Policies
that seek to improve society by enhancing access to technology, particularly
in schools, are in line with technological determinism: Making
sure that children (in particular) are computer-savvy will lead to
a happier, more productive society. It doesn't matter all that much
what children
DO with the computer...just that they are doing it.
But it
ain't necessarily so, as your readings point out.
In Technopoly, Postman says
(among many other things) that we are asking the wrong
questions
and,
as a result, getting the wrong answers. We are asking why
we should put computers in our schools, and the answer we come
up with is "to make learning more efficient and more interesting."
But
the real question should be "What is learning for?" The answer,
"efficiency
and interest," is "a technical answer, an
answer about means, not ends" (p. 171). We need to think more
deeply about our philosophy of education and about what
we want a well-educated American society to look like. |
In
Issues in Cyberspace, Samoriski (after discussing
such issues as children's access to dubious online content)
emphasizes that it
takes more than a computer to create a good school and a well-educated
child. In particular, it requires good teachers.
He
also worries that computers may be best at teaching children
how to be consumers rather than citizens. There is a value in
learning to use a computer and, especially, in understanding how
it can serve both personal and social goals, he says. But to
take advantage of that value means helping children explore how
computers
can
enhance thinking, decision-making and problem-solving skills. |
In
"The Computer Delusion" (in Living in the Info
Age),
Oppenheimer says there is very little evidence supporting the
alleged benefits
of computers in schools.
On
the contrary, he says, there is considerable evidence that
the sorts of educational experiences that have been cut in
order to channel money to computers -- such as art
class,
shop
class
and
other
hands-on
schoolwork -- are a lot more useful, particularly for young
children. They need to physically interact with their world
in order
to learn about it.
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There
also are a variety of concerns about the social effects of computers,
particularly Internet use, on adults. Among them...
These
technologies may be ISOLATING. We each must sit, alone,
in front of our screens to use them. And the Internet may encourage
us to replace the strong ties to important people in our lives
with weak ties
to transient
online acquaintances.
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They
allow us to ALTER OUR IDENTITIES, to be ANONYMOUS but not accountable.
This creates an ethical vacuum in cyberspace, a place where
it is all too easy to ignore real-world consequences of our
online actions.
|
| We
may come to prefer SIMULATION to reality. The online world may
seem safer, more knowable, more manageable and manipulable,
and/or
more enticing than the real world. If that happens, we miss a
lot -- and the real world misses us. |
There
are counter-arguments to all of these concerns, of course. Think
about those, and weigh the competing claims in your minds.
* Which
make more sense to you?
*
Which conform more closely to the way you
and people you
know use the medium?
* Are
there kernels of truth in each of the perspectives?
*
How can you maximize the social and personal benefits of the medium while
minimizing the dangers or potential harms?
In particular,
think about the ways in which your readings are making arguments
that COUNTER the whole idea of technological determinism. Many of
the authors argue that technologies such as the Internet are merely
one part of our social systems and our lives. Shaping is a mutual
process: We shape technology, and technology shapes us, in ongoing
interaction that is complex and always contextual.
For instance...
"The
Internet is one of several social domains in which an individual
can live his or her life, and attempt to fulfill his or her
needs and goals, whatever they happen to be. ... [Specific
aspects of the Internet] do not operate in isolation, as main
effects on all Internet users; rather, they have their effect
in interaction with the individual's needs and purposes. Like
the communications advances before it, the Internet will always
and only be what individuals make of it." (McKenna and Bargh,
"Plan 9 from Cyberspace," Living in the Info
Age, p.202)
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"Technology
does not exist as an external variable to be injected
from the outside to bring about certain results. It is
woven into social systems and processes. ... Technology
then becomes a means, and often a powerful one, rather
than an end in itself." (Warschauer, "Demystifying the
Digital Divide," Scientific American)
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