media a social interaction
mechanism, but it is an educational environment as well.
The way I learn has changed largely in part because my means
of networking has changed. The Internet
has allowed me to connect with people I would not otherwise meet or interact so
intimately with. I can watch news
interactively and engage in discussions and debates with others who comment on
the same news or article I read or watched.
These are all forms of learning, and being able to network
with people from around the world using the latest technology makes it all
possible at a heightened degree over how it was possible ten or twenty years
ago.
The digital tools that enhance my learning are applications
I can download onto my smartphone and carry with me. I can interact on many of the same websites I
utilize for educational and social purposes on my computer from my smart
phone. If anyone emails me, sends me a
chat message, or an inbox message on Facebook, I have apps on my phone that
notify me and make those emails and messages instantly available to me.
When I have questions there are numerous ways I can go about
finding the answer using technology. I
constantly type questions in the search field of search engines like Google and
even before I tap the enter key, a plethora of answers to my question begin to
populate the field. This has been my
most common way of learning new knowledge.
If I hear of something, or see something I only partly understand if at
all, I form it into a question and “ask Google.” Online search engines allow me to research,
compare and contrast a limitless knowledge base. I can compare the opinions of others, and
find solutions to almost any question or problem I may encounter. I believe I know much more in this present
age than I knew even ten years ago just because of the ever increasing
knowledge base that is available to me via technology that I can access and use
via the world wide web.
