My Digital Map

 

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My History with Technology

My relationship with technology is one that goes back to using landline telephones, toy walkie talkies, and calculators as a child. In fact for my 10th birthday, my aunt gave me my first calculator upon hearing from my cousin that I had wanted one; I was fascinated by a gadget that could compute ANY math problem using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. By 8th grade, I was forming secret messages by sequencing numbers upside down and by freshman year of college, I was calculating square roots, sins, cosines, etc. How could one small device do so much! I was prepared to be blown away by the Dos version of Word, later by Windows, and eventually by the Internet. Technology was fun, easy to use, and very efficient. I couldn't imagine a future that didn't include more sophisticated forms of technology; furthermore, I couldn't imagine anything but benefit coming from this. Fast forward thirty years later and I find myself feeling swamped by technology, even the applications I formerly enjoyed. 

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What Led to the Burnout

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion of social media platforms which include MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok and lesser known applications. With these programs come resurrected connections (like old high school friends, family reunions, etc.) and new relationships that are formed. As the cliche' goes, "You can be anything on the Internet," and I believe this is true. Furthermore, the anonymity that users feel makes many of them feel free to express their opinions, no matter how controversial or critically stated. I have to admit that I've been a victim and executor of this.  The last two decades of politics have resulted in strong opinions by me and my family and friends who found ourselves on opposing sides of many controversial issues. 

After having been a Facebook user for sixteen years, the luster of reuniting with family, friends, and old school mates has tarnished. By the time I had gotten tired of Facebook, I had viewed and commented on a wide range of riveting posts and as result of algorithms, I just kept seeing more. More so, I found myself less interested in sharing photos or updates of my life. Aside from my initial years of joining Facebook, my face-to-face contacts had actually lessened and it seemed that plans to meet were always projected but rarely followed up on. I began having the notion that my loved ones and I "replaced" our "real relationship" with a virtual one. That was when I decided to pause my main account and only reinstate it to promote my artwork. It's a decision that is almost three months old and pretty stable right now; I don't have the desire to change it. When composing my digital map, I found that my online usage is currently passive and limited to quick searches or work. Every now and then I will research an article to read online. I'm hoping this changes as I transition into the library field; one of my interests is to work as a media specialist, integrating inquiry-based projects into my instruction. As I work toward this goal, I'm excited to add Wakelet, Wix, and Canva to the suites that I'm learning. Please view my current digital map below with an explanation that follows. 

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Explanation of My Digital Map

In general, the farther a trademark "lies out" from a label, the less acquainted/active I am with it on that level. For example, I placed the Gmail logo right in the center as this is one application I use to correspond professionally and personally; furthermore, I continually get notifications for work and home and I have no choice but to open this application several times daily. Gmail is the most relevant digital application in my life. The sizes of the icons reflect relative frequency of usage as well. For instance, Amazon, which is near the top middle of the "Resident/Personal" quadrant (beneath Etsy) is rather small.

To the right of Gmail is the Google Logo. Google Chrome is my "righthand man" as I search for various information both personally and professionally. I can't imagine a world without it. 

Image courtesy of Freerange Stock

In the "Professional/Visitor" quadrant, one can see Blogger and Zoom at about the same level. However, I chose to place Blogger slightly closer to the "Resident" side because I now use it more frequently than Zoom and anticipate myself becoming a resident with it; it seems to be a great tool to use with a class!

When I look at my "Personal/Resident" quadrant, I am not surprised to see that it only contains seven applications, which include GMail, YouTube and Google, which cross categorize. The only three that I use almost daily for personal reasons are the three aforementioned, and I would like that to change. In the next few months, I anticipate adding Canva and Blogger to my "Resident/Professional" and "Resident/Personal" quadrants and in the next year or so, I hope to add Wakelet. Here's to a revived attitude with technology! 💥

Some Interesting Articles and Renewed Hope

For some interesting findings on comparing generational uses in technology between Generation X and millennials, refer to an article written by Cristina Calvo-Porral and Rogelio Pesqueira-Sanchez titled, General differences in technology behavior: comparing millennials and General X. This is a peer reviewed study conducted by the Department of Business at the University of A Coruña in Spain, which was accepted and revised in 2019. I couldn't locate a similar study in the U.S. but would love to. The findings from the study indicate that the two generations use technology for different purposes, which I found to be paralleled by representatives of both age groups that I know.

Another thought-provoking article is titled, Generational Differences in Faculty and Student Comfort with Technology Use: this text compares comfort levels and experience with technology between four generations of faculty and students in U.S. Colleges of Nursing. The findings show a difference in comfort and and anxiety levels between the generations even though technology integration is the same. 

As technology upgrades and transforms rapidly, I find myself feeling more hesitant to explore it. It seems that every year, there are more and more platforms, and I find myself overwhelmed trying to discover it all. I'm thankful for courses that prompt me to use technology and for a future that includes teaching it to my students. With more professional and personal usage, I hope to regain some of my retired enthusiasm. Here's to hope and optimism! 💟