...Talking of Technology

Continuing the discussion on technology in schools, I've come across some nice quotes:

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except over technology.” ~ John Tudor

“A computer is like an Old Testament god, with a lot of rules and no mercy” ~ Joseph Campbell

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” ~ Bill Gates

“The greatest danger in modern technology isn't that machines will begin to think like people, but that people will begin to think like machines” ~ Anonymous

“The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human” ~ John Naisbitt

I like them all - but the last three really hit at what I see as the issue. Tools magnify the bearer. A bad teacher is a bad teacher, regardless of the technology at hand, and likewise a good teacher is a good teacher with or without technology. Even more significant, a shift in the way we think is inevitable with a shift in the way we live. Some problems and issues are more human than technology knows how to handle, and the more we change to rely on computer generated data and scientifically justifiable practices, the farther we get from human intuition and interaction. The flip-side is that by changing the way we think allows us to find new ways of being human. The internet has opened the world to a global community in ways never before imagined, and technology can help students interact with the material in new ways, and help teachers differentiate lessons.

Danger Will Shakespeare, Danger.

The topic is technology in the classroom. Developing a philosophy on the issue is a bit like developing a philosophy on human beings using tools. Without new inventions of the past we would not have books. We would not have maps or calculators. We would not have schools at all, certainly not in the format to which we are accustomed. These things are all tools for learning. But people have gone to war for books: The Bible, the Koran, Mein Kampf. Maps lie, calculators cheat, and schools oppress. My point is: tools reflect the efforts of the bearers. It's how you use them that counts.

When it comes to technology in the classroom, this means putting education first. I had the great fortune to have a SmartBoard activity crash and fail for a 6th grade class. I had carefully prepared an interactive memory game for my students, only to find it would not project at the last minute. Rather than attempt to salvage the computer, I salvaged the lesson, having students help me tape up replacement 3x5 notecards on the whiteboard instead, create a low-budget, low-tech version of the game. The cards were crooked and bent, the tape failed and they tumbled to the ground every so often... but there was more joy and laughter and engagement in the failure than there would have been in the robotic precision of the successful computer program.

Shakespeare will still be Shakespeare in a theatre or on film, and both experiences have unique irreplaceable qualities... but it is neither the stage nor the screen that makes his messages universally human or his poetry moving and amusing. I see technology as simply a new stage. The process of learning and of teaching is an old play; The players change, and the directions were never clear to begin with. The stage can enhance the experience or harm it, but it is not what defines the performance. That feat falls to the delivery and the content.