It's Everywhere

I still find myself amazed at just how much information we are all exposed to on a daily basis and do not even realize it. Between television, our computers, constant cell phone use, and of course person to person interaction there is such a large exchange of information that goes on in a single day.
Take television for example. You turn on your t.v. and sit down to watch your favorite show, we'll say it's an hour long show. As a viewer, we get so wrapped up in the show and what is going on with the characters and the storyline that we don't even notice the constant overflow of information that is poured down our throats by the advertising world. I was watching the new episode of Sons of Anarchy on Tuesday night when it hit me just how much information we are exposed to. In this "hour" long episode there was probably between 15 and 20 minutes of commercials. And each commercial was different and exposed all the viewers to brand new information each time. This constant exposure is often overlooked by people and we don't realize how much information our brains take in on a regular basis.
Another great example of information overload is found on our social networking sites. I'm sure everyone reading this has a Facebook page so I'll use that as my example. Log into your account and look at the home screen. Just on this home page users are exposed to the news feed which contains every post made by every friend they have online, the message center so you can see who's online that you might want to chat with, advertisements on the right side of the screen, and not to mention all the links that allow you to change your picture, information, and status on your profile. From this one page a viewer can see pictures of his cousin's vacation to Jamaica, be instant messaging with his friend that goes to school in Oklahoma, and update his interests section of his profile. Now if that's not information overload then I don't know what is.

It's American

As I was searching for an advertisement online I came across a recent Dodge Challenger commercial. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk0e1VL80o) This commercial appeals to individuals who are looking to purchase the newest version of the classic muscle car the Dodge Challenger.
In the commercial, the company makes the claim that America understands how to make a high quality car. The Dodge Challenger is a classic American muscle car that has been around since the 1960's and 70's and has one of the most recognizable car designs. The evidence that supports this claim is not straight forward. By having George Washington drive the Challenger and use it to lead the American army against the British, the writer of the commercial appeals to pathos in the viewer. George Washington is one of the founding fathers of America and is considered to be one of the greatest Americans to ever live. The writer of the commercial appeals to all Americans saying that if the Dodge Challenger is good enough that George Washington would drive it, then it is good enough for any American to drive. This supports his claim that Americans know how to make good quality cars. The warrant in this commercial is that American made cars are better than cars from other countries. In the commercial, the British soldiers began retreating when they saw the Challengers speeding toward them from over the hill. This shows that the American made car defeated the British soldiers and is better than any vehicle they have to offer.

Searching for Information

In recent years search and information overload have become concerns of all Internet users. The easy access to thousands of websites by simply typing in a word to a search engine has helped to increase this concern. A new search engine company called Bing has come out with a set of new commercials showing the ridiculousness of information and search overload http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifU5FrugJ_k&feature=related. 

In the commercial it gives a drastic example of how information overload impacts Internet users. Although not as drastic as the commercial depicts, people are constantly exposed to numerous amounts of information that is not needed by them or related to what they are searching for. I sometimes feel the same way as the woman in the commercial who recites all of the information she's exposed to. Most times when I need to do research for a project, look up lyrics or guitar chords to a song, or I need information for my job I open Google and type in whatever I am searching for. The first few links given usually have the information that I am looking for while the other 10,000 or so sites have nothing to do with what I am looking for. This does not really matter so much when I am using Google for entertainment and fun purposes, but whenever I need vital information for school or work the information overload causes me to spend extra time sifting through the useless information in order to find the important stuff. Some people will argue that the more information out there, the better. I feel like this statement should be changed to the more correct and pertinent information out there the better. 

The New Face of Education

Technology has become a very prominent part of education over the recent years. As most people know it is required of students to take a certain number of technology classes in high school in order to graduate. These classes range from learning how to do graphical design, basic typing, and learning how to use basic computer software. However, now technology is being used in various ways in every classroom from high school, all the way down to the Pre-K level.

My mother is a Pre-K teacher back in my hometown. She has been teaching for over 20 years and has had to change her teaching methods multiple times due to the continuous changes in technology. She now has the use of 5 computers in her classroom, about 10 ipods, and the new Apple Smart board to teach her 3 and 4-year-old kids. She uses the computers to teach different counting techniques and to help her students learn letters. The ipods have different apps that the kids learn to use throughout the year to further enhance their learning. All of these types of technology not only teach the students the basic skills they are required to learn, the alphabet, counting, etc., but they also begin to teach the children how to use and navigate the Internet through various types of technology. As these kids learn how to use these technologies, I feel that it is taking away from what they truly need to be learning. By using technology, you require the students to not only learn the material they are required too but also how to use the technologies which is requiring them to learn and process much more information then ever before. If technology is to continue to be a significant part of education, can we still require students to retain as much information as in the past? Or should we hold them to a higher standard due to the fact that they now have more information available to them?