As we round out our final week, I wanted to leave you with a few thoughts about technology and writing. But first…
A Journal Prompt: Before reading, write 3 one-paragraph definitions of language. Each of the following sentences should begin one of the paragraphs:
- Language is like a tree.
- Language is like a river.
- Language is like a building.
Excerpted from Neil Postman’s, The End of Education
Despite the current focus on technology in the writing classroom, and the pressures to adopt them, it’s important to remember that it’s not the tools we use the teach that are most important, but the reasons why we use those tools. As teachers, we know best what tools our students need to be successful, and while access to technology is increasingly relevant when we discuss writing tools, I sometimes wonder if we stop and ask ourselves, and our students, what true value do these “new” technologies have?
If we are not using technology, as Brynn so wisely investigates in her teaching demonstration, to instill empathy, to create community, and to engender a more compassionate connection to others–then what exactly is the point? As members of the National Writing Project, we have a responsibility to take a balanced view of technology and writing, that considers not only the how, but the why we use technology.
In “The Word Weavers/The World Makers,” a chapter from Niel Postman’s End of Education, he says “let us assume that we may overcome any obstacles to making the story of technology a core subject in schools. What is it we would want students to know? [...] I would include the following ten principles.
- All technological change is a Faustian bargain. For every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage.
- The advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population. This means that every technology benefits some and harms others.
- Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas.
- A new technology usually makes war against an old technology.
- Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new technology does not merely add something; it changes everything.
- Because of the symbolic forms in which information is encoded, different technologies have different intellectual and emotional biases.
- Because of the accessibility and speed of their information, different technologies have different political biases.
- Because of their physical form, different technologies have different social biases.
- Because of their technical and economic structure, different technologies have different content biases.
Your task: Reflect upon any one (or more) of the ten principles listed above. How does it relate to your own classroom? How does it relate to your experience in the Summer Institute? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and reply to at least one other fellow’s comment on this post.
4. A new technology usually makes war against an old technology.
It seems like every year, we are changing our technology to fit the ever changing programs and upgrades. While I feel that this is important, it sometimes becomes exhausting. I’m all for new technology, but by the time we learn one tool really well, we are then expected to disregard the old. There needs to be some kind of balance, and that is what I strive to find in my classroom!
“Because of their physical form, different technologies have different social biases.”
This quote from Postman speaks to me because I teach four year old students. Some technology is appropriate to introduce my students to, however, there is a list of technology that would be inappropriate to expose my students to. They aren’t developmentally ready to comprehend this technology and may lead themselves in the wrong direction. I could use more technology with the parents of my students to help build a relationship with them. I plan on using blog posts as one way to inform my parents next year!
As a math teacher, I appreciate #4, “A new technology usually makes war against an old technology.”
The old technology, a person’s brain and fingers, were used to calculate numbers. However, in today’s world, with so much abundance, it is rare to find a person without technology that can do calculation that used to be done with a brain and fingers. Does that mean the old technology is obsolete? I certainly hope so. I’d prefer not to meet people without brains or fingers! But, it does mean that the emphasis of teaching math needs to adjust.
Mathematics instruction needs to focus more on the concepts of math and less on the procedures for calculation. But, this is a difficult transition for some parents and teachers. They want to spend endless hours forcing and bribing their children to memorize facts and procedures. It is challenging to get them to understand their time would be more wisely spent helping their children understand why those procedures work and when to use addition, multiplication, subtraction or division.
It appears to me that the technology war is less about winning and losing and more about how to refocus our efforts and maintain an efficient balance between the old and new technology of our time.
Reply to khartle1:
I agree about the constant changes we go through in the classroom with technology. How do we get this balance though? What ways are you balancing in your classroom? Maybe more focus should be on technology that will have benefits even if new technology is created. I see blogs in this light because they seem like they will always be a good way to communicate even if new ways are created.
Jessica,
I so think you are onto something great with that idea of blogging to connect with your parents. I believe the more you let them know what you are doing, the more they will be able to “see” your value. Funny, isn’t it, that technology can be a set of eyes for your parents…like your demo!
I agree with principle number 1. With every new technology, I see our social skills deteriorating. Students and adults alike have become attached to their keyboards and are unsure how to interact with each other. Before telephones, we had to meet face to face, now we don’t even speak to one another. We text. Humanity is being stripped of its humanness because we don’t know how to balance technology and humanity. I can take the easy way out and email someone, instead of taking the honorable way out and telling them face to face.
I hate to see where we end up, if technology continues to strip us of what separates us from the animals.
Jessica,
I totally agree that at the pre-k age, some technology is appropriate, but much of it is not due to content etc. Bringing parents into the equation is an excellent idea to help build relationships and help the parents spend time with their children at home while monitoring their use of technology.
