Category: Technology

Recent Posts

Are You Drowning in Email?

A great New York Times article describing the “tyranny” of email and how some countries and companies are attempting to staunch the tsunami of email during non-work hours. Anyone who feels overwhelmed when faced with checking their email or anyone who feels pressure to respond to work email on night and weekends will appreciate this article. […]

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Are Young People Losing Their Ability to Read Emotions?

An interesting new study was just published that suggests that children who have little or no screen time are able to read the emotions of others better than those who spend considerable time in front of a screen. Though the sample for the study was small, its implications are disturbing, namely, that the decline in […]

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Technology is Making Us Dumber

Very much in line with my own views on the overuse of technology, this article describes 8 Ways Technology Makes Us Stupid. I’m quite sure that the majority of us can relate to each of the eight.  

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Sleep is Another Casualty of Technology

If you’re a parent a of teenager (or have a child that is going to be one!), this article should really disturb you. The bottom line is that when young people should be sleeping, many are staying up late spending the wee hours of the night on social media.  It’s called ‘”vamping,” as in vampires. […]

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Handwriting is Better Than Keyboarding for Children

A fascinating article about the impact of handwriting vs. typing on a keyboard. The research seems clear that handwriting has important benefits over keyboarding (yes, it is a verb now!). This despite the fact that increasing numbers of schools have stopped teaching handwriting after second grade and no longer teach cursive writing.

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A Must-See Video of the Impact of Technology on Our Lives

In my recent post, I argue that opportunity costs (time spent doing one thing is time not spent doing other things) may be the greatest threat from technology. A friend just sent me this video titled Look Up that powerfully demonstrates what we miss–life, love, beauty, opportunity!–when we immerse excessively in technology. Here are a few great lines […]

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Are Opportunity Costs Children’s Real Problem with Technology?

There are a lot of “techno-evangelists” out there spreading the gospel of technology as the cure for all of our ills. For this group, technology can do no wrong. At the same time, there are plenty of Chicken Littles running around saying that our cultural, social, and educational sky is falling. For this group, technology is the ill that needs to be cured.

I place myself firmly in the middle of these two camps. Think of me as the Paul Revere of the 21st century—“The techies are coming!” I believe that technology is inherently neither good nor bad. But neutral does not mean it is benign. As with most things in life, technology is healthy or harmful depending on how it is used.

One challenge for us is technology enters our lives before we can know what effect it will actually have on us. The speed at which technology is becoming deeply woven into the very fabric of our lives is breathtaking; as if we’re holding onto the railing of a caboose of a runaway train. Innovations are launched and become a part of our culture so quickly that there isn’t time to step back and consider the implications of new technology on us. It is only in the rearview mirror that we can see whether a technological advancement has been beneficial or damaging. And by then it’s too late to go back; the new technology is already irreversibly embedded in our individual and societal psyches.

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26 Photos Show How Technology Has Changed Our Lives

This series of 26 photos vividly captures how technology has changed how we interact with others and our world. THEN: Girls catch sight of The Beatles, 1964 NOW: Girls catch sight of One Direction, 2013  

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Can Technology Save Itself from Itself?

With the 20th anniversary of the birth of Internet just passed, I thought it a good time to step back and reflect on the role of technology in our present lives and the role it may play in the future. There is no doubt that the technological developments of the past two decades made possible […]

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Taylor Highlighted in NY Times Article about Children and Social Media

An interesting question is posed in a New York Times article in which I am featured: Do parents have a right to post photos of their children on social media without the children’s consent or against their wishes?

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