Thinking about Technology

David Jonassen's ideas about technology really appeal to me. I like the idea that "students learn from thinking in meaningful ways. Thinking is engaged by activities, which can be fostered by computers or teachers." His definition describes the computer as a tool, which is how I've always pictured technology's place in students' learning. I've always tried to teach in a very interactive way (with or without technology), encouraging students to be engaged in doing the work with me as we explore new concepts.

This excerpt has me curious about Jonassen's other ideas, so I will borrow the book from the UBC library to read the rest of it. (Hopefully it will arrive before the course is over!)

What is technology? I've gone from having a very narrow view of technology at the beginning of this program to a more encompassing one. When I was first trying to define technology, I checked out the definition in a dictionary. The Canadian Oxford Paperback Dictionary describes it as, "the study or use of the mechanical arts and applied sciences", or "the application of this to practical tasks in industry." These definitions reflect the sum of what I thought technology was. In my work, technology meant computers and their associated peripherals.

Since taking ETEC 511 last semester, my view of technology has broadened. Postman discusses "invisible technologies" such as language, the number zero, and statistics. Franklin states, "Technology is a system. It entails far more than its individual material components. Technology involves organization, procedures, symbols, new words, equations, and, most of all, a mindset" (Franklin, 1999, 2-3).

My view of technology now lies somewhere in the middle of these two. Technology includes any tools that help you get the job done - job meaning the goal of assisting the students in understanding the concepts that they are trying to learn. I also think that "tools" can include Postman's "invisible technologies" as well. In teaching, we use many systems as tools to help us in the goal of assisting the students in their learning. We also use many tools that I would now call "low tech" like pencils, paper, whiteboards, and overhead projectors, that were each, in their turn, high tech once.


References

Bisset, A. (Ed.) (2000).The Canadian Oxford Paperback Dictionary. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.

Franklin, U. M. (1999). The Real World of Technology (Revised Edition). Toronto: Anansi Press.

Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. USA: Vintage Books.