My Beliefs About Technology and Learning

Technology has always facilitated the learning process, and it is important that educators keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancement so as to learn how to use new technology to the benefit of their students. Just like people left behind the ancient Greek practice of writing on wax tablets because pen-and-paper were more convenient media, eventually, a majority of educational endeavors will move from pen-and-paper to the digital sphere. It may seem absurd, but in twenty-five years' time, it's conceivable that students won't ever need to use pencils in classes anymore. The old ways go out and new ways come in. Time marches on with no regard for nostalgia.

Goodnight sweet prince :(

A pitfall of technology in education is the difficulty of keeping up with the pace of new and changing technologies. It seems like one week it's the iPad 2, the next it's the new iPad, and the week after that it's Hal 9000. How can we implement new technologies if the technologies we're trying to teach are obsolete as soon as we, and our students, fully understand how they can be integrated into education? This is a question with no clear answers, but the fact that the question can be asked at all reaffirms the importance of technology. We cannot hide from the passage of eras because we're afraid of the speed of things to come. If we were to confine ourselves to learning via the wax tablets of old, we'd never have a hope of understanding the state of the world today. Technology isn't just a thing in the world - to a large degree, it is the world! 

We must work tirelessly to make sure our new gizmos and gadgets are being applied effectively in the learning environment so as not to waste time on things that are not really useful to the learning process. Not every application of a particular medium is beneficial, and not every medium is useful at all. We have to weed through gunk to find gold. Working to determine what technology works in which scenarios can help us to predict what future advancements might further enhance the field of education.

Get it? Gizmos and Gadgets? Was anyone ever good at this game? Did anyone else even play it?

I'm not sure what a "wonderment" of technology is, or even if I copied that down correctly (I probably didn't), but if I had to provide one example of how a "wonderment" of technology could be applied to the classroom, I would say that digital star maps and "scale of the universe" models like this one can be used in earth/space science classes to provide a hitherto unimaginably up-close reference point as to just how big the biggest things in the universe are compared to the smallest. If you don't feel a sense of wonderment when you look at this stuff, you are probably the Grinch and I hate you. Science is just one of the scores of subject areas that are enhanced by the growth and expansion of computer technologies.

The benefits of staying up-to-date on technology in the classroom far outweigh the frustration inherent in the exercise. Kids grow up surrounded by the exponential growth curve of technology, and are immersed in a digital world before they can even understand its scope. To deny them a guided understanding of the technology around them, or to deny oneself the best means for facilitating a 21st century classroom, is just silly. After all, according to Ray Kurzweil, the technological singularity is going to happen sooner or later, and we'd all look really silly at that point when our super-intelligent robot brethren are judging our educational system from atop their cybernetic mechanical thrones!

I wish this picture was my idea

I'd like to wrap up this post by apologizing for my awful attempts at PG-level wit. I will continue to make them and they will not get any more amusing. Hopefully these blog posts will get more informative though!