Friday 2 August 2013

Is fear of being labelled Luddite holding you back?

The Internet has undoubtedly enhanced our thinking and even deepened it in many ways. The question I have is this...are we so enamoured with technology that we are blinded by love? Are we failing to ask some of the critical questions about our embracing of the use of devices linked to the Internet because of a fear of being labelled Luddite? I have had people say interesting things to me in response to my questions about the risk of losing deep thinking, the risk of training distracted minds...people have said it is brave to ask questions like this. Why brave? Surely being brave indicates there is some fear to overcome? What do people fear? 
Well, there are a few reasons people question the use of devices in the classroom...and some of those reasons are because they don't really want to change, because they like the way things have always been, they believe what we have been doing works just fine etc...I would imagine most of us agree that that motivation to stall progress needs to be challenged. However, it is dangerous to put all objections into the same box-the Luddite box. 
Some are asking these questions because they are critically evaluating the potential impact of their actions and decisions on young minds in our care as educators. 
I sense there is a fear that if we ask these uncomfortable questions we might stall progress. Well maybe it is worth pausing or even stalling a little just to ask a question like.... What are these 'purpose built distraction devices' doing to our young childrens' brains (studies in neuroplasticity)? 
I believe it is irresponsible as an educator to experiment with reckless abandon. We all know that in ground breaking stuff there isn't always research to draw on, we don't have the benefit of hindsight so we are somewhat limited....but there is actually heaps of research out there waving the caution flags. Adoption of digital learning without robust discussion about what research is already saying about the dangers is similar to the person who blindly accepts their religious beliefs  and ignores the questions they have about it pretending they will go away when really, asking them would grow them . 

Are we like a 2 year old at a birthday party eating lollies and thinking this is the best thing we have ever eaten in our life? We need to ask questions, face the research head on, make critical decisions about boundaries with the Internet for ourselves and for our students. Device use and the internet is a baby still. We need to ' grow the Internet up'  and not vice versa. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Yvette. Our biggest challenge as educators is that technology is not neutral but the general public believe it is. This is why I agree with you that we need to use technology with caution and help our students, parents and colleagues to understand that technology is there to serve us. Too many of us are serving technology ...

    Blessings!
    Barend

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