Mobile Phones, Technology and their Impact on Relationships, Social Movements and Education

Mobile phones and technology have come a long way over the years, people’s lives have become more demanding and they rely more and more on technology, it has had a big impact on our everyday life: our relationships, social movements and education. The mobile phone has become one the most widespread and popular pieces of technology of the past few decades. ‘Worldwide there are now over 1.7 billion cell phone accounts, 600 million more cell phones services than fixed lines.’ (Castells et al. 2007 as cited in Bittman, M, Brown, J, Wajcman, J, 2009) Over the past decade, the information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet
‘The web is no longer the exclusive dominion of the young and highly educated, and as this trend continues it will allow social movements to cheaply and easily reach out to increasingly diverse constituencies.’ (Brecher, J Costello, T, Smith, B, 2009) The negative side of technology’s impact on social movements is that you loose the face-to-face contact that can impact on a more lasting personal level and group forming and sharing of knowledge can be great but misinformation can lead to the spreading of false rumours, anonymous slander and racism.

Technology has had a big impact on education. Mobile phones with their ability to access the internet has made it a great way to look up information, wireless internet and faster connections have made working and learning on computers at home much more convenient and easier. More and more schools, TAFE’s and Universities are offering courses online making it possible for people to merge home life, work life and study more conveniently. It also allows people access to study that live in remote areas or overseas. As mobile phones become more sophisticated and inexpensive, students can read and email documents, do research on the Internet and manage their assignments all from their mobile phones. Teachers can send pod casts and hyperlinks within a document to