My initial feelings about taking a technology in education course were honestly not very optimistic. I would say that I am a bit intimidated by technology, especially in an age where it is evolving faster than we as a society can regulate it. The rising popularity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for example presents new challenges such as the environmental impact of processing so much data worldwide. In addition, as certain human-operated jobs become obsolete compared to AI, the lack of protections like universal basic income become apparent.
Looking back on my own high school experience in relation to technology integration in education, I have mixed feelings. While at the time I understood that iPads were a tool that we were privileged to have access to, I also resented the overreliance on technology. I found that some teachers would become more disconnected or come off as lazy when they assigned week after week of self-directed learning via online resources with little class instruction. I felt like the burden of responsibility to stay focused and motivated was fully shifted to us as students by handing us screens. Sometimes the initiative to switch my highschool into more integrated technological learning appeared more superficial than actually helpful due to the loopholes with privacy and distractions in class. This constant access to all the information in the world felt overstimulating for me, when I really craved a more focused learning method as a student. Another more petty reason that I disliked the iPad movement in highschool was that I didn’t have a proper stylus or smart pen, and as someone who needed to write in order to retain information, my poor fingers constantly ached. I think that even though these past experiences have shaped my perception of technology, there is always room for growth in my personal and teaching practices.
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Despite my reservations, Jesse Miller’s discussion with our class about privacy, professionalism, and media literacy surprised me because it changed my perspective from rigid black and white thinking to a more neutral opinion on tech in the classroom. My main takeaways are that regardless of my feelings about it, tech is foundational to our society and inherently linked to our lives. Therefore, what is our role as educators with regulating and implementing technological resources?
I doubt that I will ever be the techiest teacher, but I hope to provide as many resources as possible in my teaching practice which includes navigating online content. This naturally provokes the question of what online boundaries I will have, and how too I can teach my students about how to be decisive about their digital footprint.