MSTU 4020

Image Source: Buckets After reading the Bowman, Levine, Waite, and Gendron (2010) article "Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading" about multitasking, along with several peer blogs with reactions to this article, I chose to focus this week's blog topic on exploring multitasking further.  While the article focused on individuals completing multiple literacy-oriented tasks at once which results in lower performance, I would like to generalize to any activities that can be multitasked.  In this day and age, Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) platforms like televisions, computers, phones, etc. allow us an increased opportunity for multitasking every day.  It seems obvious that splitting focus on any tasks will result in decreased performance, yet we still attempt it every day and the variety of technologies available make it easier to do so. National Geographic's series "Brain Games" explor

I believe that most technology has been created, or can be used, to solve an existing societal problem. Cell phones help us communicate (and as they continue to develop new capabilities, they solve a whole host of other problems). Cars enable us to move from place to place easily. ICTs provide a platform for sharing ideas and communicating with individuals globally, which we would not otherwise have access to, along with providing a wide variety of other uses that make the completion of daily tasks easier. This argument, that technology is created to solve existing societal problems supports a soft technological determinist point of view; In short, culture and society are influencing the creation and development of technology. However, I was particularly struck by the video "5 Crazy Ways Social Media is Changing Your Brain Right Now" by ASAPscience. This video provides strong evidence that supports a hard technological determinist standpoint that some technology, like

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) encompass a broad variety of digital tools. The infographic above from Tech Target provides a breakdown of many, but not all, of the components of ICTs and provides a definition: "The term information and communication technology (ICT) is generally accepted to mean all technologies that, combined, allow people and organizations to interact in the digital world." During last week's MSTU 4020 class, we were asked to discuss our "favorite" ICT. This was a difficult task because I am someone who uses so many different ICTs in a single day: communications, internet, software/hardware, transactions, etc. It was challenging to choose just one because some of the ICTs that I use are necessary for my job, schoolwork, and daily life. For me, when I think of naming a "favorite" of anything, whether it be a favorite movie, favorite food, or even a favorite ICT, it evokes a sense of choice . In this day and