Research Paper Rough Draft

This is my first draft of my research paper and it is really rough cause I am still trying to piece it all together.



How has improved technology changed the way college students communicate?

College has always been the place for teen ages to escapes, become more independent people and grow up on their own. During college many forms of communication are used, whether it’s using a cell phone to call your parents or your friends, or catching up with friends on the internet, communication is ideal while being away at school. Twenty years ago people communicated by telephones and letters to people who lived far away. Many had telephones, but mobile phones didn’t emerge until ten years ago in the early 1990’s. This is also when internet and electronic mail became popular. We all know that today many of these things are different. Everything is digital and student have means of communication right at their fingertips, literally. Increased technology is a fascinating topic because it allows people to become so much closer in the click of a button. According to Edward de Bono, author of “Technology Today”, “Technology makes life simpler rather than more complicated. Using a telephone is easier that writing a letter.” (Technology Today, P.21) It has never been as easy as pressing enter to talk to someone, and now that’s one of the main ways college students communicate. The way college students communicate has evolved so much in the past twenty years at an incredible rate due to technology.
While students are away at school they have to communicate all the time. They have many different forms of communication that they are able to pick from as shown below. These communication forms include many things from the computer to cell phones. Michael Hanley, an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Ball State University states "The use of cell phones and instant and text messaging has become ubiquitous on college campuses, overtaking e-mail as the main form of communication,"(Michael Hanley) Many of these tools are easy to get a hold of and easy to use. Typically when going to college you buy a laptop computer or you at least have access to one. I don’t think I know one person at my school that doesn’t have one. Once you have one, you can access just about anything because many schools provide connection to the internet for their students. Abraham Nachbaur states “All campus residences provide an ethernet connection, and in some cases wireless access, for each student.”(Stanford -favorites) Students take advantage of these resources to communicate with many different people, such as parents, friends, professors, classmates, and even relatives.
On the computer there are a lot of programs you can get allowing you to communicate with others. There are numerous amounts of social networking sites that people join just to have communication with their friends. Facebook is one of the major social networks that allow you to chat, upload pictures, and comment on almost anything. “Created in 2004, by 2007 Facebook was reported to have more than 21 million registered members generating 1.6 billion page views each day (Needham & Company, 2007).” (The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites) Facebook grows more and more each day, but it is just one of the few; there are also sites such as MySpace, Twitter, CyWorld, and Friendster that are also similar. Other programs on computers are ones that allow you to talk to someone via instant messaging. Instant messaging, also known as AIM is a program that is easily downloaded from a web site onto your computer and then you are able to talk to anyone that is “online”. AIM, or any other instant messaging service, is very popular for college students to use because of the easy access. “College Internet users are twice as likely to use instant messaging on any given day compared to the average Internet user.”(standford.edu). Another big technology that you are able to download right off the internet is Skype. Skype is a program that allows you to use a webcam to see and talk to a person on the other end no matter where they are. “The newest technologies enable students to keep virtually in touch with friends even when they are separated by long distances.” (McDaniel College) Skype is an easy way of communicating with anyone as long as they have a computer with a webcam. McDaniel junior Bethany Bachtel states “Skyping is so much better that e-mail and since calling and texting internationally costs so much, Skype is the best choice because it is free. It is so much more personal than e-mail and it feels like you are in the same room as the other person.” (McDaniel College) E-mail is another major form of communication, especially within college campuses. Professors email students all the time, updating them one their progress, helping with questions and of course letting them know when something is cancelled. In my class the form we communicated through online blogs. This is a way to post papers online for others, such as class mates and teachers to read and comment on. It allows you to get positive or negative feedback on your work. Forms of communication through computers are a fast and easy way to get up to date on the current situation.
We all know that practically everyone these days has a cell phone, some people even have two. However, if you are a college student, having a cell phone is necessary. According to a national survey by Student Monitor, 90% of college students owned their own cell phone in the fall of 2004. (textually.com) Cell phones come in handy when contacting group members, family members or meeting up with friends. It would be difficult to go day to day in college without one seeing how many times you call people throughout a day. A researcher, Jean Elliot, conducted a survey at Virginia Tech studying cell phone use among college students. His research showed that students are in regular communication through their cell phones, participating in an average of 11 calls per day. (Jean Elliot) Calling is just one of the things you can do with a cell phone. Now they are coming out with phones that can do just about as much as a computer can do. Texting and e-mailing are other big technologies that have come into play. Americans send about 2.5 billion text messages per month. (textually.com). A ridiculous amount of our communication is through text because it is an easy way to quickly telling someone something without calling them. It is also convientient because cell phones are portable and easy to use on the go. They are used everywhere. Richard Brookhiser says “Modern cellphone conversations occur on sidewalks, in restaurants, ten inches from your face in the elevator.” (Cellphobjects)
While I am very interested in this topic, others may be too. There are some stake holders about this article that may have a lot to say. Stake holders include:
· College students- College students are major stake holders because they are the ones who are using the devices and forms of communication everyday.
· Parents/ families- Parents may have a say in this because when their kid goes off to school they are somehow staying in touch with them through a computer or a phone. They also might be the ones paying for a communication service just to keep in touch. Glenn Cook states “ a new study says families are using cell phones, e-mail, text messages, and other forms of communication to remain close to each other” (National School Board Association)
· Environmentalists- With us using electronic means of communication that means we no longer have so much paper lying around. No more writing letters and no more printing out hundreds of lecture slides. By having everything available via electronics we are helping in the effort to save the earth.
· Vendors (such as cell phone and computer companies) – These companies obviously have a large part in the going digital idea at college campuses. Companies who sell electronics are definitely benefitting from increased technology. They sell to everyone, the major group being college students and teenagers.
· Colleges- Colleges hold a big stake in this topic because these technologies make everything easier. Professors are able to e-mail their students work, have their students take online quizzes and even get the lecture notes or slides. It takes learning and classes to a whole different level.
With new technologies coming out every day it is hard to think of how we will communicate in 20 years seeing where we were years ago. Author of “Technology Matters”, David Nye, states “It is easy to imagine human beings as pre-literate, but it is difficult to imagine them as pre-technological.” (Technology Matters, p. 5 )We may find it hard because we have come to be so advanced in technology it would be hard to imagine our life without it.