Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor Odinson, is a devastating weapon of war; however, it is also a simple tool used to build incredible architecture or amazing sculptures. It is a tool that can be used for destruction or construction. In a similar way, technology is just a tool that we have created to be extremely useful but can become terribly detrimental. Technology has allowed companies to work together actively in real-time across the world. Also, technology has made it so pizza can arrive to your current location which is excellent for late-night study sessions. These are great uses of technology, although it can also tear relationships apart and distract people from their current lives with their less important digital lives. Because of the dichotomy, Technology is a very powerful tool that needs to be used correctly or else there are serious consequences. 

College students in this era have been growing up with technology all their lives. Because of this, students do not fully realize how much of a detrimental impact technology has on them. It is great when students use technology to help them study for tests interactively; however, the majority of students are most seen with their face in their phones and staying up all night on social media or Netflix. Since most students grew up with each advancement in technology slowly changing their lives little by little, they do not understand the full scale of the damage done. With each new generation of iPhones and laptops, technology continues to become more integrated into this world. But since technology is just a tool controlled by the user, then the students are to blame themselves for the detrimental effects they receive from technology. In spite of this, the damage is not hard to fix but the students need to learn how to use technology in a way that will be beneficial and eliminate the wreckage done by technology.

There is much controversy when it comes to the topics of technology and education. Some schools are finding more and more ways to integrate technology into the classroom. Smart boards provide an interactive experience to the classroom. In addition, laptops or iPads are distributed to every student in some schools. However, in other schools (mostly middle schools but some high schools) students must turn in their phone before every class and completely denounce the use of a computer. This does prevent distractions from social media like Facebook or twitter. However this limits teachers from receiving a uniform style of paper: 12 point font, half-inch margins, easy to read font, etc. With the uniform standard that technology produces, the teacher and the student stand to benefit from the use of implementing technology in the classroom. On the other hand, if too much technology is involved in the curriculum it is easy for students to get distracted. 

Now that I am in college, there are very few teachers that will use authority over me in order to set parameters for the use of technology which leaves the level of usage up to me. I have seen the more detrimental side of technology but personally love the benefits of using it. Personally, I have customized my technology to work for me rather than create problems for me. When I look around the University of South Carolina, I see students using technology in ways that are hurting themselves and not using it for the reason it was created. Since technology is just a tool that we made, it can be used for good or bad. The students at the University of South Carolina are, for the most part, not using technology correctly and because of this, they are not receiving its benefits but instead terrible detriments.

Technology has a bad reputation in some areas now, but it has not always been this way. It was designed for greatness and is often created when the need for it becomes great enough. For example, much of the technology that is most prevalent today was created during the space race. It was only due to this technology which allowed humans made it to the moon safely that a computer is small enough now to easily fit inside a pocket. Specifically, microchips were needed to put a whole computer into the nose cone of the rocket so that the computer guidance systems fit onto the rocket (Isaacson). This was absolutely needed in order to get a crew out of orbit and, even more important, to get them back home. Furthermore, the problem arose because a single computer needed a whole room for its massive parts to operate. Once this technology was made, it was not far from becoming desktop PCs and eventually the smartphone. Technology was not made to be a detriment in everyday lives. It was in fact, made to make everyday life easier and faster.

Students at the University of South Carolina are using technology in absolutely the wrong way. Namely, they are most commonly seen on their phones, doing whatever they please, instead of interacting in real life. The biggest problems can often be linked to social media. For this reason, a study was conducted to see how scholars interacted with social media. It was concluded that almost all students display addictive tendencies towards social media (Masters). Undergraduates are literally getting addicted to social media like a drug. When they walk around all day on their phones they are just feeding that addiction. With this in mind, it is easy to see why technology is getting a bad reputation. Students are becoming addicted to something that has almost no real life benefit. In the worst cases, some people will actually live other lives on social media because they are "like"d online. This only creates more problems with their social standing and feelings in the real world (Frazen). Because they waste so much time on social media, they do not spend much time doing anything productive within their real lives. Additionally, search engines like Google are actually limiting the search for real knowledge. Instead, if students need an answer, they will search for it and find it without applying themselves. This kills the search process which can be very intellectually stimulating (Carr). Because the answer is found immediately, no side tracks are taken out of curiosity. By providing the answer immediately, search engines are slowly making students less intelligent all-around. Because of the way that students use technology, they are unknowingly receiving detriments.  

I believe that the students are the source of the problem. To begin, technology was designed for greatness. However, since technology is causing problems with students, it is not doing what it is designed to do. I have experienced many of these effects as well. This includes getting distracted while writing papers, trying to finish math homework, not sleeping well, losing track of time, and more. The list can be very extensive and by doing so defines that technology can easily become a distraction. To contrast, in expert's hands, scientists or doctors, it can exponentially multiply productivity, while in the hands of an everyday student, it can do the exact opposite. In my opinion, I do not think that technology should be taken away from students, in fact I think more should be added in some places. Students just need to learn how to use technology for their benefit so they aren't wasting time and money at college. 

