Clearly, advances in technology influence and shape virtually everything we do and what our world has and will become. Technology’s impact is almost unimaginable—even with the little things. Who would have thought a phone would also be a camera and a word processor? Soon it will work our television and microwave (it may already do these things).
While technology has revolutionized every facet of our lives—usually to our benefit—the “warp speed” pace at which changes occur leaves us with little time to integrate and adapt to them before we are bombarded with the next wave. At times, it is overwhelming to say the least—especially for the technologically challenged among us. Sometimes you just want technology to slow down so that you can catch your breath.
Although every generation can point to the technological advances that were introduced during and defined their childhood, it does seem that more is happening now than ever before. How do we handle and plan for changes that occur everyday when the only certainty we know about change is that it is inevitable? What will educators teach children today so that they can be prepared for tomorrow and all the tomorrows that follow?
To keep pace with change and, more importantly, produce and sustain it, students must be taught to think, analyze and problem solve while being encouraged to dream, imagine and create—skills that must be applied to many domains of functioning. Is it a tall order for educators to fill? Yes! But that is what they have been asked and expected to do up to this point—helping to foster and engender in students the kinds of skills that have given rise and contributed to the explosion in technology that we experience today. Still, education needs teachers who recognize the need for and embrace change and are willing to discard what does not work and grab hold of what does. With no simple script to follow, teachers must possess and display the very skills they must build and nurture in their students. Not every teacher needs to master or even use technology, at least not yet, but each must understand its impact. While school is a place where foundational skills and complex ideas first collide and then work in tandem to inspire students and keep the world moving in whatever direction society wants its citizens to travel, it also has the power to support and shape the talent and vision of all students—many of whom possess the skill, drive and world view that will make the unimaginable a reality and raise the educational and technological bar for the next generation to come.
Technology is here to stay and will always be part of what we want students to use and master in the service of their education and to better the world at large and not just as a means by which they entertain themselves. Maybe the Department of Education and Nintendo can form a partnership so that the power of technology can be used for good and not evil.
While technology has revolutionized every facet of our lives—usually to our benefit—the “warp speed” pace at which changes occur leaves us with little time to integrate and adapt to them before we are bombarded with the next wave. At times, it is overwhelming to say the least—especially for the technologically challenged among us. Sometimes you just want technology to slow down so that you can catch your breath.
Although every generation can point to the technological advances that were introduced during and defined their childhood, it does seem that more is happening now than ever before. How do we handle and plan for changes that occur everyday when the only certainty we know about change is that it is inevitable? What will educators teach children today so that they can be prepared for tomorrow and all the tomorrows that follow?
To keep pace with change and, more importantly, produce and sustain it, students must be taught to think, analyze and problem solve while being encouraged to dream, imagine and create—skills that must be applied to many domains of functioning. Is it a tall order for educators to fill? Yes! But that is what they have been asked and expected to do up to this point—helping to foster and engender in students the kinds of skills that have given rise and contributed to the explosion in technology that we experience today. Still, education needs teachers who recognize the need for and embrace change and are willing to discard what does not work and grab hold of what does. With no simple script to follow, teachers must possess and display the very skills they must build and nurture in their students. Not every teacher needs to master or even use technology, at least not yet, but each must understand its impact. While school is a place where foundational skills and complex ideas first collide and then work in tandem to inspire students and keep the world moving in whatever direction society wants its citizens to travel, it also has the power to support and shape the talent and vision of all students—many of whom possess the skill, drive and world view that will make the unimaginable a reality and raise the educational and technological bar for the next generation to come.
Technology is here to stay and will always be part of what we want students to use and master in the service of their education and to better the world at large and not just as a means by which they entertain themselves. Maybe the Department of Education and Nintendo can form a partnership so that the power of technology can be used for good and not evil.
Can there ever be too much technology? Maybe, but we know technology has crossed the line when it supplants humanity and turns people into robots.
4 comments:
I agree that technology is here to stay, and has been for some time. I find it hard to fathom the rate of growth we will experience over the next few years, but I think we will be alright.
What we might have to worry about is whether our schools are ready for the upgrade. Are we teaching students enough to prepare them for the future? Technological advances are expensive, as we all know. Go and buy that new cell phone. If we are to be considered as future administrators, we have to budget for technological advances.
I think we need to work on our "humanity" regardless of the technology. I thnk if you go back to the "good old days" without tech (1930'-40'ss?) man's inhumanity to man was pretty prevelent in Europe and Asia.
Hillary, you have said the magic phrase, "hold onto what is good and discard what does not work". Too often educators get "stuck" on doing what is expected and don't anaylze the strategies needed to achieve the outcomes.
Yes, technology is the ever powering source in our society, but it is always the way to creativity behind the technology. Even the most intelligent computer wizards have marveled on their creativity of web designs and connecting the internet to our daily lives.
Technology is not going anywhere and we need to make sure our students are prepared for what is to come.
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