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VIDEO SHOWS a line of people trudging up a snow-covered footpath. A shot is heard; the first person in line falls. A voice-over says, "They are killing them like dogs." Another shot, and another body drops to the ground. A Chinese soldier fires his rifle again. Then a group of soldiers examines the bodies. These images were captured in the Himalayas by a member of a mountaineering expedition who claims to have stumbled on the killing. The video first aired on Romanian television, but it only gained worldwide attention when it was posted on YouTube, the video-sharing website. (To view it, go to YouTube.com and type "Tibet, ProTV, China"). Human rights groups say the slain Tibetan refugees included monks, women and children. The Chinese government had claimed the soldiers shot in self-defense after they were attacked by 70 refugees, but the video seems to render that explanation absurd. The U.S. ambassador to China lodged a complaint.

Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said. How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion? "No one medium is good for everything," Greenfield said. "If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops."

"As students spend more time with visual media and less time with print, evaluation methods that include visual media will give a better picture of what they actually know,"

"By using more visual media, students will process information better," she said. "However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination — those do not get developed by real-time media such as television or video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.

Report var addthis_config = {data_track_clickback: false, ui_click: true, services_compact: "reddit, linkedin, tumblr, pinterest, google_plusone_share, more", services_exclude: "facebook, twitter, print"} November 1, 2012 How Teens Do Research in the Digital World By Kristen Purcell, Lee Rainie, Alan Heaps, Judy Buchanan, Linda Friedrich, Amanda Jacklin, Clara Chen and Kathryn Zickuhr Overview Three-

quarters of AP and NWP teachers say that the internet  and digital search tools have had a “mostly positive” impact on t

eir students’ research habits, but 87% say these technologies are creating an “easily distracted generation with short attention spans” and 64% say today’s digital technologies “do more to distract students than to help them academically.”

This new obsession with technology is particularly evident in teenage generations. Adults often complain about teens constantly texting, and that text lingo has ruined proper english and grammar skills. Less communication is taking place in person or by talking on the phone as texting becomes more popular. The amount of text messages sent last year increased by 50%; data messaging surpassed voice messaging as well. The average length of a phone call decreased from 2.27 minutes to a mere 1.81 minutes. On average, 1,500 text messages are sent a month per cell phone user. The biggest contributor to this cell phone usage increase is, of course, the teenage generation. Text messaging is not the only contributor to the increased usage of technology. Many other individuals play video games, spend time on the internet, or go on social networking sites such as Facebook.  These new forms of entertainment have replaced pervious forms that involved social contact such as board games, or even bowling with friends. Once again, the major contributor to the success of these new forms of entertainment is the teenage generation. The association of members of youth with technology and a new dependence on technology has created much controversy regarding the impact of technology on social life.

While technology has seemed to decrease in physical social contact, it has increased social contact in other ways. It is no longer necessary to write a letter to someone you cannot see in person in order to tell them information. Modern technology has allowed for many other ways of communication other then face to face.  Users of technology can chat online, send text messages or emails to each other, as well as chat with others while playing a video game online. Because of advancements in technology, there is now the ability to instantaneously communicate with others from all over the world. This ability has created a form of global interconnectedness.

Little or no grammar teaching, cell phone texting, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, are all being blamed for an increasingly unacceptable number of post-secondary students who can't write.