Rethinking Ed--Ch.9

What Does It All Mean?
We have reached the second to last chapter of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology and I am inhaling for a sigh of relief (I can’t exhale until next week with the end of the last chapter). Each chapter gets a little better as we near the end, and I know the best is yet to come (the end of the darn book). I do enjoy that Chapter 9 begins with a lovely little quote by William Gibson that says, “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed” (p. 122). Starting a chapter with a quote gets the mind juices flowing and helps me to focus on the meaning of the chapter; so, thanks to Collins and Halverson for directing my thoughts on chapter 9. I feel that this chapter was unlike the others in that it was realistic. They begin by asking the readers to “understand the possibilities of the new technologies from the inside…” (p. 122). Even if you aren’t a technology enthusiast (or even if you are) it’s important as an educator to always consider the possibilities of every choice and action you make before you even go to make a move. How can we give our students respectable educations if we don’t reflect on our instruction methods and techniques and the consequences.

With every moment, there is an increase in the technology literacy gap. The consequences of technology use can’t be weighed if the assessor is ignorant. The authors suggest that the literacy gap begins in the home and to ease it, parents shouldn’t demean or criticize their children’s use of technology without examining it for themselves. Parents should take advantage of their child’s technological knowledge for recreational purposes and turn mindless play into learning experiences or even teaching experiences. This section also encourages parents to get their child(ren) linked into online communities with similar interests to promote learning on a deeper level, however I see risky situations arising here. A) Internet security needs to be addressed in a cyber world of nasty pervert internet predators, and B) Topic digression/false information. I think there would be need for a site moderator because even adults are easily swayed from purposeful discussion into meaningless banter that generates hearsay and fallacies; but with a site moderator, will children be comfortable participating and will they often visit the online community to contribute or will they lose interest in pursuit of other social/recreational activities? But no, they instead address literacy levels, which are important, but they only say that vocabularies can grow through video games and that it is important to think about how new technologies will affect “advanced literacy skills” beyond vocabulary registers (p. 125). However, they then direct to the more important subject of being able to command a virtual environment and its benefits in the workforce where gamers are going to be demanding more virtual aspects. I have nothing more to say here.

I do like how Collins and Halverson sum up the chapter though. They say that teachers “would do well to study the existing structures of schooling to identify the aspects of the current system that are ripe for innovation” and that “We need strong leadership from innovative educators to make sure that the new system embodies our society’s critical goals for education” (p. 127). Basically what they’re saying is that as teachers we need to evaluating ourselves, our school system, and trying to get creative so that our students can get the best possible education available. And as a teacher, I plan to reflect, evaluate, and seize opportunities for the good of my students.