Technology and Education
A Vision
By John Nelson
As a student currently enrolled in a Master’s of Education Program at Southern New Hampshire University, I find it necessary, to discuss the entirety of the educational field. Doing so requires me to transcend the events and needs of classrooms and to focus on the acquisition of all knowledge in any form. While many students of education focus on becoming a teacher of students, I am seeking to become an enabler of knowledge and a promoter of education. It is for these reasons that I view technology as an alternative, not just adjunct, to conventional education. But I am an equal opportunity enabler, and I believe in the promotion of education across all learning environments. So I will focus in and out of the classroom, locally and globally. If I had to focus on what has most drastically shaped my education, it would not be a teacher, but a technology. The printing press and the hypertext transfer protocol, have granted me access to more information than I could ever process. It is because of these technologies and many more that the education continues, and why I focus on technology here.
Technology, in a modern sense is often though of as, computers and the Internet. But technology is so much more. Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. So when asking myself, what is my vision of technology in regards to education, I struggle. It is hard to not to find myself thinking only in terms of the Internet. But if I try to think of an older technologies and how they have shaped education, I discover that it is not all that difficult to do. Take for example the internal combustion engine. How has the engine improved education? Well, it has allowed thousands of buses to transport millions of children to and from school. Certainly buses have enabled education. Let’s go even further back. How about the invention of quarrying? Well, if people never quarried anything, all the limestone would have remained in the ground. So what, you say? Without limestone there would have been no chalk. Please tell me that you have not forgotten what chalk was used for in a classroom? Anyways, the point I wish to make is that I think technology is much more then electronics and the Internet, and that educators should not focus only on the obvious. But, as you will see in the following paragraphs, I myself am not very good at following my own advice. There is just too much cool stuff to do with electronics and the Web
So if chalk and engines were technological enablers of knowledge in the past, what are some current and future enablers? Amongst the leaders, I think, is Google. Most notable for their search engine, which allows users easy access to near infinite information, Google also has collaboration tools such as Google Drive. While already a leader of learning enabling, Google may become unequaled with the establishment of Loon. If you have not heard of it, check it out! Other great enablers are smart phones and 4G networks, which have provided people the ability to access the world’s information nearly anywhere. With the Web in our pockets and the ability to Skype, Facebook, or Tweet, education is no longer about if someone can be educated, but rather why they are or aren’t being educated.
While technology is amazing at facilitating learning, I believe that humans’ social nature also plays a significant part. Whether it is the desire to be accepted, to share, to trade, to help, or any other reason, people are driven by their own and other peoples standards. These standards include possessing intelligence, acting rationally and acting morally. How can technology hold people to these standards? Online, there are endless communities of people searching for meaning and understanding, and justice. These communities hold others to the standards above, to include the standard of learning. While not necessarily applicable to a classroom, there is endless knowledge that can be drawn from passionate fringe groups in society, such as Feminists, Voluntaryist, Transhuminist, etc. They are really not hard to find at all. Who knows, maybe you will be drawn to one of their causes and inflicted the endless pursuit of knowledge.
Have I made it clear how great the web is for enabling knowledge? Not yet? Well, the Web is a wonderful place to learn about hobbies, or practical skills. Check out the forums for gardening, home repair, and video games. How about, for the self-motivated learner, does the Web have platforms for that? A surfer can find primary sources, studies, and empirical data on Digital libraries, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, Unless you are a Ph. D student, a scientist, or pushing the realm of human understanding to new heights in some other fashion, all of your answers can likely be solved on the Web.
I wish to share with you my vision of education in the not to distant future. I believe that there is a growing hesitation in the “traditional” schooling methods. I believe that charter schools, private schools, and online schools are currently demonstrating that the human mind can learn in a million different ways. I believe that in addition to more of the aforementioned types of schools, there will be a growth in organized Homeschooling, and Unschooling groups. I also see great potential for concept schools to be funded not by their local communities, but by charitable supporters globally. How? Thanks to crowd funding sites like KickStarter, and GoFundMe, any idea can become a reality. I would like to see crazy new school concepts be funded this way.
In this vision we discussed how technology of the past, present, and future has and will continue to shape education. I believe that I have demonstrated that it is not always the obvious technologies that benefit education. Technological advancements in quarrying allowed teachers to write on boards in the front of the classroom. I think a technology invented for cryptocurrencies, will allow a future of education that is currently unpredictable. As humanity continues to advance, I believe it is the task of a good educator to search for the unique technologies that will help teach, or enable learning. I am excited to continue my search.
I would like to know what technologies you are looking keeping an eye on? Which ones that you think will advance education in and out of the classroom? Please share.
All sources used in the drafting of this document are hyperlinked within the text for your convenience.
