OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

EXECUTIVE BACHELOR

PROGRAM: EXECUTIVE BACHELOR

MODULE: English for Professional Communication

TOPIC: The increase in gadgets such as smart phones, tablets, i-pads/pods and their use
in recent years has transformed the way we live, communicate and do business. These
gadgets also affect social life.

LECTURER: Dr. Chandran Abraham

Smart phone, tablets, laptops, notebooks, and cameras are now things of norm to
us. Practically every day we leave the house with at least one of this gadget if not more.
Although we might not realize and accept it but the possession of all these gadgets have had a
major impact on our lives. A quote by Albert Einstein I fear the day that technology will surpass
human interaction will ring a bell to many of us due to the advancement of technology and the
way human interact. Technology has advanced a lot in order to make life simpler but on the other
hand it is also causing a lot of negative impact on our personal and social lives. The quality of
our relationships with people around us is greatly influenced by the presence of these
technological gadgets.

Gone are the days when children and adults alike used to go out to play or hang out with
friends. Hardly do you see children on the streets or the playgrounds where the child of
yesteryears had spent hours of hours of countless laugher and fun playing with other children.
Now all that is needed are a gadget with internet connection to lull away the time to oblivion.
There are many negative impacts caused by this so called boon to human lives.

We all are humans and social interactions are a part and parcel of our lives. But
technology has unintentionally ruined the way humans interact. Technological gadgets are
having a bad impact on social relationships. Children are addicted to gadgets. They dont have
time to sit with their parents and to spend quality time with them. They prefer to connect with
their friends and relatives via text messaging, chatting etc., rather than meeting them in person.
Family members find it hard to take time off from their phones and their gadgets for face to face
communication. Everybody is busy with their own little world, be it their tabs or their smart
phones. The entire family is entangled in their own high tech world meaning, they are connected
with others in the virtual world, but not in the real world. Personal mobile devices have played a
major role in the decline of face to face communication. It has been found that the perils of
personal gadgets extends to influencing decreasing participation in family, less face to face
communication and declining the size of the social circles. And this causes insufficiency in the
social unifications of the family.

Attention deficit is also another issue in todays world of technology. Children are
incapable of engaging in long conversations directly and find it hard to construct understandable
sentences. Even if they engage in a conversation they become impatient, their eyes start
wandering, dont look at people in the eye and neither do they notice verbal cues. This problem
persists not only among children but also in adults. All this adds to the decline of social
relationships to the extent that some Gen Y graduates are finding it hard to secure a job due to
the lack of social skills.

Technology has been found to have its negative impact on academic performance such as
writing, reading, and communication. Writing is a fundamental skill which every person must
learn and own. A gadget has its negative effect on writing skills as well. In today's world
Standard English is not used while sending out text messaging, chatting, on social medias or
writing an email. While writing a message, no one cares about the spelling, punctuation and
grammar. This is resulting in poor writing skills in children. Those who solely depends on
laptops or other gadgets to communicate with friends, are committing lots of spelling mistakes
when the need to write on the board or drafting a few things. This is because of too much
dependency on the computer to auto correct the mistakes.

While it is impossible to completely eliminate the usage of electronic devices from a

child's life, there are ways to decrease their negative impacts. Listed below are some of the ways
to manage and track the usage of gadgets by your children.

1. Know the rating of the game and television programs your child wants to use or
watch.
2. Say no to television or computers in a child's bedroom.
3. Establish simple rules to limit the time and how often the child is allowed to use an
electronic device, including playing games, computer or tablet usage and television.
4. Monitor your child's media consumption, including video games, social medias,
television, movies, and the Internet.
5. Communicate with your child about what they observe in video games, television
program or movies. Ask them how they feel about the media they have access to and
discuss it with them.

Technology has always paved the way to simplify and to improve our lives. It
undoubtedly makes things easy for us. The use of the gadgets truly makes life more entertaining
for us. But the evils of it are faced when humans are over exposed to these gadgets. The
continuous use of all the gadgets makes us aloof and isolated. It adversely impacts our social
interactions, social relationships and interpersonal communication as well. The high social cost
of too much reliance on these technological gadgets has started to materialize and it is time for
people to start giving attention to their personal lives by communicating with their close ones.

References

1. http://www.careerride.com/view.aspx?id=12397 retrieved on 21 Jan 2016

2. http://www.bgr.in/news/gadgets-harm-social-skills-in-kids-study/#more-322677
retrieved on 27 Jan 2016
3. http://www.dealstoall.com/blog/item/14-today-s-life-gadgets-human-relations
retrieved on 27 Jan 2016