The Judgment of Thamus

I do not believe that that technology has altered my understanding of the purpose of education, teaching or learning. It has however, changed the mode in which I as the teacher present the information to my student.

As part of the first generation of digital natives, I find using computers (and always have found them) easier than hand writing assignments. I understand that there are ups and downs to every technology; and it is easy to become engulfed by their glamour, especially when they first come out.

A friend of mine, Mike who is a self proclaimed technophobe has said to me that he feels that technology has caused more headaches than it’s worth. When I asked what he meant by this statement, he said that “because of this new stuff [we] have more work.” Being someone who loves technology, I still found this hard to grasp, but after reading the Postman article and watching the Technology and Society video clip, I understand how with every good comes bad.

“What new problems might be created because we have solved the problem? Now the automobile solved some very important problems for most people, but in doing so has poisoned our air, has choked our cities with traffic, and has contributed toward the destruction of some of the beauty of our natural landscape . . . antibiotics have certainly solved some significant problems for almost all people, but in doing so have resulted in the weakening of what we call our immune systems.” - Neil Postman

One of Mike’s major contentions has nothing to do with Web 2.0 tools, his major complaint is that because of the resources that we have at our disposal, now what is expected of us is a lot more than what was expected of educators 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

I’d like to believe that I teach utopia, (any visionary system of political or social perfection – from dictionary.com) but in reality, right now I’m teaching in a horrible place. I use my tools to the best of my abilities. I do not believe that I teach computers, anymore than I teach pens and pencils . . . I teach technology. And I will use whatever I can to get through to my kids.