Stephen Hasenick Week 1 Reflection

Roberto Joseph in Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation states ‘technology might allow us to transform our teaching methods in ways that could result in quantum improvements in learning’. In some ways, this is happening, but for what skills. My teenage son has learned how to increase the levels of his gaming character, by using certain tricks in an online game. He learned something, just maybe not a worthwhile life skill. A more essential skill, he learned on the same game was how to buy low and sell high to make money for use in the game. Learning from play is not a new idea. Before formal education, it was a natural way to learn. Combining play and computer technology has a great potential for learner motivation.


From what I have seen in formal education, I agree with Joseph that a technology transformation on how we teach has not happen. Technology has just made education more convenient. Take this online course. It is a lot more convenient to study whenever and learn online than to drive a long distance. Technology has made teaching and learning easier. I find it a lot easier to teach from a prepare presentation on the computer than to use a marker board. Students have it easier to find information on the web than to use an encyclopedia.

Postman would say what problem did this solve. Invention is often about making something less work or more convenient. Electric windows and cruise control are less work and handier. Yet, he is right this does not solve a problem by itself. Technological improvements are merely tools. It is up to people to find new and creative ways to use these tools to improve life or learning.

Joseph and Reigeluth article talks about a required fundamental shift in roles of both people and technology. Of these, I think the shift in people seem to be the harder one to achieve. People have resisted change thorough out history. The Luddities and Postman himself in Of Luddites, Learning, and Life article are examples of this. I see people at work who are still stuck in the Industrial Age systems, even when recent studies showing the importance of human factors with teamwork and decision-making.

Postman has a good point, that learning still needs to be about ignoring and discarding information, but what information. Wrong information is just confusing and a waste of time. I hate it when I do an internet search and get tons of worthless results. In the information age, the most important skill maybe learning how to shift through data. I totally disagree that ‘none of this (starving, crime, abuse…) happens because of a lack of information’. How can you make a decision without accurate and sufficient information?

I am excited to learn about which methods worked, that Joseph said showed considerable promise seven years ago, when the paper was written. Where are these methods now? I hope that they are out there and I just lack the information about their location.