Generations

This week’s assignment is very interesting. I must interview people from three different generations to see how they use the internet. It was very typical to assume that the generations outlook on the internet might be extremely different but I was optimistic to see what I would find out. In postman I read how students and teachers have come to believe that education is impossible without the structure of a college “course”. So going into my first interview I definitely wanted to go0 further than just the requirements of the assignment, and ask students who are in my generation, would they prefer to take an online class or go to an actual classroom to get an education? The student I talked to answered this question by explaining it depends on what class it is. She said if it was a hard class, she would much rather take a hands on approach and go to an actual classroom to be taught. As the conversation went on I learned that she spent majority of her time on the internet shopping or on facebook. From a personal aspect I never shop online but as I began to think more in depth, I soon realized that my generation is known for being facebook fiends. She seemed to think that technology has helped her improve her social life but hindered her studies in school. She explained that she is constantly on line, so she never gets around to her homework which is common in this generation.

The next generation I interviewed was the 36-60 age groups. I chose my coach because she seemed intrigued to know what I was doing in study hall so I had him help me out. When I asked him what he most frequently used the internet for, he replied to either check on recruits and see what they have been up to or to book plane flights and check his itinerary. I know this could probably be common for a college coach but when I asked if the internet changed the way his life functioned for the better or the worse, he replied for the worse. His explanation made perfect sense. He said that back in the old days, if a coach wanted to talk to a player they either had to meet or talk on the phone. Now with the internet on cell phones, he can handle all of his business from his phone. The problem is, the NCAA has made so many rules about contacting players, he wishes the internet wasn’t this advanced and that things could go back to the old ways.

Last but not least, the elderly folk. I interviewed my grandmother and asked her what did she use the internet for constantly. She replied with a chuckle that the most frequent thing she has used the internet for, is to buy something from offline. When I asked if the internet has been a better influence or worse in her life, she responded with a better because she said it limited the amount of times she has to leave the house and go shopping. It’s funny because she’s a home body and she hates to leave her house so it makes perfect sense. Interviewing all three generations made me realize that we are not that far off from each other. The two similarities which I thought were really interesting was that I interviewed two women and they both used the internet frequiently for shopping. I wonder if I interviewed two males, would they have used the internet frequently for sports?

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