Week 1 Reading Reflection

When first taking in the article titled “Of Luddites, Learning and Life” I quickly noticed that it was published in 1993. Interestingly, I was in the 4th grade in that year, which is coincidentally the grade which I teach 27 students in now. In technology terms, that may as well have been a century ago rather than a decade and a half. So my first instinct was to question how relatable this article would be to current technology issues in education. Postman’s view however, that there is a “thrust to technology” and conforming to “what is new” still certainly rings true today. I struggle with this issue myself, often on a weekly basis. I have a strong urge to try everything that is new in the EdTech realm. And often, the “cool” factor for a new website, application, etc. can consume much of my valuable time.

What I often get out of that time however, is something very useful and very relevant to my classroom and the ‘21st century’ learners that reside there for 8 hours a day. I do not feel that most technology “invents problems to justify using [it],” as Postman puts it. My (our?) problem, interestingly, is that I am trying to reach the very same goal that Postman declares: to have my students achieve a sense of coherence, to cultivate social responsibility, and to think critically, historically and humanely while learning necessary academic and life skills. These are all underlying things that drive my every move as a teacher. And do you know what I think is the best tool in my bag of tricks to reach these lofty goals? Yup, technology.

In fact, while I am completely with Postman in that the problems of education are of a “social and moral nature”, I am completely opposed to his view that technology is a detractor for the solution. I don’t know that Mr. Postman would have been able to predict what technologies of today can ‘deliver’ to our students’ fingertips. His “information superhighway” of the 90s (can I say LOL?) is now so personalized, so focused on collaboration and communication that the mere thought of Web 2.0 brings up dozens of visions in my head of students learning to be socially responsible, acting for the “good of the group” and critically and historically thinking. And if the World Wide Web has done this (at least) 180 degree shift in the last 15 years, I can’t even imagine the power of technology for meaningful learning that will take place when some of my students are getting their first teaching jobs.

So do we need to be aware of the information overload that can happen with the world at our fingertips? Yes. Are there rational concerns about young learners spending too much time in front of a screen? Certainly. But altogether ignoring advances in educational technology for the sake of avoiding “distractions” would be failing our students for their future in this ever-changing world, of which it is our duty to prepare them for. In effect, I believe that 6 years after Reigeluth and Joseph had such a seemingly fanciful notion of a “technology transformation”, that we may very well be on the verge of one.

I actually think that the trends in educational technology may now possibly be making all of the aforementioned authors at least somewhat satisfied. Postman should be able to at least appreciate the communal aspect and potential of such things as social networking. Reigeluth and Joseph I would imagine are tickled by the shared decision making and “authentic” instruction that can be realized through applications such as GoogleDocs and Voicethread. While we are still fighting to break free from the “industrial age” mindset of standardization (NCLB, anyone?) and will likely never be able to shake the excess or “glut” of information and options available, I do sincerely believe that we are reaching a point where the progress IS NOT problematic.