I noticed that technology was doing more harm to me than good, so I looked into some reasons for why this was. I found that technology is damaging in much more subtle ways. For example, blue light form computer screens disrupts the circadian rhythm of your body. It does this by delaying the secretion of melatonin which is a hormone that basically makes you feel sleepy (Eugenia). For this reason, a study was conducted to see if there was any correlation between blue light that is emitted from computer screens and the rising number of night owls, students who stay up late into the night. It was concluded that the blue light was the culprit because it lowers the amount of melatonin in the body. This in turn messes up the circadian rhythm of your body which is the internal day and night cycle. Hence, there is a mass migration of students staying up later compared to getting up early. After learning this, I found out quickly that this could be reversible and made the necessary changes. For students, most do not realize some of the lesser known ways that technology is detrimental.  Some do not even realize the more obvious ways that technology is hurting them. Under these circumstances, noticing that technology does have a negative effect is the biggest step towards correcting it. 

Some think that technology should be completely banned from anything to do with education because they do not want technology to distract students from learning. While this fact is true, technology can be very distracting, it has some major benefits that will not be utilized if it is completely banned. For example, technology is very adaptable to the individual and can provide basically a one-on-one tutoring service and brings the classroom wherever the student goes. There are great sites like Quizlet.com or Youtube.com that are excellent for studying. In fact, in most cases students wish there was more technology implemented into the curriculum (Han). This is because it allows them to be involved more instead of just sitting and listening which helps them learn better. Another reason not to ban technology is that it also creates simulations that are not possible without technology (Harper). Without technology, real life simulations cost time, money, and other valuable resources so only a select few of the students get to experience the simulation. With technology, the simulation becomes a one-time fixed cost that gives students an amazing learning environment. In short, simulations are the most practical type of testing for some curriculums because it allows the student to show what they have learned but if they fail, they can try again and no real harm was done. Given these points, if technology was completely banned from education, then there would be great benefits that would be lost as well.

Others think that technology needs to be implemented more because of these great benefits. However, there is a great danger in doing so. Students who use computers to take notes are often just using Facebook or using other sites instead of paying attention in class (Masters). With more technology in the classroom, more distractions become available. This can be a huge problem because it is pulling the students farther away from education. Also, there are certain classes that do not need a simulation because there is nothing to simulate. English, for example, does not it because there is nothing that a student needs to be testing on further besides what they already are whenever they turn in a paper. In view of this, it raises the question of how much technology should be implemented if it shouldn't be banned and it shouldn't be completely integrated. My answer is that it depends on the curriculum style and content. Again, English doesn't really need more technology because it will get in the way but medical students could have great gains in their learning with more technology. 

Since technology is only a tool and it can be used in ways which the user receives benefits or detriments, students can learn ways to use technology correctly. When this happens, it ensures the most amount of beneficial use of technology without some of the major problems that follow. Luckily, there are some minor ways to achieve this. It is most likely that if a student is having problems sleeping then they are using their computer too much. However, that could be because it is finals week and they are using digital notes or watching video animations in order to study and understand the topic. The solution does not have to be using a laptop less for studying which is a sacrifice to knowledge. The way to keep using a laptop for all day studying but also make sure that the levels of melatonin are not suppressed is by putting a blue light filter on the laptop and phone. With this in mind, there are easy to install apps such as f.lux for computers and Twilight for phones. These only put a blue light filter on when the sun goes down or the time you set. By doing this, the filter makes it so significantly less blue light is emitted which allows for late night use of screens for studying without any damage to sleeping habits. As it has been noted, the changes the student needs to learn to use technology correctly are minor and will not greatly affect their current lifestyle.

One of the biggest problems with the use of technology is the social aspect where students are too attached to their phones and social media to be involved with the life that is happening around them. To illustrate, walking around the University of South Carolina campus is comparable to being in a zombie apocalypse with how many students are mindlessly walking around with their face glued to their phones. Like many twelve step addiction programs, the first step is admitting that they have a problem. For students this is as easy as marking down how many times they pull their phones out for any reason (check Instagram, texts, even checking the time) and logging how many hours they are on a screen in one day. It does not really take more than a day to show how technology has assimilated into their lives. Once they are self-aware of how much time they lose towards doing basically nothing, some might be able to correct themselves from there. However, for those that do not know how to proceed, there are some minor changes that can make a world of difference. For example, if time spent on social media was put into an allotted time per day just as a class is, then the mindless wandering on the internet becomes severely limited. Instead of constant scrolling and liking, one can make social media be productive and conducive for real life like getting a group of old friends together (Ghonim).  Another option is to put technology in places that make it harder to be distracting like putting phones face down on tables or in your backpack when walking around from place to place or keeping the whole screen devoted to writing a paper instead of partially watching Netflix in the corner (Pang). From my observations in the library, I rarely see a student with only a word document on the screen. In the long run, these are just minor changes that can easily become mindless habits. The benefits of technology are still being used like keeping up with friends on social media but productivity will rise because the distractions become less prevalent. 

In some legends, Mjolnir is inscribed with the words "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." The hammer comes with a failsafe where those who would use it incorrectly cannot use it at all. On the contrary, technology does not come with this feature, instead businesses try to sell it to everyone possible. As I walk through my everyday life at the University of South Carolina, I see students misusing technology left and right. Personally, I love using technology to make my life easier. Technology was designed with the intentions to make life easier and to create never before available opportunities. Sadly, at its core, it is just a tool. Definitively, a tool is just a device with the potential to beneficial or detrimental. The students at college are surrounded by technology from their hands to their desks. However, they do not know how to use it correctly. They are receiving some terrible detriments because of this. Nevertheless, this can be corrected with a few minor changes in their lifestyle such as where they put their phone. These small changes are not far from how students use technology now, but they will drastically decrease the detriments while maintaining the benefits. 

