Google: The Art of Face to Face Assistance in the Age of the Internet

I need to look something up. (Google/Yahoo it) I'm not sure what I want to do (check career explorer) I'm taking a class (go to Moodle, Schoology, WebCT) I want to talk to someone (text it, Whatsap, Messenger) I want to send a silly pic to my friends that lasts eight seconds and disappear (Snapchat) I need a source for silly cat pics (Facebook)

 While all of these may be vital to our very existence, especially the last one, what is a person to do when they just want to talk to someone else; I.e., get that hands on experience, face to face, using the tools available, including books in a persoanalized way?

 As a teacher of 33 years, I've had the opportunity to see the pageantry of tools, products and delivery systems over this time. When I started school, everyone had a slide rule (or maybe just the cool kids...lol). When calculators were available, while it seemed to make things easier, it also removed some of the thought, the analysis, the interaction in the process. Unfortunately, this been true with each item added to make our lives so much easier - whether punch cards, reall-to-reel, eight-tracks, cassettes, DAT systems, Radio Shack 50s ( which took me hours to program, just to have a squiggly line cross the TV screen), TRS80s, advanced typewriters to IBMs to Apple IIEs, to MACs, to smart phones and electronic notebooks with all of the goodies in a limited space compared to everything we need on a desk, or office, or library.

 So how does the human touch compete? It's very simple, as has been demonstrated over the years with the need for teachers and consultants and researchers and librarians, as well as the upsurge of bookstores and libraries much to the doomsayers chagrin. We need the tools, but we still needed to personalized guidance, that human need for interaction, and guidance and empathy with someone who understands what we're going through and can help us through it. Study after study have demonstrated that the more "connected" someone is, the more of an online presence he or she has, the more isolated they are. While we's like to believe that creates a sort of independence, unfortunately it limits our social skills, reduces our communal awareness, and leaves us lacking when it comes to developing that empathy that we so crave from others. Perhaps if we realize there is a place and time for everything, and while these tools have been created to make our lives easier, they are not there to replace us.

An interesting observation is that each Revolution has intended and unintended effects. The Industrial Revolution created the very tools that allowed us to succeed at levels previously unachievable, thus creating the middle class, while the current technological march, or rather Revolution, has led to even more leisure, which allows us to find other things to do, but sadly, have led us to even more unproductive pursuits (how many hours must we check Facebook et al???) leading to the "useless class." While we may think that's a little harsh, there is some merit to the argument that we have more people doing the same thing in a rather redundant fashion, because it's there. So perhaps we should look at what makes us productive? Is it the goal and it's achievement, or the learning along the pathway? For some it appears to be too much, such as checking books from a library, or interviewing someone who's achieved the dreams you wish to pursuit. So the next time you need to look something up, could you do it, without "googling it?" I'll be honest, I may not be able to, but I'm will to give it a try - how about you?