Le Fin

Hi...

This is the last one... the end (le fin - I like to mess with language).

It has been an interesting and challenging journey. McLaren, McGarrigle sisters, Plato, Grierson, Maddin, Heidegger, Murrow; truth, process, product, literacy, relativism, determinism, responsible use, filtering, plagiarism; constructivism, standards, e-learning, globalism, scary stats; Jap Zero, behaviourism, culture. No I have not said it all, but that's still quite a list.

Back in January, Denis posed to us three critical questions for this course:

1. How does educational technology enlarge, focus and constrain our understanding of the world?

2. How do new media reshape knowledge, alter how it is represented, presented, and comprehended?

3. What will this do to teaching and learning in the 21st century?

I think a summary answer to all three of those questions is in saying that technology is likened to a process, a cultural paradigm that keeps changing as new ideas emerge and subsequently with them new tools and the direction of society. Individually, the answers can be simple or complex. I'll offer a few simple answers.

In response to the first question, technology enlarges by affording us greater abilities to perform work and communicate. The internet and cell phones are examples of technologies that have enlarged everyone's world. Technology focuses by asking us to be specific about how we get things done, but at the same time constrains the way we must do them. Nothing like having your choice not show up on a multiple choice survey. In the classroom, that isn't any fun for students, and in the general society, people can be cut off from being full citizens. Some people really can't afford to have the necessary gadgets to be full social participants at the technical level.

To answer the second question, I'll use one name: Maddin. You can fill in the rest.

Third, the 21st century. We've just begun. The Thwarted Innovation paper may cite failure, but since its publishing there has been a lot of success. The next generation of teachers will be able to integrate technology into educational practice in ways that some of today's teachers may never ever imagine. I think the learning object will play a key role in this century's teaching and learning.

The readings assigned in this course pushed us to consider both the pros and cons of technology. I loved reading Oppenheimer and Winner as much as Heidegger. Cuban is rock solid, and Plato is in a class by himself. The standards documents and their military tone could put anyone on the defensive, but they do call us to explore a better way to get the job done.

Murrow's speech really underscored the point that we must have no illusions about technology and the power of media to shape social behaviour. We must use technology responsibly or potentially perish at its hand, which really would be by our carelessness.

What else should I say? I think I said enough in my previous posts and comments, and I am aware that sometimes I rode the same train. Denis's articles from the journal Educational Technology brought many ideas together and were great reads. For me, this course was mostly about technology as culture and how tools can be used both responsibly (which includes creatively and well) and not. I like playing with philosophy, which I think was clear. At a very fundamental level, I think that I think like a physicist; I am looking for the god particle. All that aside, when it comes to educational technology, if something (ethical) might work to get students to learn, I'm willing to give it a try.

Thanks to you all, and Denis, of course, who is a source of much wisdom. It's been a pleasure and privilege. In parting, I'll leave you with two TEDs. If you've seen them, great, if not, enjoy! For the second one, you may consider what I said in my first post about a student being a technology.