More on technology and studying abroad

As I have said in a previous post, I am studying abroad in Ireland and being here has shown me just how great technology really is. I've talked about how often I use skype but I was reading a post by David Warlick titled Me Without My Information is Like... and it really hit home for me.

Luckily, I have a laptop with me but even so, without the internet I would be lost. It's wild how dependent many people today are on the internet. Let alone communicating with friends and family from home, the internet is my source for pretty much any information that I need. We have been doing some planning for our travels over our Spring Break and booked our flights, arranged places to stay, and have found activities we want to do all on the internet.

I am also going to have to register for classes back home for both the summer and the fall while I am here in Ireland. I will have to check into the course offerings and times with the handy internet. If this were not possible, I would have to do this by mail and how long and annoying would that be? It makes life 100 times easier that I can communicate with people back home or find out pretty much any information tid bit that I need with the click of a mouse. Educators need to embrace the internet and use all the resources out there rather than sticking to the books and other paper-based materials they currently have.

People today take the internet for granted and don't realize how often they use it. I know that I spend quite a bit of time each day looking things up, emailing, and just browsing different websites. Before people complain and bash technology, they need to take a step back and look at where we would be today without it.