Rethinking Education Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Rethinking Education

This chapter talked about the course of technology. Optimists see a golden age of learning opening before us, in which people will be able to find resources to pursue and education they want. Pessimists see people becoming subservient to their technologies and many people being left behind as technology begins to dominate our lives. The chapter did a good job talking about what may be lost, and with every one of these points they came with a rebuttal which seemed to uphold the technologies argument. An example of this is diversity. The chapter talked about how many are concerned with the issue of students becoming sucked into their computers and not interacting with other people. As I said before however, the book had a good explanation to every one of these problems. They said instead of limiting diversity we actually see expanding in the movements toward multiculturalism and the mainstreaming of minority groups, such as the handicapped. Another problem that the book has was the potential decline of liberal arts as education becomes more centered on the individual.

The chapter then talked about what may be gained from technology. The authors said that the most powerful promises offered by technology are that learning will become more engaging. Education will be directed more toward what people want to learn, and hence, they will be more excited and drawn to learning. The chapter also talked about competition in the classroom. They stated that the kind of competition between students found in school will likely diminish. They believe that this kind of competition causes a sense of failure that overwhelms many students. Technology allows the students to feel less pressured and allows for little competition.
I really liked how this chapter ended. They stated that whether the potential loses outweigh the potential gains the emerging education systems remains a matter for debate. How society acts to take advantage of the promise and mitigate the dangers is something to be concerned about. So basically what they were saying is that there will be concerns with technology in the classroom. Though the loss may over ride the gains there is still an argument that it is helpful.

This chapter did a good job of giving us some arguments. I’m sure there are many people out there that are not technology enthusiasts. It seems that this whole book talks about how great technology is. It was time for a chapter that stated “maybe the losses are more than the gains.” I like this way of writing. It shows that they authors acknowledge that there will be issues, but they are confident that the benefits will someday prove to us that technology is the way to go.

As a result of this new thinking, I am excited about using technology in the classroom. If you remember when I came into this class I was a technology skeptic. I saw that the trouble of technology is way more than the advantages that it holds. However, the more I learn about technology the more my mind is changing. This chapter helps with this change. It tells me that in the future I will have problems, and it may seem like technology isn’t worth it. However, I will take this frustration in stride and try and convince myself that technology is worth it, and something that will benefit my class in the future.