Techno History - Looking to the Future of the PAST to Understand Our Techno PRESENT
Our expectations, values, and practices of technology
use are always “emerging, established, competing, and
fading” (Hawisher & Selfe) and that dynamic process shapes
and is shaped by our use of technology in our classrooms. In order to make informed decisions on integrating technology in the classroom, it is important to reflect on how prior experiences with technology shape our technology decisions today.
Technology Always Has Both Continuity AND Change
As with so many things that are new, the idea is old
Walter Ginsberg
This fact, characteristic of all media, means that the ‘content’ of any medium is always another medium.
Marshall McLuhan
Technological Echoes of the Past
For as long as there has been technology in the classroom (arguably, since slate boards) there have been persistent trends throughout popular conversations, commercial advertisements, and academic scholarship on the topic. The technology may change, but its treatment does not.
These recurrent trends can have a compounding effect on the attitudes of students, administrators, teachers, and schools toward the integration of educational technology. In some cases, too many unfulfilled promises, veiled threats, or misidentification can lead to instructors to become increasingly skeptical or to wash their hands of technology altogether.
The Great Equalizer!
With every new tech initiative, there are promises that technology will finally democratize education.
Kids These Days!
They hear endless complaints about "kids these days" who just can’t communicate anymore because of a new technology.
You Gotta Do It!
Teachers are warned that if they don’t adopt new tech, then they will get left behind or lose students.
Technophobe!
They hear whispered rumors that the real issue is that all teachers are technophobes.
It's Life Changing!
Teachers are promised that a new technology will change their life or relieve the drudgery of teaching.
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts
Technology
/tekˈnäləjē/
tekhne; Greek
Aristotle defined tekhne as the "rational faculty exercised in making something...a productive quality exercised in combination with true reason." He believed that the purpose of tekhne is "to bring something into existence which has its efficient cause in the maker and not in itself." Aristotle illustrated tekhne with crafts and the sciences, such as mathematics.
Writing as a Technology
Socrates was a major critic of writing as a technology and he feared that it would cause irreparable damage to all human cognition. He complained that writing or capturing knowledge “by means of external marks” will "produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them" (Plato, Phaedrus)
Writing Technologies - Not Always Digital
Pencil
Slate Tablets
White Boards
Composition Notebook
Eraser
Highlighter
Post-Its
White-Out
Classroom Technology Has Always Had a NEXT NEW THING
Hover over the descriptions to see the lauded innovation
“an acquaintance with the machine early in life will be agreeable, natural, and of inestimable value”
“it is a new force to be used with vision and intelligence to the greater glory of modern teaching”
"I believe that {it} is destined to revolutionize our educational system," Thomas Edison said in 1922, "and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks."
“when utilized properly, {it} can be a highly effective means of communicating with today's student”
“one thing this machine does is inspire the student; it gives him a high degree of competence and confidence”
“the most versatile instrument yet devised for the teaching of writing”
“writing on {it} isn’t just a fad. {They} do make it possible to write more in less time and do make us better writers”
“there won’t be schools in the future...I think {it} will blow up the school”
"A great discovery, almost equal to the art of printing and the steam engine." - "Will in itself effect a revolution in the modes of teaching."
A Vision for Schools of the Future
TIME's 1982 "Man" of the Year
When TIME magazine declared the Personal Computer as its "Man" or {Machine} of the Year for 1982, Otto Friedrich predicted the longevity of the computer: “the ‘information revolution’ that futurists have long predicted has arrived, bringing with it the promise of dramatic changes in the way people live and work, perhaps even in the way they think. America will never be the same. In a larger perspective, the entire world will never be the same.”
Techno History - What the PAST Reveals about the PRESENT
Technology is Not a Magic Wand
New inventions or advancements in technology including software and hardware are in constant motion, and it is impossible for anyone to remain abreast with the latest tech trends. And yet, despite the rapidly changing tech environment, we are still hearing or experiencing many of the same trends that are seen throughout the history of instructional technologies: the educational system is woefully behind society, teachers resist technology or have technophobia, technology can relieve the drudgery of teaching, and technology-aided instruction provides better learning opportunities for students.
What we must remember, as purposeful teachers, is that technology is not a digital or electronic magic wand (Hiltz, 1990). After the novelty wears out, learning outcomes, teacher uptake, and social relevance are what’s at stake for the efficacy and longevity of instructional technologies in the writing classroom. To effectively engage with technology, instructors must adopt strategies and principles of CRITICAL DIGITAL PEDAGOGY.