Putting Technology into Perspective

Putting Technology into Perspective

I spent much of this past week waiting and praying with my sister, that her husband would be healed from a cardiac arrest. As my heart rejoices now, that he has miraculously come back to us, it seems rather trivial to think about any non-life or death issues. However, in reflecting on the events of the week, I was reminded about the blessings that technology can bring to a situation like we experienced with my brother-in-law. Through CaringBridge, we were able to quickly and accurately inform so many loved ones about what happened and had hundreds of people praying within the first 24 hours. While it was important for those closest to my sister and her husband to be there in person, so many people were able to reach out virtually to encourage and lift them up.

In regard to the final chapter of Technopoly, I want to focus on what Postman says about discernment.

I can agree with the author in his view that we have to look at the source of all information out there, as well as the purpose for any technology tools used. I like how he put it... “...it may or may not be life-enhancing...requiring scrutiny, criticism, and control.” I also appreciated that he brought to light the importance not to confuse information for understanding. He also cautioned his readers to identify the sacred versus profane as well as not giving too much “power” to technology as the “highest form of human intelligence”.

He wrote a lot about what he would like to see in education to counteract the technology focus in our culture. I liked what he said about the value of error and disproof, knowing what our beliefs/views are in relation to the information we are taking in, focusing on learning from the past, and teaching them content and skills that foster sensibilities they may not be experiencing outside of school, as long as it can be applied positively to the students' lives in some way.

Postman asks the question, “What can an individual do irrespective of what the culture is doing, and what can the culture do irrespective of the individual?” Maybe we CAN learn from the mistakes already experienced in relation to technology in its overuse and misuse in our society. Maybe we CAN shift the culture...We are in a very influential position, as educators, to be a voice for responsible use of technology to our students and society as a whole. There will always be abuses of any system or advancement in our sinful world. We can often feel like our small voice can't make a difference, whether politically, socially, or whatever, but we have to remember what a mighty God we serve. Through prayer and the passion of other believers along side of us, we can choose to be “optimistic skeptics” as far as technology is concerned, and teach this to the next generation.

What is our Story?

What is our story and purpose for education?

  It was good to reflect on the development of natural science and the social sciences in regard to research and their values, as well as their impact on our culture. Scientism, as Postman describes it, is the “desperate hope, and wish, and ultimately the illusionary belief that some standardized set of procedures called 'science' can provide us with an unimpeachable source of moral authority.” When we lived in a university town, I occasionally got the feeling that Christianity was thought of my many as an ignorant belief system and the educated, sensible people, only believed what science could prove. Outside of that, do whatever you feel is “right”.  This lack of core beliefs combined with the information overload we are experiencing, due to technology developments is scary scenario to think about.  

  While I love the diversity present in our nation and the freedom that we are so blessed to enjoy, I feel increasingly outnumbered as a Christian in my beliefs and views on issues our country/world faces.  Those who do not know God, are searching for something to put their faith in, some moral authority. We are designed to be filled by God in a way that cannot be filled by anything else, no matter how hard someone might try.

  The author asks the question what our story will be to give purpose to education? Depending on the person or group from various backgrounds or points in history being asked, the answer can very greatly. Fortunately, at a Christian school, we have the freedom to connect all learning to God's purposes (to serve God and others in all that we do, to reflect Christ in our actions and words, etc.). For those in our country who do not have a unified belief in educational purpose or a moral authority, the story seems to be that of an economy, as Postman puts it, with the purpose to get a “good job” and to compete with other nations for monetary gain. 

  While I agree that this is definitely a purpose reflected in schools today, I think many schools have also seen the importance of civility and character traits that foster community to counteract the “looking out for number one” idea that the competitive economic pressure puts on our students. I do wonder, though, how moral expectations are determined without a common belief system or worldview? I know even in a Christian school, with the Bible as our guide, we sometimes differ on how to handle certain situations.

  As much as I am somewhat frustrated by the pessimism of Postman at this point in the book, I could see his point that we are in fact dealing with a certain level of technopoly in our nation and world. “The technopoly story- progress without limits, rights without responsibilities, technology without cost. It is without a moral center.”  So the last question I want to pose...How can we refocus and shift this "story" to be more in line with our Biblical worldview?

Invisible Technologies

“Invisible Technologies”

I was challenged by many things in these chapters. I was very intrigued by the “invisible technologies”. I had not thought about the fact that what language a message is given in, affects how it is viewed or its meaning is interpreted, beyond reading different translations of the Bible.

More spcifically, the ideas shared about the way we ask questions (the language we use), was convicting to me about how I assess my students. As a student, I did not like multple choice questions. I would occasionally add an explanation behind the letter I had chosen, because I wanted the teacher to know more about why I had chosen that answer. I do see appropriate uses for multiple choice, true/false, and matching forms of assessment, but these are not always well-crafted by educators or curriculum writers (myself included).  I often lean more toward open-ended questions, I think because I want to know for sure what my students have learned, not that they are good guessers. One example: I use matching/fill-in-the-blank for assessing vocabulary knowledge. I think is it valuable to use deducing skills and context clues to make the best guess for the meaning of a word, but I also have them use it in a sentence to check that they can do more than identify, but can also use it correctly.

The other idea I wanted to reflect on was the “invisible technology” of statistics. The quote most interesting to me was about IQ tests...“Of what earthly use is it to declare that one group of people is smarter than another?” Putting a numerical value on something does not make it comprehensive and accurate. Along with this, the author writes about the “untold harm” done to our society and education by allowing these statistics to hold any value.

