As I began to think about what kind of technology to use for this assignment I started to draw a blank. The whole "Theory of Diffusion" is such a universal concept that I would often find it bland to try and lay out the timeline of whatever item I was focusing on in an interesting way. However, as I took a step back and thought about how I was doing all my work on my laptop, same as always, I slowly realized just how dependent I, as well as everyone around me, am on my computer for schoolwork. I always prefer taking notes by hand, but in terms of how actual assignments and even tests are completed, they are almost universally done digitally. Just a decade ago this would've seemed such a foreign concept to me. Still, I also remember vividly how my freshman year of high school was the first year my school district started implementing Chromebooks and Google Classroom into everything. Gone were the days of homework on paper and binders full of packets, the age of portable computers for schoolwork had reached its level of saturation.
Things only became more omnipotent once I entered college, and this didn't just apply to me but to my friends from home as well. Of course, with my freshman year being in 2020 Covid was obviously a huge influence on how coursework had to be structured, although I'm very thankful that my classes were still in person and not all online like with some of my aforementioned friends. Nevertheless, I can guarantee that even before Covid classes would all be structured around the student's ability to use a laptop computer, and I'm sure Professor Smith can attest to that.
To my parents and even my cousins in their 30's, hearing about things like "registering for courses digitally," or "getting sources from the library's online database" are concepts completely new to them, so there's clear evidence that the presence of laptops in school has gone through the diffusion timeline we've talked about in class. Digital technology is, of course, growing at an exponential rate, but it's bizarre to process the fact that within 15 years laptops have been implemented by early adopters of the idea, accepted by the majority, and now become the standard through how all students must complete their curriculum. It's the very reason why making jokes about online learning sites such as Blackboard is so relatable to anyone my age, because it's seemingly everywhere all across the country.
I am, potentially, in the minority when I say that I vastly prefer the days of pen and paper. Thinking about the pros and cons of using laptops in school boils down to some extremely simple observations. On the pro side of things is the fact that having websites online for easy storage and organization of class content is extremely beneficial, as well as the fact that students with their computers can get their schoolwork and notetaking done wherever they may be. The obvious con is the fact that even in these days of saturation a laptop computer can still be a big investment. I've been to places in this country where owning a digital device isn't the status quo, and internet access is in no way instant. People living in places like this simply aren't going to be able to have a good college education unless they drop everything and dedicate all their time and money to investing to go away to a school hundreds of miles away. I just personally think it should be taken into greater consideration by universities to be able to help students with needing to make as little extra investment on top of their tuition as possible, those numbers are already high enough.
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