Blog#2 Media’s control over people’s lives (Minori Tango)

 

2. Overall, do you think that computers and technology give people MORE control over their lives, LESS control over their lives, or don’t you think it makes any difference?

 

 First I definitely think that computers (including cell phones) and technology have a huge power to control people and have already changed our lives in many ways.

 

 Since computers such as cell phones are so convenient that we can easily access to the Internet and get in touch with friends and family whenever we want to, those tools have become indispensable to people’s lives. Today, I see many people using cell phones when they are walking, getting on trains or even when they are hanging out with friends. There are so many people who seem to be addicted to using cellphones, and I think the one of problem of those people is that they are losing opportunities to communicate with others. As I mentioned above, people use cellphones while hanging out with friends, and the same thing can be happening in their houses too. Therefore, people tend to be too busy using cellphones to have conversations face to face with someone. It may not make any difference at first, but it may gradually become a big cause of destroying the relationship with friends and families.

 

  As there is so much information available on the Internet and so on, many people rely on those resources even though they are not 100% reliable. Since those kinds of tools have a huge influence, some people trust what they see or read on the Internet completely, and have ideas which may be biased. Moreover, it can be said that many people are losing their ability to come up with their own opinions because now we can just search for someone’s opinion which is written on the Internet, and we do not really need to have a think.

    

 Indeed, computer and technology have made our lives convenient, but we have to seize initiative to control them otherwise we can be controlled by them easily without notice. I do not think a life is not interesting which is being controlled by computer and technology all the time and not talking face to face with my friends and family, and sharing our own opinions.       

Blog#2: Media (Shoko Yokota)

2. Overall, do you think that computer and technology give people MORE control over their lives, LESS control over their lives, or don’t you think it makes any differences?

Computers (including smart phones) and technology changed our lives so much especially the way to waste the time.

When we get some free time, for example on a train, we see so many people are using their smartphones. What they do on the smart phone may be different: they may be listening to music, reading news, or messaging through SNS.  Not so many people look outside through a window. The way of communication and collecting information totally changed too. We don’t really write a letter in daily life unless something special like some one’s birthday happens. Even texting is becoming an old way: young people use SNS such as LINE, Twitter, and Facebook for communicating because it costs less than texting or phoning. Also they can get any information through the Internet whenever they want by using a smartphone: no need to go to the library to search the information they need.

Those technologies changed how to spend the time with family. They decreased conversation and communication in a  family. Before the Internet had been spread, watching TV or listening to radio were only things to entertain people. So TV gathered family and provided the time with them. However, the technology allows people to communicate with their friend or co-workers outside of the school or company. People tend to think little of their family but their friends. 

Computer and technology gave people more control over their lives. Much more information is now available and we can do many things (listening, reading, chatting, phoning, texting, etc… )on a smartphone.   However, the option to spend their time and the family bond minimized. To get along with technology, we have to think what is important again. Also we have to think about its danger too. There is a bunch of wrong information on the internet and we never know who published it. Everything has both  good and bad aspect. Understanding the aspects properly is required for users.  

Blog #2: Discussing the Effects of Media on Our Life (Marino)

3. How much, if at all, have communication and information devices improved your ability to share your ideas with others, do your job, learn new things, and keep in touch with friends and family?

              I cannot live without using communication and information devices; when I want to chat with my friends overseas, I use Facebook; when I need to search for some articles, I use the Internet; when I have some homework to work on, I use Word to write my essay as I am doing right now. Therefore, I am depending heavily much on social media and information devices, and I can't imagine a life where any of these devices exist.

              First, social media is a very convenient tool for us to communicate with people from a distance. For example, I e-mail every day to my parents to let them know where I am, if I was late for  returning home. Furthermore, social media such as Skype and Facebook are convenient tools for people who want to communicate with foreign friends for free. These SNS devices made it possible for users to connect globally.

              Next, when we want to look up some information, the fastest and most convenient way to search the data is to use the Internet. In fact, I rely heavily on the Internet  because almost everything is found from it. I can go to the government’s official website and look up reliable statistics, without spending time going to the ministries directly.

              As we can know from these examples, my everyday life is closely connected to media, and there are lot of other media that we are relying on.

Hence, it is hard for us to think about a life without using these devices.     

