A wake-up call..

Technology has eased it's way into our world as it has changed the way many of us learn, the way many teachers teach, and the ways in which we interact on a daily basis. I can definitely say that I cannot see my life without most technological appliances I own, nor do I feel like I can function properly without them.(Which makes me feel slightly pathetic, but anyways..)
Much of the younger population would agree that there are no consequences to the use of technology, as they are unaware of some of the disadvantages that technology brings, while an older generation would argue against it;
"TV screens will ruin your eyesight! i pods will damages your hearing! cellphone use can result in cancer! video games promote violence!.
Sound familiar? - I'm pretty sure it does.

Although we cannot say for sure whether or not these so called disadvantages are 100% correct, they do make a lot of sense... and even though I am part of the younger generation, and I do enjoy my i pod and my cellphone, I am not blind to it's potential harmful future effects. Unfortunately, there are more disadvantages to technology than the obvious ones your parents might lecture you about, some of which many may be blind to...

While reading about the stages on pedagogical development, I came across an interesting technology-related topic that is often not emphasized enough in elementary and high schools. Plagiarism and cheating is so easy to get away with these days because more and more ways to secretly or privately access information is available. From the internet, to cellphones, students have mastered the art of cheating and continue to do so, constantly receiving grades they are most certainly not worthy of having, and more importantly taking away nothing from their classes and lectures. Lathrop and Foss (2000) have found that '80% of high school students admit to cheating and 95% of students who cheat say they do not get caught' This is very very alarming to hear as a future educator who would never want to hear a statistic like that.
This is should most definitely be a huge wake-up call for teachers everywhere, I know that it certainly is for me.
Clearly, it isn't enough that educators have found ways to find out if a paper is plagiarized or not. We must find another way to get rid of such inappropriate use of technology so that our future can rely on academically independent individuals who have learned something valuable from their education other than how to cheat.

Here is a link to an article that further discusses 21st century cheating.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2142

Enjoy!