I am reading Kevin Kelley’s What Technology Wants right now. Kelley is a founding editor of Wired magazine and has been writing about technology for decades. I have just finished the section in which he considered the question Are we better off with technology? He concludes that in important measures such as access to health-giving technologies (such as clean water, sanitation, and antibiotics) and access to information, modern technologies have benefited populations around the world. Kelley is not a technology Utopian, he recognizes that environmental damage does result from the mining and energy production necessary to build and operate his computer, but he concludes that there are more benefits than consequences resulting from the technologies.
This got me thinking (as I walked to work)... Are educators better off with information technologies? We could all do a cost benefit analysis of computer-rich education. We could contrast the access to information that we now have with the information overload that we all experience. We could contrast the ability to interact globally with the loss of real-life personal interaction. We could contrast the opportunity to interact “24/7” with the potential to bully “24/7.” We could contrast the access to vast academic resources with the loss of students’ opportunity to build in wood shops and cook in kitchens in schools.
After reflecting on these during my morning walk, I have concluded that we are better off in our schools because of technology. We have access to more information and the ability to analyze that information and the ability to create more and disseminate our creations to a level never. I have also concluded, however, that we are not using computer technology for the greatest advantage for our children.
We will only see really effective technology-rich schools when the academic learning becomes authentic and engaging (which technology can help us do) when domain knowledge is effectively managed (which technology can help us do) and when information is effectively shared within and among communities (which technology can help us do). Once we have those schools, then we can get to the important work of encouraging more painting and running and building and performing that results in the true human development.
This got me thinking (as I walked to work)... Are educators better off with information technologies? We could all do a cost benefit analysis of computer-rich education. We could contrast the access to information that we now have with the information overload that we all experience. We could contrast the ability to interact globally with the loss of real-life personal interaction. We could contrast the opportunity to interact “24/7” with the potential to bully “24/7.” We could contrast the access to vast academic resources with the loss of students’ opportunity to build in wood shops and cook in kitchens in schools.
After reflecting on these during my morning walk, I have concluded that we are better off in our schools because of technology. We have access to more information and the ability to analyze that information and the ability to create more and disseminate our creations to a level never. I have also concluded, however, that we are not using computer technology for the greatest advantage for our children.
We will only see really effective technology-rich schools when the academic learning becomes authentic and engaging (which technology can help us do) when domain knowledge is effectively managed (which technology can help us do) and when information is effectively shared within and among communities (which technology can help us do). Once we have those schools, then we can get to the important work of encouraging more painting and running and building and performing that results in the true human development.
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