Blog #1: 'extreme tweet' skills (Shoko Yokota)

Hello, this is Shoko.
I read an article titled "Essex University students get 'extreme tweet' skills" on BBC news.
According to this article, students' writing and reading abilities increase by using 'micro-fiction' on SNS such as twitter. 'micro-fiction' is like a short sentence for instance, "only 300 words left!" and "It was me. I did it. I'm so sorry." Because number of words is limited as 140 characters on twitter, students try to minimize their tweet. As a result, students think hard, write concisely, and read critically : they get what is called 'extreme tweet' skills.

                     
University of Essex

Taking a teacher training course, I am really interested in Education. So I read some articles containing an educational topic and found this article is interesting. In Japan, people tend to think Twitter effects badly on students mentally and physically by tweeting during a class or before sleeping.
So knowing that twitter actually  makes students' skills improved is kind of surprising thing for me but for student, this information may be a wonderful because they got a right reason to tweet.
 
                            

Even twitter has a good effect, students have to understand that it also has a bad effect when they use it. if they understand both aspects of it and use it properly, then critics will be less for this study and parents will agree that students and children use it. As one of twitter user, it is great to know this news anyway.
 

Blog #1: Sustainability of nature (Marino)

I chose an article that discusses the sustainability of lands, which is an important topic for us to deal with the environmental issues and the population growth.

First, when we hear the image of urban city regarding of environmental issues, we usually don’t picture a positive image; we think of crowds, smells, dense air and polluted water etc. However, this article introduces interesting and innovative ideas of how to live cooperatively with nature in the cities.

According to the article, people who live in cities can live efficiently in using the resources than those who live in countryside. This is because humans usually use land areas for living and acquiring natural resources, and the more people live densely, the less area will be used as a living area. Therefore, author considers the coexistence of human and nature in urban cities by implementing new technology.

In fact, there are already lots of achievements in urban cities. One of the famous examples is that constructing a park on the top of the building to emit fresh air and to enjoy the nature for tired, busy people. Yet, he claims that more new ideas are needed to deal with the current situation. He gives an example of farming in a urban side, which makes it possible to clean the water, the air and also to grow the plants efficiently.

Furthermore, the writer talks about the changing ecosystem. Now, the animals are getting used to the urban life, and introducing their life style in an urban style; their foods are wastes came from humans, nesting their habitats to skyscrapers. He says that as the animals are getting to depend on our environment, we need to develop further in order for animals to live more comfortably together.

Reading briefly through this article, however, I cannot think this is really a realistic idea. Even though parks are built on the skyscrapers, more concentration on people in the urban side just causes confusion and frustration. The author’s idea is similar to what Japanese do in the train in the morning. In short, we use the time efficiently by riding on a crowded train. Even though we can save our time rather than waiting a vacant train coming to a platform, we don’t feel good at all. Concentration in the same area may save the land, but at the same time, it causes huge stress to residents.

Furthermore, I stress that ecosystem was changed not because animals wanted to. Rather, they cannot help but change into a urban style as the humans destroy their natural inhabitants. It is hard not to be self-sufficient in living because we want to live in a best way to be comfortable, but we need to think about the sustainability of our life for the animals and for the next generations. We need to cherish our lands, and I don’t agree that technology is always the solution for the environmental issues.   

 

This is the article: Go

Blog #1: Walking mobile phone users pose risk (Minori)

Hello, this is Minori Tango. I read an article "Walking phone users pose risk" in the Japan news Thursday May 30.

Summeay
  As rapid spread of mobile phone, and especially smartphones, today we see so many people using their smartphone while walking. However such behavior can be considered as extremely dangerous. The numbers of falls by mobile phone use at train stations have now reported 0.5% of the total, but it is said that there are more falls which have not being reported. However the danger is not limited to train platforms. An experiment revealed that the horizontal field of vision was readied to one-third of what it normally was when people are using smartphones. Therefore, such accidents will increase, as smartphone use spreads further.

My opinion
  I chose this article because I use my smartphone so often and I have been concerning whether or not I use it too much. And I think such problem applies to the majority of people, as smartphones have become indispensable to our lives. Moreover, it is dangerous to walk with your eyes glued to your smartphones but it can also cause another problem if you gradually become addicted to using smartphones. For example, if you are using smartphones all the time, you may be losing the creativity to think the variety way of spending time. Therefore we should control  how to use smartphones, and be careful not to be controlled by them.

Question
 What do you think of today's trend of using smartphones all the time? And do you think of any other problems relating to the smartphone use?

If you want to read the whole article, click here.