How often do you check your phone
a day? Once? That's not true. Fifty Times? At least that many. We
truly are living in the age of technology. Fourth graders trying to figure out
what apps they want on their iPhone is an epidemic that is sweeping the nation.
The United States isn't the only country with fancy gadgets though; other
countries, like Saudi Arabia, have iPhones and Samsung Galaxies just like we
do. Since phone technology is mutual (as far as I know), it makes it easier to
communicate with our communication partners when schedules don't line up or
someone gets sick.
My partner and I seemed to have pretty
conflicting schedules. Her only availability was from 1-3, on some days, it
made it hard to meet since I have a 2pm class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and
work at 1 on Wednesday. Pretty early in the semester, my partner got sick; she
had a quick recovery, but during those days, communication was very limited.
Since it was so hard for us to meet, we talked a lot through text messaging and
Snapchat.
Texting is as simple as a few
swipes of the thumb, which really comes in handy (no pun intended). My
partner and I text multiple times a week, either trying to figure out our
hectic schedules or just asking about each other's day. Since the IEP students
had a different Midterm schedule, I would text her "good luck" and
after her tests I would ask how they went. Through our virtual conversations,
we were able to keep up with each other even when our schedules couldn't.
My partner and I also use apps to
communicate. Snapchat is our sole source of multimedia communication. The great
thing about Snapchat is that you can send a picture directly to someone, or you
can out something on your “Story,” which allows everyone to see it.
Often,
my partner would post things to her story, which allowed me to see what was
going on in her life. A lot of the posts were of things happening in her
classrooms. This was interesting because it allowed me to see a class through
the eyes of an IEP student. It was also interesting because in my classes,
teachers do not allow students to openly use their phones.
One
time, my partner and I had a full length conversation over text about our
families. It was a continuation of a conversation we had earlier that day at
Union Grounds. Family was a common topic of our meetings because of how many
family members she has in the Intensive English Program. I then talked about my
sister who goes to school in Indiana. We talked about how close we were with
our family members, which was interesting to hear since a lot of her family is
still in Saudi Arabia.
Overall,
I learned a lot about my partner by the things she posted for everyone to see
and by our brief, friendly conversations through text messaging. I was able to
see a class through the eyes of an IEP student, and I also was able to see how
my partner’s written (texted) English improved throughout the semester. Our
texting went from formal to more casual as we got to know each other which was
really great to see.
My experience with text messaging my conversation partner was also pretty interesting because it was fun to see how she communicated over text message. Her English was a bit broken but seemed a little more correct than when we spoke in person. My partner also loves to use an abundance of emojis in her texts to communicate her feelings too. Technology does allow of to communicate easily but I think there are still some differences in how we communicate through technology.
ReplyDeleteI never thought to communicate with my partner via text or Snapchat. It seems like this was an efficient way for you to get to know your partner in an informal setting and organically have conversations instead of sitting down for 30 minutes - 1 hour and potentially having inefficient or unnatural conversations
ReplyDeleteI can certainly relate to what you said about technology. After high school, all of my friends chose to attend different universities, so social media and text are often my only line of communication with them. Without it, these friendships would likely deteriorate. Our obsession with our gadgets is definitely an "epidemic" as you said, and I think that has a lot to do with our strong desire to stay in constant communication with the people we care about. There are certainly drawbacks, such as the absence of true silence and the constant bombardment of invitations to play Candy Crush, but ultimately I'd say that technology offers more benefits than problems.
ReplyDeleteThis is by far the most interesting approach I have seen to the conversation partner program. One thing I thought when I first started reading this article was how I made the conscious effort with my conversation partner to not have my phone out. I wanted to make sure that every time we met I was not thinking about what was on my phone. I do constantly find myself looking at it to connect with people. Something about connecting with Andy in person made it a little more special.
ReplyDeleteI did find myself using technology to communicate while in person. He would sometimes look up words on his phone to better communicate with me. Other times we would look up YouTube videos on my laptop or research that Chinese checkers actually is not Chines. Your approach is rather impressive and unique. I envy the relationship you have and that you found ways to connect beyond meeting every now and then.
I think its really cool that you were able to become so close with your partner! And I totally agree that technology is making it easier for everyone to communicate. Everyone is always focusing now on the negative aspects of technology and how it is taking away from in-person communication, and that is all true. However, I don't think people focus on the positives enough. If it weren't for today's technology, our IEP students wouldn't be able to talk to their families overseas as often!
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