Imagine what students are doing around school while they walk through the hallways, or learn in their classrooms. Many are connected to the internet through their cellphones or laptop. Others are listening to music with their headphones, and some even hide their phones between notebooks to secretly send text messages just before class ends.

Technology has become part of our day to day life. The importance we have given to this social network has both been a helpful and detrimental thing to our social and educational communication.

Technology can have a positive social impact, take Facebook for example, the most used and popular social network in the world. It has become part of our daily life, and it helps connect students with the world. We use the platform to share news, personal information, videos, photos, organize events and send personal invitations, etc. With the help of Facebook, we can attend events that we otherwise would not have known of. Facebook communicates quickly to a large number of people in the world that could not otherwise be reached, which helps aid in communication.

However, along with the positive social impact comes some negative consequences. By connecting people on such a large scale, little by little we are losing the fear of our online privacy. Facebook has become a means for sharing every type of information with others. All you have to do is decide to what degree you want people to know about you through photos, videos and messages. We are all aware of the lives of others, which leads to us comparing ourselves to others. Who hasn’t felt bad about something you’ve seen on Facebook?

Technology has even changed the way we learn in schools. Technology is integrated into education now, and today much of the learning takes place by using computers. This allows students and teachers to have access to information beyond a textbook, and thus enriches the learning experience.

Through online learning educators have found new ways of satisfying the needs of students. By integrating videos, chats, apps, exercises, assignments, homework, tests and lectures together, educators have found a more convenient and faster way of personalizing lessons for different learning styles. Technology gives students the opportunity to learn from schools around the world that offer different subjects and learning.

Even with the learning benefits of technology in mind, it is important to remember there are still some down sides. For example, an online degree or class still takes away that social interaction experience that a traditional class experience would offer. It could also make you more dependent on the internet, which can be very addictive.

The importance of technology in the world, our lives socially and educationally is filling the traditional social way in which a different form of relationship is created.