Luke Horton

Professor Suzanne Thomas

UWRT 1103

12 February 2018

Has technology helped or hurt in the transition to a college environment for modern day

students? It is undeniable that this generation of college students are surrounded by an

unbelievable amount of technology. Although technology’s goal is to make our lives easier, has

it made the transition to college life more difficult?

Moving off to college was not a big deal for me seeing as that I am only 90 minutes from Commented [1]: good job making a personal
connection
home and I know so many people that attend UNCC. Even though my comfort level is absolutely

fine sometimes I feel as though I have kept myself in a shell up to this point in my college career.

In high school I was the kid who would go out of his way to talk to everyone and I tried to have a

connection with everyone I met on some level. Since being at UNCC though I have not loosened

up and went out of my way to talk to strangers, whether that may be around campus or in the

classroom. This does not mean I have been locked in my room for a semester and a half, I just

feel that I should apply myself more. A big part of this issue I really believe is the technology

around me. I constantly find myself aimlessly looking down at my watch or phone before and Commented [2]: Good with noticing your own personal
tie to the issue itself
after classes instead of maybe introducing myself to new people and expanding my circle. Even

outside of the cliche of ‘phones have destroyed the social life of young individuals’, sometimes I Commented [3]: nice

will sit in my room for hours watching movies on my computer or sitting down and playing

Xbox. Not saying that a little break from school is a bad thing, it is much needed sometimes, it’s

just not helping my problem.

 One of the biggest problems college students face when making the transition to college

is a new classroom environment. Technology has not made this easier on students due to the fact

some professors are fully digital and some try to stay so far from a piece of technology you

would think it would kill them. Not having uniformity when learning can make it even harder to Commented [4]: engaging

adapt. All teachers have different teaching styles but going from a class that uses PowerPoints

and eBooks to a class that uses hardback textbooks and pencil-paper notes can

overwhelm/confuse students. Although this can negatively affect learning it can be beneficial in

a way that is so new many people haven’t had time to study the fact thoroughly. Joanne Kossuth

at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts spoke openly about

technology in the classroom in this way, “Freshmen come in to the college already well

acquainted with social networking and used to course management software, mainly because of

its increasing use in high school, Kossuth said. They use a campus-hosted wiki to find rides. Commented [5]: ."

They work with administrators to improve software offerings. In other words, the students are at

the cutting edge, while some faculty are working to catch up.” (Guess, 2017) This university

converted their campus to a fully electronic based learning system and has found many things

over the last few year since implementation. Their biggest issue is students getting off task which

is quickly corrected when the students see that their academics are dropping. This shows that Commented [6]: is it? ie. it seems some students fail
out
although some may see it as a drastic change in reality we are in a way playing to our strong suits

by using technology for education.

UNCC may be one of the best universities when it comes to trying to get their students

involved. They try from every angle whether that may be face to face interaction, group

activities, clubs, or social media based platforms their commitment is undeniable. “83 percent of Commented [7]: new para.?

Americans aged 18–29 owning a smartphone in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center, Commented [8]: maybe change to owned
attachment to phones is the norm” (Dwyer, Ray 2014). With so many students having instant

access to many forms of communication the ability for professors to communicate to students

has improved drastically. Which can help and hinder professors because they believe that

students will check their canvas or email instantly, but that is not the case. Eric Stoller, a

professor at the University of South Carolina said, “We have this perception that because

students are fluent with things like smartphones and downloading music that they are born with

chips embedded in them that make them technology wizards,” he said. “They are no better at

managing e-mail than anyone else.” (Rubin, 2013) This makes for a new change you must face Commented [9]: this is a good quote to show students
are no 100% connected to their tech 100% of the time
in college and that is trying to stay connected to your email which is something I personally

never had to do in high school.

One point not yet touched on is the effects on college students social lives. Technology Commented [10]: It may be good to remember that
this is the proposal which doesn't necessarily have
showcase a lot of evidence.
has revolutionized peer to peer communication, but this isn’t always a good thing. Coming out of
Commented [11]: yes, you can write about what other
questions are coming up for you, not answers yet.
college you are thrown into the ‘real world’ where face to face engagement is astronomically

important and the majority of college students spend more time engaging with their phones

instead of people. Also, technology can bring on more unneeded stressors into our everyday

lives. Licensed psychologist Leon Festinger said, “increases the natural inclination for social

comparison. Often times, this happens when students see pictures of other people traveling to

cool places or doing cool things and can result in the user feeling unsatisfied with life, thinking

other people are happier than them, or thinking life is unfair.” (Dye, 2016) Knowing this can

make people believe technology is nothing but a hindrance on the lives of college students, but it

also keeps us more informed and engaged than ever before possible. We are able to connect to

others instantly whether they are friends or classmates. We also have infinite amounts of

information at our fingertips with Google as long as we know how to utilize it. Technology
opens us up to endless possibilities socially and academically it’s just our job to open Pandora’s

box and use what is presented to us usefully and not just curl up in a shell and watch Netflix and

reload our feeds. Commented [12]: As a reader, I like these details

References

● Dwyer, Kayla. Webmaster. “Smartphone Technology Affects Social and Academic Lives

of Students.” The Ithacan, The Ithacan, 29 Oct, 2014 theithacan.org/news/smartphone-

technology-affects-social-and-academic-lives-of-students/.

