Chapter 3. Rethinking In Education

In this week’s readings we learned all about the “Skeptics Argument.” The chapter started out by talking about how throughout history there have been skeptics complaining about every new technology. For example From the Rural American Teacher: “Students today depend upon store bought ink. They don’t know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or ciphers until their next trip to the settlement.” I thought this was funny. At the time people were actually afraid of store bought pens! The chapter goes on to talk about how today’s school system relies on common and well-tested technologies. They say that overall school coordination relies heavily on paper for records and communication. To this argument the book countered by saying with every technology that comes out there are three stages of acceptance. First everyone but a few enthusiasts condemn the new technology, then as time goes by they make using the technology optional, finally after they realize that the technology can really help they marginalize it into the system . After this argument the book talked about some barriers that come when trying to introduce technology. First they must remember the cost to bring it in, how and when the students will be able to access it, and finally how it will affect classroom management. Many believe that a room full of computers makes the teachers job a nightmare because while she is observing one student at a computer she has her back turned to all the other students. The final pages talked about owning knowledge versus Mobilizing Outside Resources. This means that teachers and parents believe that to truly learn something it is critical to do it on your own without any reliance on outside resources. This means that computers are becoming relied upon and without them our students may be lost and feel that they are unable to learn.

This new learning does not have a huge affect on my belief of technologies role. The way that it was written kind of told me that the authors just put it in their book because they had to. With every example of a skeptics argument there seemed to be a more sensible counter example for the technology enthusiasts. However, I liked seeing some of the example of arguments. I do believe that technology is coming. It has been coming for a while, and we cannot stop it because it does help and we need to accept it.

This new thinking will affect how I go about using technology. If I can see that implementing a new piece of technology will be a benefit to my students then I’ll be the first to get it! Technology always is knocking at outdoor, remember the pen used to be technology, so it is our time to welcome it and use it to our advantage.