Is technology causing me to lose as much as I gain?

Is technology causing me to lose as much as I gain? I believe what this question means to me, is technology ultimately helping me, or is holding me back? Is it causing me to not be as successful a student as I could be? Is technology giving me the easy way out by doing everything for me? What I believe technology can cause my fellow classmates and I to lose is the art of communication.  I feel like the biggest thing that technology has taken away from us is the form of face to face communication. With e-mails, text messages, and instant messaging, people can have full conversations without ever having to see one another.  Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that this is also one of the greatest things that technology has given us, but I just feel like its con is almost as great as its pro.  One way that this form of technology can be helpful, is when you need to get ahold of someone very quickly.  Within a couple of seconds, and a few characteristics later, you can deliver a message to someone miles away.  This has come in very handy as I quickly found out early in the first semester.  When I had a question about one of my online classes, all I had to do was e-mail my teacher, and within minutes she had replied back to me and helped me with my problem.  Without ever having to see her, or even having to get up, I was able to contact my teacher, ask her a question, and get a response within just a couple of minutes.  A way that I found this to be harmful, is that I would be taking a class all semester and never be able to see my instructor once.  Of course I could schedule an appointment with her during one of her office hours, but I would never be able to see her and have her teach me the class.  This was something very new to me as I had never taken an online class before.

It should be easier....Right?

 

 

 

Discussing  the pros and cons of online classes.