There’s a lot of good that comes to mind when I think of technology. (I won’t go into all of the pros.) I mean . . . technology sure does make life easier in SO MANY ways. Wouldn’t you agree? But, with the good of technology comes the bad. (I also won’t go into all of the cons.) We get it ALL sometimes — the good along with the bad. Unless, you’re one of the anomalies in the human race who have the ability to avoid the negative aspects of technology by dodging its pervasive presence in the world in which we live.
I can’t say I’ve been unscathed when it comes to technology’s negatives. But, I can say that I’m one who can learn from the “hard-knock” lessons that have helped me acquire the know-how to make better life decisions the next go-around. And, when I learn from my own experiences or from others’ experiences, I’m quick to want to share what I know so others don’t have to fall into the types of snares that can stifle our progress and set us back.
So, it’s no secret that I’m an ELA nerd. Love reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, editing, proofreading, teaching others all the above, and so on. Absolutely, love it. So, when I say that I don’t encourage shortcuts in literacy, I really mean it. Probably because I take it all in — hook, line, and sinker — and enjoy it immensely. (Not everyone does and that’s okay). But, the main reason I highly discourage shortcuts in a person’s literacy journey is because I know just how important literacy is in everyday life — all throughout life.
There are just certain shortcuts people take that can set them back in life; and on down the road, they wish that had taken more stock in making that thing a priority instead of trying to shortcut its processes.
Slacking in your literacy prowess can be that setback that has long-lasting and far-reaching negative repercussions into the elderly years even. And, what’s so scary about the technology era of the day is that it can easily lead to hindering us toward reaching our fullest potential as literacy achievers.
Now, I’m not trying to make this a controversial discussion, as I know that technology does a lot to help us reach our goals in literacy excellence. So, I’m not knocking the extraordinary advancements in technology that have positively influenced generations to reach their fullest potential and given them access to ways to continuously learn and grow through its offerings.
I’m writing about the negatives, where technology is pretty much thinking for people and not allowing them to gain the knowledge they need to be successful in life INDEPENDENT of The Technology. To me, that’s a scary place to be. To be so reliant on technology to read for you, to write for you, to communicate for you, to think for you, to be you . . .
Impossible! There’s ONLY ONE YOU. And, technology can do a lot of things for you, but it can’t be you. It CAN’T DO YOU!
Nevertheless, technology is okay to use when you’ve already mastered the reading and the writing and the communication and the thought processes you need to live your life and live it fruitfully. It’s okay to use as an enhancement or an assistant. But, it shouldn’t take over, trying to become your voice. Remember: there’s only ONE YOU. No technology — I don’t care how clever — can replicate everything about YOU.
And, this is what needs to be communicated to the up-and-coming generation of literacy hopefuls. There’s all this stuff out there like AI, audiobooks, transcription software, autofill on devices, spell and grammar check software — stuff that will read for them, write for them, edit for them, communicate for them, think for them . . .
It’s downright scary!
So, it’s my mission to encourage everyone (but especially, the youth of the day) to become literacy-literate before diving deep into all the dependency routes that technology will lay out for them when it comes to literacy.
I want to see children learn to read and write and comprehend and communicate the long way (for themselves) first before they start enhancing their work with the shortcuts (the technology). You know what I mean? And once they’re sound in their literacy journeys, then it’s okay to dibble and dabble in those tech hacks that will take them to the next level (without taking over their thoughts and voices).
That goes for the adults, too. A lot of us have become WAY TOO dependent on technology to do US, and therefore, we’ve become somewhat lazy, lackadaisical, and quite removed from doing the work (creative or not) that reveals our true essence. Essentially, we’ve become the technology instead of utilizing the technology as an enhancement to bring out our authentic selves with our unique offerings to the world.
Let’s be literate first. Then, we can use technology as our literacy assistant instead of our literacy dependency mechanism.
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