Technology as Part of Peoples Lives - Research Proposal Example

Study Background

Technology is indeed an integral part of people’s lives. Many have become reliant on it for it has brought such ease in the way persons handle tasks. Like most other things, technology has both negative and positive impacts. Over the years, technology has continued to evolve, and each subsequent level of evolution has brought its own set of challenges and benefits. Understanding the nature and evolution of technology is, therefore, a vital step if one is to fully comprehend the impacts it has in our daily living. There is an urgent need to conduct ourselves in such a fashion that is orderly when using or designing these new technologies and does not contradict societal norms. That is especially important given that technology is an almost inseparable part of most people’s lives. To better understand how technology can be of adverse impact, the research thus focusses on four broad sectors; health, communication and society, and education- with an aim of elaborating the negative impacts of technology.

Communication and Society

Communication, for example, has transitioned over the ages. Graham Bell is often hailed as the one who invented the telephone and although that is still disputed, the telephone did mark a turning point for interpersonal communication. It enabled direct feedback and had its profound effect on the way that people interacted. That was, however, the beginning of a process that would present a challenge to the very items that were considered to be the fabric on which society was built on. Moving forward, technology is ultimately important. It has revolutionized how people interact on a daily basis and it continues to change how people perceive life through newer discoveries. There are, however, challenges that can be identified in the use of technology in communication. The morality of the society has been adversely affected. That is because there is a spread in content that society deems corrupt over the emerging means of communication such as the internet. The society has grown increasingly lazy for example due to the addictions involved. There is also a notable strain in the way people interact with each other. Incidences of cyberbullying have also come up in a society previously free of such vices. That shows that in as much as technology is hailed for improving the world as we know it, there lies a challenge in that it has also contributed to the advancement of these problems on a global scale. In another case where the author draws from experience, he cites impatience as a negative attribute brought about by technology.

Education

Education is a key aspect in the society today. It plays a major role in ensuring that the people that graduate from schools are not only knowledgeable but can be relied upon by the society. That means that quality education is the key to an improved society. It is no wonder, therefore, that the current society has placed such a huge emphasis on education. Technology has also been incorporated in education. Most governments from all around the world have had the idea that it can be used to improve the quality of learning and they, therefore, end up spending billions of dollars in improving the investments of technology in schools. The United States government, for example, spent close to $3 billion. They have also developed a system that requires the tests on the proficiency in the digital skills as they are called. That was in an effort to advance personal learning. There are, however, challenges to the successful incorporation of technology in education. Besides the social problems as highlighted in the “Communications” section, there is also the challenge of costs and the level of use today. In developed countries, that gives them an edge, but it also grows the rift in comparison to the developing countries in a globe that is supposed to be increasingly similar. Laziness has also improved as a result. The scholars prefer using online portals such as Google instead of the old-fashion reads. As a result, the quality of education has depreciated severely. That is made worse by the availability of resources from non-peer reviewed sources. Those are responsible for the influx of untrustworthy information on the study sites. However, other sources claim that a curriculum developed with technology in mind is important as it prepares the students for the future and there is a need to ready the students for a future that is evolving. There is also emphasis on the mode of teaching and not the teacher and that it is a change that is happening whether they would want it to or not, and so the best option would be to embrace the changes.

Health

Technology poses a challenge to the health of individuals. The advances might have brought positive results. These include better analysis in the hospitals. That has enabled the physicians to be more accurate in their work and issue even better diagnosis and carry out tests better. In the organization of patients, technology through the use of computers has also enabled the improvement of record keeping. That is particularly important given that this field is dependent on proper records, and it is even better because it is applicable to both the small and large players in the health sector. However, in the real sense, they are leading to more negative consequences for the people involved. Sleep disorders are among the problems that it causes. There is an increasing confidence among the researchers that sleep disorders are accelerated by the constant use of cellphones or computers before people go to sleep. That is especially worse considering that the majority of people sleep next to their phones. There is also the problem of digital eyestrain. People using technological gadgets tend to blink less which poses a problem given that it distorts the normal functioning of the eyes. Statistics indicate that when people are using gadgets, they tend to blink ten times less than is normal. Another challenge is physical inactivity. That can lead to a complex assortment of issues and thus act as a challenge that has been brought out as a result of technology. It can also lead to weight gain issues. In an even more startling revelation of the adverse effects of technology in health, some claims suggest that it has the potential to ruin an individual’s spine.

