Unlike the other "voices" at this site, this voice is from an instructor.  I'm glad we have this medium to hear student concerns and let them hear ours.

When I went to school, there was no World Wide Web, but there was Internet and Email.  We were not allowed to use calculators and electronic dictionaries.  Cell phones did not fit in a pocket, and a PDA was still a sci-fi concept.  I'm sure you've all heard things like that from your parents and grand parents: "When I was your age, we had nothing to eat", "when I was your age, I'd get slapped if I asked for money", "when I was your age, we had to walk for miles to get to school", etc.  But I'm not talking about "when I was your age" as "I was your age 50 years ago."  I'm talking about 10-15 years ago. 

The techonological advances during the last decade have greatly impacted the way we do things, and the way we think and behave.  Especially the younger generation.  My students don't seem to have patience for anything.  They want things right away and right now because that's how it is with a computer.  They don't have "hello" and "thank you" in their vocabulary, because computers only understand "shut down" and "log off."  They don't raise their hands to ask a question in class, they just ask it, and they lose interest in the question before they finish asking it.

As I said, there are certain things that we can't talk about in class.  By no means, I blame the younger generation for what I discussed, I blame computers and technology.  Even though I'm using a computer to voice my concern.  Ironic, I know.

I just hope students would discuss this and try to figure out if this massive and rapid social change is beneficial or disasterous.