I myself have had little experience with the whole “blogging” concept, though I suppose I am considered to be a technology native. The idea of incorporating technology into my future classroom is an exciting venture, especially with older students. The possibilities are endless, and I feel that many teachers are quick to write of using this kind of technology because they themselves are unfamiliar with it. If we can approach the idea of technology with curiosity and not fear, we can accomplish great things!
3. Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas.
New technology is scary and exciting full of infinite possibilities. The potential for one technology to stem new ideas is limitless. Fire walls limit teachers’ access to some of the most innovative technology, but there are other forms that can be used in the classroom. The thing is to not be limited by what the authorities deem acceptable. Teachers should learn from students and encourage them to invent the next best thing. I look out at my students and see the creator of the next FaceBook or IPad. What’s next?
4.Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new technology does not merely add something; it changes everything.
I would like to comment on the postitve way that technology has changed the way we communicate with family members and friends that live close to us or are physically away from us. Through the use of e-mail, facebook, cellphones, and skype we are now able to keep in touch with our loved ones and share about our daily lives. Families are able to stay in touch and see each other, through the use of the many technological devices that are now available. I remember 20 years ago when I traveled, I would write a letter and had to wait 15 days for the letter to reach its destination and then another 15 days to get a response back. Now, I immediately receive a response from my children, husband or friends. This new way of communication has helped me develop more bonds with the people I communicate with. Technology has changed the way I communicate with the people I love and I love it!
Postman’s principle of the Faustian bargain offered by technology brings to mind the rise of online retailers. Online shopping has put a lot of small businesses our of business, and the toll hasn’t just been on local economies. Many of these places–record shops, bookstores, various boutiques–are what the sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls “third places,” gathering points (other than work and home) for a community to socialize and grow closer. Without third places, there are fewer opportunities to for people to get to know each other, and less likelihood that they will care about each other. The Internet has helped close some of the most distinctive third places in our towns.
So how does this relate to the classroom? Have you ever had your students complain that there is “nothing to do”? Without third places, there really is less and less to do, and it can lead to greater isolation among the student body (or any large group, really). As teachers, we need to foster in our classrooms the sense of local community that technology is slowly (and inadvertently?) deteriorating.
Postman makes several good points about the way we embrace technology. We must do it intelligently, respectfully and purposefully, never with reckless abandon or without caution.
I feel very lucky to be working in an environment – physical and cultural – where technology is readily available and its use is encouraged.
I am excited about the ways I can use technology in the classroom; incorporating technology will help me connect with and engage my millennial students. I love the new tools and tricks that I’ve picked up during the institute and I’m sure my students have many more to show me, if I’m brave enough to let them.
“All technological change is a Faustian bargain. For every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage.”
I agree with Postman’s observation in several respects. I am privileged to have a Promethean board in my classroom which I often utilize. It engages my students well in some areas, but is limited when students share writing, answers to questions, whatever, on the board. Only one person can write at a time, as opposed to the white board, where several students can be working math problems simultaneously, for example. It is difficult to maintain the focus of the students who are waiting their turn to answer on the Promethean board.
I enjoy using e-mail and Facebook frequently. However, I rarely send personal notes, cards, etc., via “snail mail” any more, despite the fact that I like receiving them in the mail. Then, too, is the lack of voice inflection and body language found in e-mail, sometimes leading to a misunderstanding of meaning.
Finally is the issue of medical information/misinformation available online. I have looked up a symptom or condition and found more information than a non-medical person should have. While it is good to be able to have access to this body of knowledge, it can be unnecessarily scary.
With a new technology comes advantages and disadvantages. While I realize the effectiveness of technologies in the classroom and in communities, the loss of relationship or altered relationships can be one of the disadvantages. My mind goes to the use of texting. While texting in the classroom is not allowed or controlled, texting while in social situations can interfere with relationship building. While texting is a great tool and I utilize it when I need to to ask my husband to pick up something from the store on his way home from work, the texting that can transpire during a dinner party can be disconcerting. Even when I am dining with my husband, his phone can start vibrating and his boss can interrupt our dinner at the touch of a button. This also can occur in parent teacher conferences. Parents can be texted and this can alter the whole meeting. We try to get back to what we were discussing after the parent takes care of a text that is being sent by a child, husband, or friend, but sometimes it is not possible.