● Rubin, Courtney. “Technology and the College Generation.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 28 Sept. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/fashion/technology-and-

the-college-generation.html. Commented [13]: get rid of the hyperlinks

● Guess, Andy. “Students' 'Evolving' Use of Technology.” Inside Higher Ed, 17 Sept, 2017,

www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it

● Dye, Tracy. “The Effects of Technology on College Life.” Scholar Commons USC, 5

May 2016,

scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=senior_theses.

WID: Changing my draft became twenty times easier after out peer meeting. I was able to use

knowledge of convention to incorporate my quotes into my paper with a better flow by citing my

source in the sentence opposed to having a separate citation following a quote. Using critical

reading I was able to find that I needed to change some sentence structures and add paragraphs at

different points.

Luke Horton
Professor Suzanne Thomas

UWRT 1103

12 February 2018

Has technology helped or hurt in the transition to a college environment for modern day

students? It is undeniable that this generation of college students is surrounded by an

unbelievable amount of technology. Although technology’s goal is to make our lives easier, has

it made the transition to college life more difficult?

Moving off to college was not a big deal for me seeing as that I am only 90 minutes from

home and I know so many people that attend UNCC. Even though my comfort level is absolutely

fine, sometimes I feel as though I have kept myself in a shell up to this point in my college

career. In high school I was the kid who would go out of his way to talk to everyone and I tried

to have a connection with everyone I met on some level. Since being at UNCC though I have not

loosened up and went out of my way to talk to strangers, whether that may be around campus or

in the classroom. This does not mean I have been locked in my room for a semester and a half; I

just feel that I should apply myself more. A big part of this issue I really believe is the

technology around me. I constantly find myself aimlessly looking down at my watch or phone

before and after classes instead of maybe introducing myself to new people and expanding my

circle. Even outside of the cliche of ‘phones have destroyed the social life of young individuals’,

sometimes I will sit in my room for hours watching movies on my computer or sitting down and

playing Xbox. Not saying that a little break from school is a bad thing, it is much needed

sometimes, it’s just not helping my problem.

 One of the biggest problems college students face when making the transition to college

is a new classroom environment. Technology has not made this easier on students due to the fact

some professors are fully digital, and some try to stay so far from a piece of technology you

would think it would kill them. Not having uniformity when learning can make it even harder to

adapt. All teachers have different teaching styles but going from a class that uses PowerPoints

and eBooks to a class that uses hardback textbooks and pencil-paper notes can

overwhelm/confuse students. Although this can negatively affect learning it can be beneficial in

a way that is so new many people haven’t had time to study the fact thoroughly. Joanne Kossuth

at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts spoke openly about

technology in the classroom in this way, “Freshmen come in to the college already well

acquainted with social networking and used to course management software, mainly because of

its increasing use in high school, Kossuth said. They use a campus-hosted wiki to find rides.

They work with administrators to improve software offerings. In other words, the students are at

the cutting edge, while some faculty are working to catch up.” (Guess, 2017) This university

converted their campus to a fully electronic based learning system and has found many things

over the last few years since implementation. This shows that although some may see it as a

drastic change, in reality we are in a way playing to our strong suits by using technology for

education.

According to the Pew Research Center 83 percent of Americans aged 18–29 owned a

smartphone in 2014 and this number is growing rapidly. With so many students having instant

access to many forms of communication the ability for professors to communicate to students

has improved drastically. Which can help and hinder professors because they believe that

students will check their canvas or email instantly, but that is not the case. Eric Stoller, a
professor at the University of South Carolina said, “We have this perception that because

students are fluent with things like smartphones and downloading music that they are born with

chips embedded in them that make them technology wizards,” he said. “They are no better at

managing email than anyone else.” (Rubin, 2013) This makes for a new change you must face in

college and that is trying to stay connected to your email which is something I personally never

had to do in high school.

Technology has revolutionized peer to peer communication, but this isn’t always a good

thing. Coming out of college you are thrown into the ‘real world’ where face to face engagement

is astronomically important and the majority of college students spend more time engaging with

their phones instead of people. Also, technology can bring on more unneeded stressors into our

everyday lives. Licensed psychologist Leon Festinger said, “increases the natural inclination for

social comparison. Often times, this happens when students see pictures of other people traveling

to cool places or doing cool things and can result in the user feeling unsatisfied with life,

thinking other people are happier than them, or thinking life is unfair.” (Dye, 2016) Knowing this

can make people believe technology is nothing but a hindrance on the lives of college students,

but it also keeps us more informed and engaged than ever before possible. We are able to

connect to others instantly whether they are friends or classmates. We also have infinite amounts

of information at our fingertips with Google as long as we know how to utilize it. Technology

opens us up to endless possibilities socially and academically it’s just our job to open Pandora’s

box and use what is presented to us usefully and not just curl up in a shell and watch Netflix and

reload our feeds. I plan to explore these issues further through my research.

References
● Dwyer, Kayla. Webmaster. “Smartphone Technology Affects Social and Academic Lives

of Students.” The Ithacan, The Ithacan, 29 Oct. 2014.

● Rubin, Courtney. “Technology and the College Generation.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 28 Sept. 2013.

● Guess, Andy. “Students' 'Evolving' Use of Technology.” Inside Higher Ed, 17 Sept. 2017.

● Dye, Tracy. “The Effects of Technology on College Life.” Scholar Commons USC, 5

May 2016.