He also goes on to say how statistics can be good when used to create change. I agree with him, that there is a lot of useless information out there in statistical form, that seems to hold value, simply because it is a stat. If the statistic is reliable/accurate/unbiased and is intended to be used for making a positive change in our world, it should hold value, but how to we sift these pieces of information out of the mass of useless data thrown at us along with it? This is a skill in discernment that we definitely need to teach our students! The challenge is how to do this effectively.   

I am reminded of the presidential election this past year. I was called several times a day for my opinion on candidates and my beliefs. I also viewed so many commercials skewed by biased stats. I remember thinking that I just wanted someone to give me the “true” facts! Statistics CAN and ARE being used for good, as we inspire each other to make a difference bringing change to injustices and solving problems in our world, but there is an awful lot of unreliable/inaccurate/ biased information clouding our view of what is true and accurate.  

Technopoly- Overreliance

"Over-Reliance"

I am once again baffled by the ignorance and autopilot tendency we have demonstrated in our culture in recent decades.  This overreliance on "the machine" to diagnose and give weight to ideas, rather than thinking it through ourselves.  I want to reflect on the quote by Postman regarding this issue:
"One might even say that an intelligence test is a tale told by an expert, signifiying nothing."  We all know that there is more to a person's intelligence than what a test can possible identify or reflect, yet, we often allow these things to carry more weight than they should in our views or understanding of something. Ex. Political polls- Numbers mean everything, despite their limitations to reflect the views of the voters polled  (machine = reliable          person = untrustworthy) 

The examples of the medical arena in the U.S. versus other countries in the use of tests and surgeries to identify the threat and conquer, much like we do in other areas of society has left us creating more problems as we "solve" others.  The author stated that the doctors are no longer using technology, but technology is using them.

I am reminded of the “autopilot” (reflected on in my post on chapters 3 and 4) that has become so prevelant in our students when they access information online. We have to be the regulators training them with discernment, not simply limiting the info they access. “Teaching how to fish”, rather than simply “feeding them” idea.  In reference to "A Whole New Mind", we need to pay more attention to the story behind the data and not assume that because information came from a machine that it is "truth" in itself with no other factors involved.  It is encouraging to find that medical schools, as well as other fields of study, are looking at the value of the story being the stats.  Hopefully, we are learning a little something, as a culture, about not just the benefits, but the limitations of the machines we use.  

Technopoly Chapters 3-4 "On Autopilot"

ON AUTOPILOT...
I got quite an economic education reading these chapters. While I had a broad knowledge and understanding of how America developed economically and technologically, this author's prepective was a great lense in which to reflect on these events in our history.  I was led throughout this section to think about how our educational system will look if we continue to allow machines with a set technique to do the thinking for us?  Will we, as teachers, simply push the buttons and apply the techniques already set out for us? I certainly hope not. I don't want to be put on autopilot, nor do I think this will "improve" the educational process.  So many times in this section, the author noted how the speed and amounts of information continued to increase, but much of what was/is so easily accessible could not/cannot be connected to any improvement beyond speed and volume.  We are the context and meaning providers in the classroom. Our students have information coming at them in great quatities and at great speeds.  If we do not teach them how to discern what information is true and meaningful, they will not stop to reflect, and will likely become what the author spoke of in his experiment with a fake story.  While I laughed a bit ready this humorous story, it was disheartening to recognize that this happens so often in our society today.  Science and studies are "truth" no matter how bizarre or incomprehensible they may seem.  I might have to share this story with my kids this coming school year when we talk about discernment in our study of various concepts. What can we be doing in our classrooms to challenge our students to go against the current of our society in this way?

Technopoly Chapters 1-2

This was a very thought-provoking reading, begging the question...To what degree is technology a benefit and a hinderance in our society as a whole and in our classrooms?  I will begin with the quote
"New technolgy does not add or subtract...but changes everything."  Throughout these 2 chapters, the author challenges we, as readers, to use what has happened in history to examine the effects of technology on a particiular society.
One example was regarding the mechanical clock. While it was a positive in regulating time, it ended up benefitting business owners and taking the focus off of God.  Another example was the invention of the mill, which opened the door to the growth of prositution in the community.  We live in a sinful world, so every invention that has a initially pure and good purpose to improve society, will end up having sin taint and negatively impact it.
The obvious connection in today's society is the Internet. While it has allowed us to do many positive things, it has also opened the door to sinful things, as well.  We are able to easily communicate with others, but it has negatively affected personal relationships in taking away from face-to-face connections and in making it easier for many to make very public things that they would never say in a face-to-face conversation.  It has also made the way we locate information much easier, but has made it all too easy for false and unwholesome information to be easily accessed.  The third thing that came to mind in regard to the Internet, is the attention spans of today's generations.  We not longer have to pay attention to a complete piece of information, but look for the "answers" or tidbits of information.  We are inundated with bells and whistles from many sources, rather than focusing on a single thought or idea for any time to reflect. This advancement has changed the way we process information.
I guess I come away from this reading, an "optimistic skeptic".  We have to look at all advances in technolgy with a critical eye, but cannot shut out the good that something provides simply because there are negatives that go along with it.

Beginning Grad Ed.

I am hoping that by the end of this summer, I will be MUCH better at integrating technology into my teaching.  Right now, I am somewhat comfortable, yet also somewhat hesistant in using the tech tools we have available in our school.