The advantages of technology in my classroom includes a mobile lab that is housed in Room 6039. My students use the laptops for their writing and for research. The promethean board is fabulous and a very useful piece of technology, along with activotes that are used with flipcharts as we review skills. The digital camera has been used for photographic illustrations for greeting cards and the video camera has been used to video tape a news report on how to start a business. I embrace all of these technologies, but I have a long way to go in embracing newer technologies. I am not opposed to technology integration, but I am always cautious to be deliberate in whether technology integration is going to enhance learning. I am constant in my reflection of the appropriateness of particular technology integration with each lesson.
Jessica,
In our school we’ve had to educate our parents on the use of technology and take it a step at a time. We started by moving to e-mail a few years ago and now all communications are sent home this way. Now teachers have created teacher sites where all classroom information is posted for parents to keep in touch with the teacher and have access to what their child is doing in school. This school year we offered computer classes for parents. If we want them to use technology we also need to teach them how to do it. It requires an effort from both parts. But it’s worth it!
Reply to Montyne:
I’m with you. I enjoy all the benefits afforded us through technology. I a matter of seconds, I can bring up a picture of a crane, for example, if it comes up in our reading, and students have no idea what a crane is.
Nini, I remember how good it felt when I learned to text – I gained acceptance into my kids’ world and their preferred method of communication. It was fun, but more importantly, it changed our relationship, for the better: it gave us a way to stay in touch, especially while they were on a date or with friends, that was discreet and “socially acceptable.” No one has to know they are “checking in” with mom. I even have a few special texts saved, such as the ones from my homesick daughter while she was in France. So sweet!
I certainly agree that new technologies make war against old technologies, and the technologies that spring to mind for me are books versus e-books. I love printed books, and my home is filled with them. I love the way they smell, and I love to be surrounded by them. When the Kindle first came out, I was sure I would hate it because I hate reading from a computer. However, when I actually got to see one, I really liked it. I haven’t bought one, but I can see definite advantages to it for certain kinds of books. I will still always want real books as well for books that are special, but I can see that the e-books would be much more economical and be much easier to carry, especially for students. For every type of technology, I just want real thought to go into how it will be used and make sure that using the technology is the best way to accomplish a goal rather than using technology for technology’s sake.
montynehm
I agree with you post in regard to the respectful consideration that you refer to when deciding the appropriateness of technology integration into a lesson.
Even though you are teaching students who are the new millennial, I think it is still imperative that you continue to evaluate whether a discussion is more effective or if visiting youtube.com and analyzing a clip is more critical in assisting your students with the attainment and transfer of knowledge.
I also agree with the luxuries we enjoy with the technological accessibility we have in our classrooms. It makes our jobs easier. We have, however, experienced technology glitches this summer in the institute when the technology did not always operate properly. I had a former colleague question me one morning last school term inquiring as to what I was going to do about my teaching that day since my promethean board was not operating appropriately. My response was simply, “I will teach my lesssons. I will teach my lesssons the old-fashioned way.” We need to always have a Plan B and Plan C when the technology does not cooperate.
I appreciate and agree with your post. Meeting the students where they are (in their world) is half the battle when endeavoring to impart and facilitate knowledge to them.
Tiffany, I understand where you’re coming from. When I first set foot on the KSU campus, I was dismayed to see a scene that was so foreign from my college days: everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, had a cell phone to their ear or in their hand.
How do you catch the eye of that cute guy in your English class if you’re both on the phone? It makes me sad. I think this generation is missing out on so much by wrapping themselves too tightly in “technology.”
Kathleen Z.,
I agree that each teacher needs to reflect on what technology will enhance their teaching. I find that administrators do not always understand that every teacher teaches differently and needs access to different types of technology and may not be able to effectively use other types of technology. The SmartBoard in my class is not effectively used; I could just as well have only a projector, but I would love to have a document camera for use when sharing student writing and examples.
“A new technology usually makes war against and old technology.” Niel Postman
Nothing can stand in the way of brilliant innovation. Everyone wants to benefit from the latest technology. The typewriter is no competition for a laptop. A beeper is not even in the same league as an I-phone. Technology has simplified our lives. We now have time to live our lives as a result of all of the technological advancements. We need to stay on the wave, riding its crest. We have come so far, and I am excited about the next destination.
In the immediate future, I am looking forward to new technologies that will eradicate the concept and existence of trash forever. Our ancestors were much more advanced than we are today in the sense that trash did not exist. Our ancestors did not have computers, but they were geniuses who knew that they were connected to everything. Unfortunately, modern civilization is growing more and more disconnected from earth and all of its biotic and abiotic elements. So, in this sense, I do subscribe to Postman’s perspective. There is a war between old and new technologies. Modernization will lose if we do not discover a balance and show respect and compassion for the planet.
5. Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new technology does not merely add something; it changes everything. This observation reminds me of some of the points Thomas Friedman made in The World Is Flat. He compares the invention of the personal computer to other great world changing events on the same scale–the industrial revolution, and before it the invention of the printing press. Sometimes it takes the mind-blowing changes which don’t come along as often, to really see and feel the impact of the changes that occur in the lives of nearly everyone. Friedman contends that the way we look at the world should be and needs to be different if we want to succeed in the new global economy. For those who may not have read it, he connects education, business, politics and government, literally all aspects of life to how they are impacted by this technology and how they in turn affect us. My guess is that the smaller technological “advances” also heavily impact us, we just don’t attend to them as readily.
reply to Tiffany’s post about technology as a deterant for social interaction….It really bothers me when I see a mom behind the wheel on her cell phone, one child in the front seat with ear buds listening to an iPod and a dvd player on in the back numbing the back seat passengers.
“Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new technology does not merely add something; it changes everything.”
When I started teaching in 1986, a modern classroom was outfitted with a chalkboard and a full of box of chalk. My wealthy and progressive school system, in an effort to be cutting-edge, partitioned off a corner of the media center where we set up twenty Apple IIe computers and a dot-matrix printer. We began teaching our middle school students keyboarding, some Basic programming, and allowed the occasional diversion of a MECC game, such as Oregon Trail. That was innovation for the time.
Today, my students carry a computer many times more powerful than the Apple IIe in their pockets every day. And while Oregon Trail might be entertainment for a brief retro moment, this new generation of learner plays interactive video games in 3D across a global network. The world is literally their playground.
Yes, technology has changed everything.
We have made the entire world available to our children with the click of a mouse. Our students are literally more worldy; at any given moment, they may be viewing instantaneous feeds of humanity’s greatest accomplishments and harshest realities — all in high definition. They may interact with total strangers while acting in complete anonymity; or, they may network with those very people with whom they spend the school day, using at least four different media — phone calls, texting, IM, and social networking — all in the same afternoon.
Yes, technology has changed everything.
What does this mean to me? First of all, what worked with my students in 1986 obviously doesn’t work with my students in 2010. They aren’t the same type of learner; they come to the classroom with a completely different skill set, different expectations, and a more diverse repertoire of prior knowledge on any given topic. Through the Summer Institute, I’ve been thinking quite a bit how this new level of worldliness is affecting the teaching of writing, and truthfully, the effects are profound. From making text more accessible to students to giving them new tools of expression, technology truly has changed everything.
Technology is indeed ecological. It has changed the face of interdependence on this planet by eliminating the spaces that separate us. Cyberspace, as vast as it might be, has made us neighbors. It has simultaneously removed many of the physical barriers that once divided us, while creating a new set of barriers built on ignorance, prejudice, misinformation, and desensitization. As a result, the role of teacher has changed. We are no longer merely those who impart wisdom; we now have a critical responsibility to moderate information in this new neighborhood we have created.
Yes, technology has changed everything.
The advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population. This means that every technology benefits some and harms others.
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This statement is mostly true–from the time I graduated from high school (1978) until I finished my doctorate (1994), the advances in technology were astounding. I went from typing papers, to typewriters with memory, to word processors (and dot matrix printers), to desk top computers. In 1994 there was no real internet–most of my research was done the old fashioned way with books and journals. But as technology has grown, it seems to be held back from the less affluent. While some will point to a teen on welfare with a cell phone, I would argue that this occurs a good ten years after the affluent in society have already bought, used, and thrown away at least three generations of the technology.
Since 1994, the gap seems to widen as new products are offered. This is especially true in schools. In schools, we try to be the great equalizer, allowing access to all students. In fact, schools (or even systems) are not created equal. While one school in my district has SMART-boards in every classroom, our school has two. As a result, many teachers at our school are unwilling to go for training for equipment they may never receive (I’ve been there–done that.)
I qualified my position in my first sentence–”This statement is mostly true–” because the harms are not as discernible as the benefits. This will take some additional thinking on my part….
Kristen,
I agree with your observation–with the convenience of cell phones we have given up meeting face-to-face. With texting we have given up calls and notes. With on-line convenience, we bank and email rather than visit downtown or write a personal letter. I guess the question is how much is the convenience worth?
Hi, Marla.
I was interested in your comment regarding books in print vs. e-books. I, too, love the feel of a book in my hands. I feel cheated when reading an e-text, but strangely this doesn’t bother my children at all. My eldest child has an extensive collection of e-books and reads more than just about anyone I know. I have found myself supporting the e-book movement, because I think it may be one way to keep the new generation reading. Simply stated, in order to promote literacy, it is important that we make literature available to readers. I certainly don’t want to see the print libraries disappear. Heaven forbid that H.G. Wells’s visionary talents were actually working when he created The Time Machine…