by: Christine Gaudette
How has the virus change the way you use the Internet and technology? It has definitely changed the way I use the internet alright, from having face-to-face classes to online classes. The reason I took face-to-face classes was that I learn better hands-on and now we are forced to do our classes online.
Most of the Professors have provided great support to help us adjust to this hasty change. The reason I say most is that before this virus situation a professor was willing to help us but when the breakout came she let everyone know that we need to find help somewhere else, tutors and so forth. The tutors were not available until days later if you could get an appointment or response from a tutor. That means, my grade will not be as good as it could have been, And the changing of an online class is another thing, one-week zoom, and the next hangout. Then it supposed to be at a certain time and at the last minute changed to another. It’s bad enough we are having a hard time adjusting, then we got to deal with that, that’s crazy.
Have your personal internet activities changed? Most definitely my personal internet activities changed, which I actually am very grateful for. Before this virus situation, it didn’t even cross my mind to video chat, nor did I know about Zoom. All of this is pretty new to me, but I must say, I am very grateful to be taking this computer class at Leeward Community College-Wai’anae Moku, for without it, I probably would have dropped out of ALL my classes.
Has the virus changed the way you communicate for work and school? Yes, with this stay at home order in place and almost every place closed digital communication is the only way to go if we want to succeed with school and to continue working. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to take their jobs online because of the line of work field they’re in.
How do you like learning exclusively online versus in a traditional classroom? To my surprise, I actually okay with this learning online exclusively. It is not as hard as I thought it would be but there are a few things that I wish I could change but I must keep in mind that if I have to adjust to the change and is unfamiliar with it, that maybe…just maybe…the professor is too.
It is great that MOST of my professors record the class sessions and email it out to the class. It really helps, not only for the ones that could not connect, but also helps us because we can replay it as much as needed. This is why I am happy I choose to do my blog on “Digital Communication”.
What is Digital Communication? Digital communication is any exchange of data that is transmitted in a digital form. How much of digital communication affects you and your life today? How much did it affect your life 20 years ago? It is a major difference, from then until now, won’t you say? Yes, the digital technology has revolutionized communication in the world today. It has rapidly integrated into most of our lives that some of us can hardly remember how to use a regular phone, what they used to call “land line“.
Remember how the regular phone could just call only one person? After that, it advanced to calling two people at once, putting others on hold, and so forth? Now, we can do more than just call a person or two or three. The phones today, called ‘cellular phones‘, can call multiple people at once, video chat, text message, messenger, and much, much more. The phones that were used for just calling people, now it is used for almost everything you can imagine such as texting, video chats, school (classes), research, banking, etc.. Computers, cellular phones, and tablets are the primary source of our communication today.
Digital Communication has become essential due to this corona virus situation that we are faced with today. Many of us cannot communicate without it because we need to connect with work, school, friends, so forth. With this stay at home order that is in motion, we as human beings need to interact with others in order to stay sane. Some more than others, but we must stay connected and the digital communication world has provided us with that.
In addition to pointing out the impact this technology has done for us in this time of the corona virus, I’d like to take a moment to “Thank ALL the workers that has put their lives on the line to help others and keep the world going” without those workers we really would be up ______ creek without a paddle. “Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart“.
Not everyone has access to this digital communication technology, but with many reaching out to help with this unexpected situation, there are many more that have been connected that otherwise would not have been. There have been so many free of charge acts that have been going on, such as free internet for anyone. I just think that is so awesome.
Getting back to the subject at hand, Digital Communication, there is a video attached that gives you some history of who is believed to be the creator of technology, the Father of the Information Age – Claude Shannon.
Watching this video and thinking about all that is going on today really makes me think about what the future holds for not only myself, but for my grandchildren, great- grandchildren, so forth. The creativity and possibilities this digital communication world has to offer is enormous, like the saying goes, “Sky is the limit”. That is how I see it.
Let us take a look at the following chart:
| 18-29 | 30-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | |
| Used e-mail or messaging services to communicate with other | 80% | 80% | 71% | 74% |
| Searched online for information about the coronavirus | 82% | 79% | 64% | 52% |
| Used social media to share or post information about the coronavirus | 44% | 41% | 34% | 28% |
| Used video calling or conferencing services to attend a work meeting | 32% | 33% | 22% | 9% |
| Used the internet or e-mail to connect with doctors or other medical professionals | 16% | 19% | 14% | 15% |
This chart is from March 2020, now in just a month later the usage of digital communication is off the charts. The numbers is unheard of, there are millions and millions of people using some type of digital communication at every given time around the globe.
How did you develop your digital communication skills over time? Growing up in the 60’s, yes, I am guilty of growing up when there was just a rotary type of phone. When it took so long just to dial a number, then it advanced to the push button, and then it started getting fancy.
We had only one telephone company to service all the Hawaiian islands which was called Hawaiian Tel, they started what they called “wonder -phone”. That is when we could make two calls and then a while later, three-way calls which were called ‘conference calls’, we could even put a call on hold and call another person. That was big for us back then, we were fascinated with it for a while.
Then they came out with beepers. Talk about feeling a certain type of way…back then, if you had a beeper (pager) people used to look at you as if you were someone important. Sounds funny, but that’s how it was.
When Howard Higa founded Honolulu Cellular…oh my goodness…it was just grand. We just had to have that big bulky phone.. That must have big bulky phone, you know the one that did not fit in your pocket nor could not lose because it was so BIG, you know the first cordless. That was not the first cellular, the ones in the cars were, they used the same concept as the “CB” radios for the phones in the car which was called the ‘mobile phone’.
There was a friend of mine that could not hold her phone with one hand because her hands were too small, honestly, I think it was because the phone was too BIG. Apparently, Howard thought so too because eventually Honolulu Cellular came out with a skinnier, but not shorter, just skinnier phone. Which was great because my friend could hold the phone with one hand without a problem.
Today, phones are all kinds of shapes and sizes that can easily fit in pockets and unfortunately, easy to lose. These digital communication devices we have today have somehow turned into a necessity, part of our everyday lives. Most of us would not know what to do if we didn’t have our device(s). Really, what would happen if just one day something came along and put a crunch on digital communication such as this coronavirus has put on each and everyone of our lives? What would we do? How would we communicate? Just think of that, I mean seriously. For real, this entire world would really be up _____ creek without a paddle, in fact, worse.
Maybe, everyone should learn to appreciate and be respectful of each other just like everyone should learn to respect and appreciate technology. Embrace the fact that technology is here to stay for a long while. Maybe not forever, but it is possible.
References
[Computer Hope] Nov 16, 2019. What is Digital Communication
Retrieved from http://www.computerhope.com/jardon/d/digitalc.htm
[Pew Research Center] March 2020. Coronavirus impact on digital communication in the U.S. by age
Retrieved from http://lcc.proxy.lib.hawaii.edu:3010/statistics/1109016/ usa-coronavirus-digital-commumnication-usage-by-age/
[UCTV] Jan 16, 2008. Claude Shannon–Father of the Information Age
Retrieved from https://youtube.com/watch?v=z2Whj_n2Whj_nL-x8
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