Today I watched a video made by a teacher in Hawaii called 'Digital Life', based on a 1979 song 'Video Killed the Radio Star'. This was a creative way to present the ideas about the digital world, not just a regular video. Because it is a music video, it could help viewers remember the ideas because of the interesting way of presentation.
The digital world / Internet has good uses and bad uses. It could be used for educational purposes, like class blogging or making this video itself. People also use it to connect with others through e-mail or social networking sites. The Internet is also useful in doing research and sharing your questions/work online.
However, there are some disadvantages to the digital world. In the music video, there was a part about using cellphones. This reminded me that the digital world has caused people to use them while driving, increasing the risk of car accidents. Texting also affects students in school: not only do they have less time to pay attention to class, but their grammar and spelling gets worse. Eventually, people start relying on digital life, using computers and cellphones for everything (calculators, dictionaries, etc.). This can be good, but when only the non-digital source is available, they might not be used to using it. This is also why the quote "We shape our tools ... and then our tools shape us" was used in the beginning of the video - some people depend on the digital world. The conclusion of all these points is "Digital life has changed who we are", repeatedly sung in the video.
Back in 1979, motion pictures was a big debate, as clarified in the original song. The song was describing how video was taking over radio, just as digital life is taking over non-digital life today. Both video and the Internet are important today in many ways, but they both have their own disadvantages. For example, you can rewind in videos, which doesn't feel normal because you can't rewind in life. Both videos explain a debate about the things that the world is using.
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