Digital Literacy free essay sample

We all must learn to expand our knowledge towards currently growing technology. Some of us have positive feelings about advances in technology, although many may fear the unknown. No one anticipates such drastic change in the way things work. We mustn’t fear change, for changes in the advancement of technology can only expand our current knowledge and apprehension of not only the modern world, but the history behind our everyday existence. However it is also important to not completely rely on technology in case of an emergency situation that might cause technology to fail. Someone who only relies on technology may find themselves, lost, or incapable of everyday life without it. It is important to have basic survival skills incase such an event was to occur. Video games had an influence on my digital literacy. The first video game system I acquired was a Super Nintendo. I started playing video games in my free time, when I was done with school, homework, and chores. When I first got my Super Nintendo I only had a few games for it. I thought it was the best game system ever. I would invite my friends over on the weekends to play Super Mario on my Super Nintendo. After a while I got many more games for the Super Nintendo. I continued to play my Super Nintendo with friends. Then one year for Christmas my parents bought me a PlayStation One. It had better graphics than the Super Nintendo and the games seemed to be slightly more advanced. I enjoyed playing the PlayStation One with Friends and alone in my free time. Upgrading to a PlayStation One from the Super Nintendo taught me that technology was advancing. The games on the PlayStation One were CD disks instead of Cartridges like the Super Nintendo had. A couple years after I had gotten my PlayStation One, PlayStation Two went on sale. I got a PlayStation Two for my birthday one year. The PlayStation Two had much better graphics than the PlayStation One. Also it could play the PlayStation One games as well as the PlayStation Two games. I liked to play the game Red Dead Revolver for PlayStation Two. Playing video games increased my hand eye coordination. Seeing the constantly evolving video game system industry made me realize how rapidly technology advances. Being accepting of the changes in technology, not only in the video game system industry, but in all technological advances as well, is important to help keep technology evolving and help enhance your digital literacy. Computers have had an influence on my digital literacy. It is amazing how much computers have advanced in the last few years. A noticeable advancement of computers in the last few years is there change in size. Computers used to be much larger than the typical computer that we see today. They also weigh less than they used to this makes computers easier to transport. Internet access is also much different these days. The internet nowadays is mainly wireless and much faster than it used to be. I remember when there used to be dial up internet and it would seem like it took 10 minutes to load a web page. Computers have also made communications easier than ever. Today, e-mail and Facebook is beginning to replace the ordinary post office and telephone as a way to keep in touch with loved ones, friends, and family. E-mail provides the best of both worlds. Email is instantaneous and free. Before e-mail, you had limited options, you could send a letter which would take days to arrive, or you could use the telephone, which would cost money if the call was long distance. The Internet also saves businesses money because they do not have to send out catalogs to thousands of customers. I remember when my parents got our first home computer. It was a Dell. It had a big tower that made weird noises when you turned it on. We had dial up internet that took a long time to load pages. I used the computer to play games and to do some homework assignments. Everyone in the family shared the same computer. After computers started to become a little lower in price my parents bought me my own lap top. I thought it was so cool. I could download music, play games, type my home work papers, and get on Facebook. The best thing about my lap top was I could take it with me and it was more portable than the home computer. Using the internet is beneficial for research; you have almost endless answers to any question you could imagine. A downfall to computers would be that you spend more time on the computer and less time going outside or being involved in physical activities. Also it can make your mind lazy. You get used to not having to read books or research at a library. Computers also take us away from socializing with others in person as commonly as we normally would. Cell phones have had an influence on my digital literacy. Cell phone technology has rapidly advanced in the last few years. Cell phones have decreased in size and now have a much wider variety of uses. Modern cell phones now are capable of having internet access. Built in cameras are also included in many varieties of modern cell phones. I remember when I got my first cell phone it was a Track Phone. I had to buy prepaid minute cards for my first cell phone. It only made phone calls and sent text messages. It couldn’t go online or take pictures. My second cell phone was a prepaid phone as well but it could take pictures. Taking pictures with my cell phone expanded my knowledge of digital photography, in this way it enhanced my digital literacy. My third phone could take pictures and was set up for being able to go online. Having a cell phone let me communicate with my friends more than I normally would have, in this way I benefited from being digital literate enough to use a cell phone. Digital literacy can have a varying impact on society today. The ever advancing technologies of the modern world create a drive for all of us to become more digitally literate. Threw out my life I’ve become more and more digitally literate although I still know there is much more to learn about technology. We all use technology in everyday life. Without the technological advances that we now have the world would be a very different place.