The Internet has indeed proved to be the ultimate
educational communication media. It has given people the opportunity to explore
information about different cultures and countries with the click of a button.
However, as Huesca claims, it has also ruined the experience of travel and
study abroad for many people.
There is undoubtedly no better way to learn the culture and
language of a country than to live in such country for a period of time, just as
college students do when they study abroad. Now, Facebook, Twitter and other
social media allow students to be connected with their friends and family when
they are in a different country. So even though they could be thousands of
miles away from home, in a way, they are still home. They are not
“disconnected” from their life and culture and are therefore unable to be
submerged into a new one.
Yes, it is nice to be able to stay in touch with family and
friends from back home from anywhere around the world., but we are clinging too
much to familiarity. In order to truly learn and appreciate the culture of a
specific country, we need to be in the country completely, not only half the
time. I agree with Huesca; new media is ruining the study abroad experience
because while students have the familiar entertainment and accessibility to communication with their
friends, they feel no obligation to go out, explore, and find new ways to be
entertained.
Huesca proposes the idea of disconnecting students from technology while they are abroad. This would probably result in students getting more out of their experience abroad and truly learning about the new culture. The culture shock will be bigger than ever, especially in a time when people have become so accustomed to technology and communication media, but it would open the path for a cultural enrichment opportunity like no other.
"No."
ReplyDeleteThat's the answer, and it bothers me, since from my experience, if young people have that support network 24/7, they are less likely to develop coping skills.
Before I earn The Brick for a Sweeping Generalization, consider this article about "teacup children" in the US, from a damning portrait called "A Nation of Wimps" that appeared in Psychology Today.
For me, the larger question is more about older folks: are they losing their self-reliance cultivated in the pre-Internet era? That's more terrifying still.
The thing is, while technology definitely adds another layer to the pull of disconnection, a lot of people ruin traveling abroad for themselves simply because of who they are and what they like. Turkle mentions the girl who spends most of her trip writing letters to her boyfriend, similar to modern day text communication. I personally am also guilty of this sort of disconnection: my family traveled to California while I was rereading the Harry Potter series, and so I ended up reading those books instead of enjoying the vacation and the scenery.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that technology is an even worse source of disconnection, though, is that we are close to addicted to it. As Huesca explains, "Who can resist checking their Facebook account when it is merely a click and 10 seconds away? Once there, can any of us withstand the temptation to answer the instant message of our best friend back home?" The temptation of going on Facebook, paired with the reward of human commication and connectivity that we experience upon arriving on the site, is overwhelming to the point of being controlling. I agree very much with you that Facebook and other technologies are keeping us too much at home while we are abroad, but I also believe that disconnection is not a condition but a choice.
I agree with Elana that although new technology and media that allows us to be connected 24/7 has had a very large and adverse impact on study abroad, the disconnection is a choice rather than a condition. New technology has made it much more difficult to avoid the temptation to disconnect from our surroundings, as checking Facebook or Twitter is just so easy. Since the pull of these technologies is so strong, I do agree with Huesca that students should be instructed if not forced to limit their technology use. However, while technology can be detrimental I think that Huesca is too quick to downplay the benefits. Being able to connect with home in the case of an emergency or some similar circumstance is important. Additionally, technologies such as Facebook and texting are not just available in the US and like it or not, using these technologies is becoming a part of the global culture.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Huesca's argument. It is not fair to blame everything on technology, it is also our duty to assume the responsibilities of our acts. This article reminds me a lot of Carr's, it is always easier to put the blame on technology for our lack of social interaction among other things. Even if you put restrictions I believe people abroad would find ways to connect to the internet. I believe that it is pur choices that define us, is the same as blaming facebook for not allowing us to do ou homework. I believe those who truly want to experience and get to know the culture of those countries they visit, they will actually do it, and does who do not want they dont have to, each person will deal in the future with the consequence of their acts and they will have to live with it. Once again, WE decide when to use technology, WE decide how we use it, it is time for us to start assuming our guilt and deal with the consequences of our actions.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Huesca's argument. It is not fair to blame everything on technology, it is also our duty to assume the responsibilities of our acts. This article reminds me a lot of Carr's, it is always easier to put the blame on technology for our lack of social interaction among other things. Even if you put restrictions I believe people abroad would find ways to connect to the internet. I believe that it is pur choices that define us, is the same as blaming facebook for not allowing us to do ou homework. I believe those who truly want to experience and get to know the culture of those countries they visit, they will actually do it, and does who do not want they dont have to, each person will deal in the future with the consequence of their acts and they will have to live with it. Once again, WE decide when to use technology, WE decide how we use it, it is time for us to start assuming our guilt and deal with the consequences of our actions.
ReplyDeleteI am more sympathetic to Huesca's argument than is Sam, but I want to note how easy it was to avoid immersion in another culture before the Internet.
ReplyDeleteIn Madrid in the mid-80s I fell into the trap of hanging out with expats from my university or at least from the States. I know that for a while that short-changed my experience in Spain. Eventually, however, I started to venture out with my co-workers and students, all Spaniards. That changed everything.
I didn't exactly study abroad, but I did participate in a French exchange program my junior of high school. I relate to Huesca especially when he explains his experience in Mexico: “Attempts to call home were infrequent, costly, and often unsuccessful, which led to feelings of isolation and vulnerability. As a consequence, the intensity and duration of ‘culture shock’ were pronounced.” At that time, I only had a dinky flip phone, which didn't serve much use in Paris, so I just left it in my suitcase. However, the other American students I traveled with were, as Sherry Turkle puts it, “tethered” to their phones, constantly checking Facebook, texting, and listening to music. I’m not certain whether they experienced culture shock, but I would say I definitely did. The first day I arrived, I freaked out because I couldn't fully understand what the French students were saying and I wasn't really close friends with any of the other American students from my school. I remember I was really homesick the first few days and used Facebook and communicated with my parents through email on the computer my French exchange student’s family had. But as the days passed, I felt like I could have lived there if I had the chance and not worry about missing my friends and family back home. I still remember the inside and outside of the apartment I stayed in, most of the places we toured, and the cottage in Normandy my French exchange student took me to; if I went back I would probably be able to point out exactly where I’ve been because I was aware of my surroundings. If I had the iPhone I have now, I probably would have been glued to that thing, unwilling to break free from my comfort zone. However, I didn't and I’m glad because I feel like I embraced the French culture as I practiced speaking French and went exploring on my own while still getting to know my peers. Technology may be what we use to avoid change. Perhaps, we keep it close to us to feel secure and don’t find it necessary to acknowledge what we don’t want to associate with. On the other hand, it doesn’t allow us to experience another culture, another way of living and understand it. Yes, we can simply look up the lifestyle and culture in France, but we’re never going to get the feel of it. I think Huesca’s statement about “instituting media pledges,” however, is a little extreme because I don’t think that the use of technology, especially social media, should be completely taken away while studying abroad because we need a balance between change and familiarity in order to make the transition less stressful.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with what you have to say. As an international student at UR, I didn’t often suffer from homesick as I thought I would. I was spared from a great degree of nostalgia thanks to an illustrious tool--Skype. However, this does not mean at all that I or other international students crawled up in our beds and continued to live in that cocoon of ours for the rest of semester. We tried to absorb and learn as much as we could about the new world we were living in.
ReplyDeleteTechnology can be both enhance and detract from study abroad. I dont think that it is technology per say that is responsible for what happens, it is the way we choose to employ it. Using google maps and other apps to find your way around is fine. I think the fault lies with not drawing a line in terms of how much you use it.
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