Ruminations on our relationship with technology
“Technology education aims at students’ learning about what technology helps us to do and what it hinders us from doing; it is about how technology uses us, for good or ill, and about how it has used people in the past, for good or ill. It is about how technology creates new worlds, for good or ill.”
– Neil Postman, The End of Education, p 191-192.
Educational topics look at how technologies shape the way we think or process information. Granted, “technology” is a broad term. For instance, it may refer to tools, machines, or media. Likewise, “mind” doesn’t refer to one thing. Rather, it implies a bundle of mental functions or processes (a.k.a. ‘modules’), which give rise to varied perceptions and thoughts.
So, one way to understand how technologies affect our minds is to ask: What types of tools, machines, or media work best for what kinds of thinking? Educational topics that may help answer this question include media ecology, cognitive science (including artificial intelligence, or AI), and functional literacy. To explore ideas from these topics, select any of the articles below.
Media ecology, and the rise of celebrity politics Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election was a shock to many—myself included. Afterward, however, I couldn’t help but notice this electoral upset fit an emerging pattern I’ve seen most of my life. As a child of the 1980s, I grew up in the Reagan … Read more
Multitasking skills? There was a job interview I had in the not-too-distant past when the hiring manager asked me a peculiar question: “So, how are your multitasking skills?” Now, as a former student who minored in cognitive science, and as someone who dabbles in mindfulness meditation, I felt tempted to go into a spiel about … Read more
Literacy vs. functional literacy Literacy is usually defined as the ability to read, write, and do math. But what do we mean by reading? People may be able to read the words in a document, but can they grasp its arguments or analogies? How about writing? Students may be able to write or type sentences, … Read more
Online outrage on social media “Geez, I was only on Facebook for three minutes, and in that time I lost eight friends!” So said a buddy of mine as we were catching up over beers. Unsurprisingly, his remarks took place during an election season. As usual, he (and many others) saw no shortage of outrage … Read more
Cellphones and distracted driving When I was in grad school studying technical communication and cognitive science, a pressing question bothered me. It dealt with a problem that affected many of my peers, particularly those of us who drove. Why does using a cellphone in the car distract from driving? What is distracted driving? It’s a … Read more