Almost all sectors today depend on technology. Careers have come up as a result and it has given employment to many people. It has also eased the work of individuals, but on average the negative impacts arising a result of increased use of technology outweigh the positive effects when combined. The research is, therefore an essential block in evaluating the effects of technology.

Research Question

RQ1. Are the implications of technology on the communication in the society more negatively impacted?

RQ2. Do the negative consequences of the use of technology in school outweigh the positive outcomes?

RQ3. Is health adversely affected through the use of technology?

Literature Review

Implications in Communication in the Society.

The Positive and Negative Impacts Technology Has on our Lives – Brittany Walker

Walker emphasizes on the fact that technology plays a critical role in our lives. She acknowledges that it has both positive and negative implications as does Harankhedkar. They both also agree on the fact that technology has become an integral part of people’s lives and most would find it almost difficult to cope without the advances in the modern world. Her article is largely self-centered and draws from her personal experiences. Walker suggests that technology has been able to strengthen relationships while at the same time has reduced interpersonal relationships. For example, she suggests that people can barely pay attention in a conversation as they would have had the communication gadgets been away. As an example, she claims she would rather go through YouTube videos than interact with people, meaning that technology has taken over as the alternative source of interaction.

(https://www.uwplatt.edu/icet-news/positive-and-negative-impacts-technology-has-our-daily-lives)

An Overview of the Overall Impact of Technology on Communication – Hemangi Harankhedkar

Harankhedkar focuses on the impacts as they apply in the communication field, stating the good and the undesirable attributes. He identifies three main advantages and two disadvantages, and that can be interpreted as meaning people benefit more from technology than they lose from it. He identifies it as an avenue through which communication barriers are eliminated. That is especially true in that it brings people together faster and more efficiently. With advances such as the internet, communication has grown in leaps and has helped strengthen relationships. With the interaction, exchanges of ideas occur, and that is another advantage he sees in technology, that is, it facilitates better development solutions. He also states that it improves people’s access to communication. The negative aspects he identifies include the deterioration of interpersonal skills, which is almost in contradiction with the advantage of improved interaction. It also identifies addictions, unlawful use, and weakening of family ties as another challenge of communication. That goes on to prove that technology has far much worse negative consequences than it does with positive consequences.

(http://www.buzzle.com/articles/impact-of-technology-on-communication.html)

Theory of Technology – David Clarke

Changes in the technological field do not always occur instantly. They may take quite a number of years for them to occur. It is incomparable to science that occurs at a rather predictable pace. Clarke incorporates the works of nine authors who elaborate technology from a variety of viewpoints. "Technology," by Rias van Wyk explores the anatomy, taxonomy, and evolution angles of technology. "Knowledge Mapping" on the other hand is by Karol Pelc, and it focuses on the evolution of technology management. "Management of Technology" by Jon Beard also takes the same approach as Karol but instead focusses on the history of technology management. John Cogan is perhaps the most appropriate in this context because he discusses the influence of technology on the society in Clarke’s book. His work, "Some Philosophical Thoughts on the Nature of Technology," maintains the search for the importance of technology is doomed. "Theory of Technology" by Clarke is, therefore, an essential book that is based on the progress of technology. Understanding the progress can help to better analyze and innovate better means of technology that do not necessarily put the society in harm’s way. However, it recognizes that it is almost impossible to predict the future of technology.

(https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Theory_of_Technology.html?id=ufQxngEACAAJ&redir_esc=y)

Negative Impact of Technology – Veethi Telang

This article addresses the social challenges that accrue as a result of too much technology. The author draws from their own experiences and uses them to state how things have taken a dramatic turn. He emphasizes on the lack of personal touch within relationships. It also speaks on the lack of patience that affects the present day society. It, however, acknowledges that some industries have improved as a result. Those include agriculture, business, and media. Like most of the articles reviewed, this one too emphasizes on the problem it poses in communication. There is a missing with people as well as the surroundings of an individual once they tend to use these technologies. People would rather indulge in activities that involve technology than socialize with people. It speaks on how students are using technology as a tool for easier workings other than the manual ways. While it does help to have such information with ease, it exposes the students to other environments that are least helpful in their development. It is, therefore, instrumental in highlighting the challenges of technology in the societal context.

(http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-impact-of-technology.html)

Implications in Health

The Benefits of Health Information Technology – Buntin et al.

