The snowstorms in February were a blessing for students. There were darties, snowmen, and the anticipated snowball fight on the Lawn. Charlottesville fluctuates with weather this time of the season, so experiencing a snowstorm on the grounds was a first-timer for many Hoos
However, there was a main obstacle preventing students from skipping class: Zoom. Those who were excited to go sledding or sleep in late had their plans crushed by virtual learning. Some professors who had assigned exams on those days moved them online, while others canceled their classes.
I was lucky enough to have professors who emailed, “Class will not go on. Enjoy the snow day!” Others, not so much.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, we are still experiencing its consequences, one being online learning. Before that era, we had the good old-fashioned snow day. Students will wake up to a white-coated backyard, screaming with joy that they get to skip school. Families took their kids sledding while those inside drank hot cocoa and watched movies. COVID pretty much killed this picturesque winter endeavor. Now, during a snowstorm, we are pent up in our dorms watching a lecture.
A surprising fact is that Generation Z was the last generation to experience a snow day. Generation Alpha, born during the pandemic, is spending their early years in a tech-dominant world. If people are shocked at how five-year-olds have to learn how to navigate Google Classroom and Zoom, imagine what the next generations will have to go through.
I present some experiences and technology that I believe will be outdated once I have children.
Printers
At a high school alumni reunion, people were still handing out business cards, until a recruiter came up to me, tapped her phone with mine, and shared her contact using Airdrop. Similarly, recruiters at a career fair asked for my resume, exclaiming, “You don’t have one on you? No problem! Scan this QR code to upload it to our website.”
These two interactions made me ponder how much we need paper. Uploading a PDF is easier than going to the library, paying fifteen cents for the printer, and carrying multiple copies of a resume in your bag.
Paper is an impactful invention, and so are digital documents. Sharing information has been easier than ever without much cost and hassle. However, we will lose the charm of physical sheets of paper. On paper, we get to see each other’s quirks and train of thought through handwriting. Seeing a teacher’s red marker on a graded essay is cathartic. If we continue uploading everything to the internet, will we still carry these small moments?
Cable TV
Forget Disney Channel, we have Disney+. Instead of waiting till the evening to catch Phineas and Ferb, we can now access the show anywhere, anytime with the press of two buttons. Streaming services have been slowly killing cable, replacing it as the dominant platform for watching shows and movies.
For parents, streaming is a blessing. Since these apps can be operated on multiple devices, they can set up accounts on their kids’ devices and still keep the TV. It allows everyone to watch what they want while avoiding arguments.
The benefit of cable is that it supports connection and compromise. For decades, families met at a certain time to watch TV. This establishes a daily routine of togetherness. They set schedules for who gets to watch what, which spotlights the living room as a shared space. Are we pulling down the social structure of a family when we have more choices via online streaming?
Chegg and other Education Websites
Stuck on a textbook problem? You can search online to see multitudes of “homework help” websites that promise to show the right answer. Upon clicking the link, you are directed to a paywall, crushing your temporary enthusiasm.
Websites like Chegg, Socratic, and Brainly are subscription-based platforms that allow students to search for homework questions. These aren’t cheap, some costing up to $15 a month. Several of them provide citation machines and access to thousands of textbooks.
Now, students are more in favor of using AI for extra homework help. It’s much more promising than the websites. Chatbots are free, quick, and programmed to respond to any prompt. Sure, universities are suspicious of AI usage to cheat, but students rely on AI so much more than just homework: advice, data analysis, the list goes on.
Now that chatbots are becoming the new homework helpers, education websites are losing stock. With easy access to AI, we are becoming more dependent on technology than ever before. Since students now have free homework help, there is obvious abuse of the platform and loss of the problem-solving skills that universities stress.
Handing in Homework on the Day of Class
During the fall of my freshman year of high school, the semester before my pandemic, none of my teachers used Google Classroom. Assignments were assigned on a whiteboard instead of in an email. During the first five minutes of class, there was always the walk of doom. Teachers would start from the top row of seats, strolling left to right, collecting last night’s homework. If one student had an empty desk, the echoing “Where is your homework?” was heard by the entire room. Those who sat at the back of the class were lucky enough to scribble in missing answers for an extra thirty seconds.
Homework was expected to be finished before class, where “before class” would have a different meaning among students. It could be during the evening, at 3 AM, on the morning school bus, or even five minutes before handing it to the teacher. A student’s interpretation of punctuality was self-defined until teachers moved their assignments to Google Classroom. Now, we have a universal time to hand in our homework, with the deadline usually being 11:59 PM the night before attending school.
A strict deadline works well for teachers, as they can grade homework at an earlier time. It’s also encouraging for students to work before going to bed. 11:59 pm deadlines sound like a method for teachers to encourage healthy habits among pupils, but I think no cutoffs encourage students to create a work-life balance. Some people work better in the mornings, others are better off in the evenings, but a digital clock should not dictate their management.
Cash Registers
America is becoming a cashless society. I don’t remember the last time someone paid me back with bills instead of Venmo. At my last job, my bosses required me to go through training on packing Uber Eats orders but didn’t question if I knew how to use a cash register. While working there the entire summer, only three people asked to pay without a card. My employees looked confused for a second, having accidentally pushed the “credit” button on the payment screen by instinct.
The cash register used to be a staple in training retail workers. Handling one is a skill in itself, which requires great concentration. Change, discounts, and taxes must be quickly calculated in your head. Adding in prices should be fast and not hold up the line. You must also pay attention to customers swapping flurries of bills, which can get you scammed. At the end of the day, cashiers must recount every bill and coin.
When handling card transactions, you don’t need half the brainpower when working with a cash register. Touchscreen tablets let the customer handle their payments, asking them if they would like to tip and rate their experience. Little communication is needed as tablets handle the service.
Is This a Good Thing?
Snow days, online classes, and so much more. We are experiencing a cultural and technological shift through America and beyond, and we must adapt to new changes. Our children will prioritize new skills over the ones we learned.
This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, it’s hard to weigh these adjustments into two categories. Each generation experiences this shift, where our parents can still be confused over things we find so easy. It all roots back to how we grew up, and the uneasiness of a rapidly changing world.
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