I've been thinking a lot lately about the intersection of technology, education and community, and have spent considerable time debating the double edged merits of the technological revolution we're all part of.
1. First off, it's obvious to me that every technological device we interact with was designed as a product to maximize profit for a corporation. In other words, all the tools we're falling in love with, including the internet, have on a basic level been designed or co-opted such that we're fixated, addicted, or in need of the specific device so that we buy and support what's being sold. Many of us have gone from a world of needing a telephone, to needing email, to needing a cell phone, to needing a laptop, to needing a BlackBerry, to needing an Iphone and much more along the way. Clearly this "need" is an external stimulus and it wouldn't occur unless someone somewhere tapped into our collective cultural identity and produced that “thing” which we all want. So I'm left with a difficult realization that we can't stop progress - and technology is a great thing to have but it’s also a corporate tool to make profit. The needs of education are often different from the needs of profit.
2. The Ipod is a great tool and Dr. Ross Todd's description of taking the bus in New Zealand is something that I, as a New Yorker who sometimes takes the subway to work, can absolutely relate to. The trouble I'm having when I think about this has to do with a type of technological narcissism that is creeping into everyday life. By this I mean very explicitly that we now live in a world that can be so specifically tailored through technology that we can choose the exact, specific soundtrack (or other form of digital media) to score every part of our lives. Riding to work I can listen to a podcast of NPR, taking a walk at lunch I can surf the web and watch streaming video and on the ride home I can talk on the phone while I listen to my favorite musician. And, because everyone else is doing the same thing I don't have to worry about being offensive or rude.
The problem is not the availability of technology but what this instantaneously gratifying technology does in regard to how we see the world. If I don't like the world around me I can always tune out.
3. So I don't know what the answer to the idea I've posed is, but it leaves me with a very real question about the future of what we call "community" and our roles as educators involved with technology. As I see it, we're not actually getting closer to real human interaction. Instead, each new technology makes us farther apart. A cell phone can never replace a real voice and sometimes the dirtiness of life shouldn't been ignored by listening to the right song.
Teaching uses interpersonal skills to mediate information in a meaningful manner. This is the act of teaching itself. I wonder if technology does something slightly different, which is the technological mediation of information with less and less of true interpersonal involvement. Will our kids be taught by computers someday and, if so, what corporation builds and profits from it?
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4 comments:
Very profound post Kate. You definitely brought up some truths for us to consider as educators and also as human beings. On one hand I love technology and am always wanting the next gadget. I don't think it's because of marketing, since I don't really watch t.v. and definitely don't watch commercials. I am defintely 'addicted' though, which means that I have succumbed to the corporations' plan and some how they got to me. I like that technology helps me to be more organized and allows instant access to information whenever I want. I do agree though that technology can lead to isolation. Despite the fact that I am connected to people through my Treo and my myspace, I am spending most of my time home on my own. I recently lost my cell phone and I was devasted because I hadn't backed up my information and masked my passwords. I had to cancel my entire life for fear of identity theft. This definitely put a kink in my trust in technology. I myself am now pondering my dependence on technology and evaluating it. I hope that machines will not be teaching our students one day, even though it might be more efficient and cost effective. Interpersonal and social interaction is what makes us human. The day we cease to engage with each other in this manner, is the day we loose some of our humanity.
Hi Kate-
It certainly does seem like technology is "taking over" the world. People I know have become addicted to their electronic devices (including me-can't live without checking the e-mail!) It is amazing how children so young can work all of this stuff! I hope we never lose the human aspect in teaching. It is what some children need the most when they come to school because they don't have that interaction at home due to a variety of factors. I went into this field to personally touch lives and be with people-I am a product of 20" TVs with no remotes and 7 channels-if you missed your show-too bad-catch it next week!!
**Beatrice**
I couldn't agree with you more, Kate. I ponder the future of community in the age of raging technology as well. For me, it often comes down to manners. Just as I taught my children to open doors for others and say their pleases and thank yous, I find that I am now teaching cell phone manners. I will not be in a conversation with my daughter and notice that while we are talking she is texting. I understand multi-tasking (like folding the laundry, while speaking to you mom on Saturday morning) but when you are face-to-face, that requires attention. Personal attention.
I am hoping that the bloom will fall from the rose and in time we will come back to ourselves. I remember clearly this same discussion when the walkman hit the scene. It's just that the changes are fast and furious, making news at every turn.
I call this onslaught of technological need and angst: MATRIX MOMENTS. They started as a joke (any time I spent more time dealing with a machine rather than using it), but I am not laughing much these days -- especially with so many tech options presented in this course. I'm no Luddite (sp?), but I am human, and want to stay that way!
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