This journal article goes on to prove the vitality of the use of technology in the hospitals for record keeping. It states that the results have been so far positive and urges the implementation of the discovered changes. It also emphasizes on the applicability of the research in both large and small institutions. With the adoption of these digitized means, the health industry is bound to grow. As such, it focuses on the positive impacts of technology. These are primarily in the automation of the techniques in use today. As a statistic figure, the article claims that close to 92% of the experts in the industry agree that this would bring positive results to the sector. They are, however, biased in their analysis of information as they barely acknowledge the negative implications of the technologies although it serves to bring out the positive results that can be obtained as a result of adoption of changes in technology.

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21383365)

Digital technology can be harmful to your health – Jia-Rui Cook and Northwest Primary Care

The focus of this news article is on the negative health costs of technology. The question it seeks to address is whether the harm done is more than good through an analysis of professors’ and scientists’ opinions as quoted. For example, a bio-behavioral scientist Mr. Block suggests that monitoring of vital signs is essential if one wanted to maintain optimum health. He especially warns people with the habit of indulging in too much screen activity and especially in the night as that may result in adverse effects. He further adds that sleep is the most important loss that can be attributed to technology. He points out that in the past fifty years, the patterns of sleep have changed in that the average adult sleeps for only seven and a half hours, down from eight and a half hours. That he attributes to the reduction in the melatonin hormone which is essential in inducing sleep. Hormonal imbalance as a result of technology is, therefore, the focus of Mr. Block according to this article. Sleep, although overlooked, is a very crucial aspect in the normal functioning of an individual. According to this article, the physical bonds are also interrupted, and an irony is presented in that people prefer communicating via these technologies instead of interacting face-to-face even though they feel distant when they do this.

(http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/digital-technolgy-can-harm-your-health)

(http://www.nwpc.com/how-does-technology-use-affect-mens-womens-health/)

Sneaky Ways Technology Is Messing With Your Body and Mind – Lindsay Loman

This news article splits the effects of technology in mental and physical effects. Starting with the physical aspects, it states that staring at one’s phone for long may damage the spine. That is according to Kenneth Hansraj who is a spine surgeon in New York. Tilting the head causes a load of pressure on the neck and might affect one’s stature. It could also cause blemishes. That is because of the bacteria present on the communicating devices. According to the article, that could lead to acne or eczema. In a rather serious implication, it suggests that sperm count can also be lowered due to exposure to Wi-Fi. Exposure to radiation also has the same effect. Too much texting, for example, could lead to muscular tensions. It also mentions the digital eyestrain and headaches as another physical challenge. Mental effects can arise due to anxiety, deprived sleep, loneliness, withdrawals and brain damage. The article is, therefore, useful in explaining the negative effects that can be expected from the use of technology.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/health-effects-of-technol_n_6263120.html)

Implications in Education

Technology in Education: An Overview – Benjamin Herold and Barriers to the Effective Use of Technology in Education: Current Status – Dee Fabry

The article focuses on the cost aspect of technology in the education industry. Governments are investing much into the industry in an effort to have a technology smart generation of professionals. They consider the increases of computer supplies to school an important thing and hence this has given rise to a new market for the technology gadgets including laptops, tablets, and computers. The implementation has, however, been slower than expected. The aim is to improve personalized learning in that the student can relate to themselves better and it can create an environment to which a student is familiar. The newer systems also encourage a more “personal” interaction between the educators and the students. That is because they are able to know some of the needs of the children. The article is indeed important in highlighting some of the advantages that the community stands to gain through the adoption of technology in their learning. It is, however, oblivious to the dangers that it subjects the students to as described in the other sources used in this research.

(http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/)

Five Reasons Why the 2016 ISTE Standards for Students Matter – Sarah Stoeckl

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) thinks technology should be upheld in education because of mainly the future implications. That is because the institution thinks that the students will be better equipped to fact the changing future with their education using technology. It also suggests that the students have no alternative but to embrace the changes given that the world is constantly evolving to become a global village. The other reason cited is that the current world is not just physical but is also digitized and that the tools are not to blame in the event teaching goes digital but the competence in the teachers. It is also a unanimous decision from the stakeholders at ISTE hence the need to advance the agenda.

(https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=685)

To answer research question 1, the following hypothesis has been created: Communication in the Society has been more negatively affected. That is because the research came up with more proof that education has negative impacts in the communication within society even drawing from user experience.

To answer research question 2, the following hypothesis has been created: The negative implications of using technology outweigh the positive. The study has demonstrated that there are significant threats to the children through the use of these technologies and that can damage them especially in their younger age.

To answer research question 3, the following hypothesis has been created: Health is adversely affected through the use of technology. That is primarily due to the complications that have been indicated in the various research with the compelling data from professionals within the health industry.