Holst

Brandon Holst Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 1-20-14 Topic Proposal: Technology and its Effects on Literacy Introduction/Overview For m pro!ect" I #ill be e$amining the pros and cons o% inno&ati&e technolog and ho# it has a%%ected our generation's literac ( )hen I sa technolog " I re%er to laptops" iphones" calculators" etc( *hese products ha&e become a big part in our dail li&es and it's a huge bene%it %or e&er one( In the +nited ,ates" our literac is e&ol&ing around ne# technologies that are helping us succeed( )e ha&e come a long #a e&er since the %irst portable computer #as in&ented in 1-./( *he last 40 ears ha&e been a roller coaster ride( 0o# #e ha&e phones that can do prett much e&er thing" calculators that sol&e problems and laptops that ma1e #riting papers easier( *hese products ha&e reall a%%ected students in school( 2ounger students are being coddled to death and ou begin to 3uestion i% it's good %or them or bad4 *hat's #hat I'd li1e to get more in depth #ith as I continue m research(

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0o#ada s" belie&e it or not" cell phones are allo#ed in the classroom( Bac1 in the old da s" cells phones #ere traditionall banned %rom the classroom( 5 %act that I %ound #as that .67 o% ad&anced placement and national #riting pro!ect teachers said their students use cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments" according to a 8e# 9esearch Center ,tud ( *hat !ust tells me that schools are being ta1en o&er b technolog and it's ma1ing teachers and students loo1 good on their part( )e ha&e become so technologicall ad&anced and it's onl going to 1eep progressing the ne$t 2/ ears( I% #e put this generation in our parent's shoes #hen the #ere students" #e #ouldn't last too long( ,ocial media" Microso%t #ord" and #hat not is a lin1 to technolog that our parents didn't ha&e( *hat's a strong point I #ill ma1e in the research paper( In gathering %or m preliminar research" I gathered some opinions:%acts %rom %amil " %riends" and #ebsites online( M %amil ga&e me some &alid points in helping get a good idea in #hat I #anted to do research on( I obser&ed m %riends more than actuall as1ing them %or their opinions( For m online research" I used +,5 toda and 0e# 2or1 *imes( For %uture research" I plan to use other online resources li1e )i1ipedia and #hat not( I ma inter&ie# other people as #ell !ust to #iden m perspecti&es( Man opinions are con&e ed to#ards this topic( Based o%% o% a #ebsite I read" t#o sur&e teachers said" ;*he belie&e that student's constant use o% digital

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technolog is hampering there attention spans and abilit to perse&ere in the %ace o% challenging tas1s(< *he researchers #ho per%ormed the studies" sa the studies are signi%icant because o% the &antage points o% teachers" #ho spend hours a da obser&ing students( 5%ter reading that" I couldn't agree more and that's one reason #h I chose this topic( 5lso" in m last English class" the topic seemed to come up a lot in our peer discussions( )e did a blog about it and it #as probabl m best one( M parents al#a s tal1 about it and I guess ou could m mind has e$panded a lot on it( 9eason %or that is that e&er person I tal1 to seems to ha&e a di%%erent opinion on it( =ne might sa technolog is a bene%it because it can help ou get #or1 done %aster( =n the other side" one might sa technolog creates a bad habit %or ounger people because it the are not as challenged as much( Initial In3uir >uestions Is this generation as challenged as the last one4 5re #e coddled too much4 Can social media and Microso%t #ord a%%ect our literac 4 ?o schools use technolog e$cessi&el 4 ?oes using technolog prepare us %or the real #orld a%ter college4 ,hould schools limit the use o% technolog %or students !ust to challenge them more4 M Interest in this *opic I'm interested in researching technolog and ho# it's a%%ecting literac because I e$perience the technological #orld( 5s a student" I must sa it's

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con&enient to ha&e iphones" calculators" and laptops( *hese products help us #ith completing #or1 a lot %aster( =n the other hand" I notice that it's not as good %or us i% #e are tr ing to prepare %or the real #orld( I hear m parents tal1 all the time that our generations has it #ell because o% all the help #e ha&e no#( M parents had to do e&er thing b pencil and %igure things out more on their o#n( I percei&e that and that's #h I #ant to get more in depth #ith this topic( 0e$t ,teps 5s I continue to do more research" I #ill probabl &isit the librar to %ind more resources( I #ant to %ind more articles and other online sources( 5lso"

as1ing %or other opinions #ill do me good( *he more opinions I ha&e" the better o%% I'll be( @oo1ing at social media li1e t#itter #ill gi&e me some e$amples %or m paper too( Hope%ull " it'll be a success%ul research process(