Synopsis

Journal Review Synopsis

Ray Etheridge

Western Washington University

Synopsis


In doing this assignment I have learned much. Initially I was not expecting much, and while I think I still only have 1 reader, the instructor for the course, what I have learned is that as much as I would like others to read and benefit from the blog, the blog is more about my learning than others. While I am sure other blogs will differ on this, being designed and evaluated by the number of hits they receive of the number of comments made, friends added and what not, that is not the purpose of this blog.

The Wikipedia article on Technology starts with this comment.

“Technology is the usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, and crafts, or is systems or methods of organization, or is a material product (such as clothing) of these things. The word technology comes from the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.[1]”

The craft of studying is something that I can wholeheartedly endorse, and what this assignment, along with those in rest of the class, as well as the other classes I am in at Western, and also most notably, the interactions I have had with my technologically savvy students at DigiPen Institute of Technology, Highline Community College and all the other schools I have worked with dating back to my first classroom teaching experience back in 8th grade at North Kitsap Middle School in Algebra I class, have really taught me is that technology and the use of it is not just based on the tools used in the practice of it. Rather, technology is the synergy of the tools, the techniques, the understanding of them that one has and uses. In other words technology, and hence information technology, is not just the physical tools of the keyboard, hard drive, printer, server, satellite and screen that make up the technology we use but the mental tools that we used to access it and the point of view or lens we use to guide our use of it to whatever ends and purposes that we can conceive of.

In this regards I would like to take a moment to comment on some of my articles. From the Finnish article on teaching science in the class I have been reminded that our use of technology is but one of many and how valuable it is to have other’s insights into the application of the tools of language and science that challenge our point of view and encourage us to see the world in different ways. From the articles I have retrieved from websites, the western portal, and the copyright laws e have been learning about I am learning the usefulness of really good search engines like ERIC and how much remains to be done to empower teachers to be able to engage with students effectively and to avoid some of the very serious consequences that can emerge from unrestricted access to download and publish to the net. From the articles on Science in the Big Apple I am reminded how technology and tools are often limited by our access to them and how educational reform can have unintended consequences as well as how much social engineering is involved in education planning and goals, sometimes to the detriment of core understanding and skills development, let alone access to the very tools and disciplines needed for success in a technologically driven world. And finally from the article I on James Burke’s Knowledge web I have realized that in the modern world the webpage is an article in the modern world, and yet so much more, it can be a tool of access, a propaganda piece or a list of resources or all of the above and how important the development of media literacy, critical thinking and the ability to construct and destruct knowledge, assumptions and understanding are.

In the end I am left wondering about some of the comments in the article by McKercher, Bonne, and Rogers entitled “The Web of Knowledge.” In it they discuss how knowledge has become separated into distinct disciples and fields of study at the very time we need to be more inclusive not less. In my own life I have often been denigrated and discriminated against because my studies in astronomy, history, religion, philosophy-eastern and western, modern and tribal, environmentalism and languages are not the norm in which an individual is expected to specialize over and over again. In regards to education has this not become the dominant theme as well? Have we have allowed the separation of professions into specialized fields of teacher, administrator, bureaucrat, committee member, etc… taken us away from the fact that we are all teachers to the next generation?

I remember watching a video about a magnet school in New York where there are no such separations, all the teachers have administrative duties and there are virtually no pure administrators. Of course this school also had a class size limit of sixteen and as a result had a much higher cost per student and thus such a system would provoke panic about spending nationwide, yet such experiment are getting results. We say we want the best education possible for our children but do we really mean it?

Are teachers responsible for student learning and success? Clearly we, as a society, have said they are. And yet are we, as citizens, parents, administrators and bureaucrats really supporting this activity by demanding more of “them” while simultaneously providing less support and time for professional growth, let alone the acquisition and mastery of new skills, technology and techniques? Requiring more while providing less is not a recipe for success in the new technologically complex societies of the 21st century, and, while new tools, like those detailed in the articles reviewed for this assignment, may provide some answers and relief, is it not incumbent upon all of those involved-teachers, parents, administrators and official alike-to be involved in the process of solving these problems. Clearly it is. Technology offers us great opportunities, but it cannot resolve us of our responsibilities, responsibilities we must all embrace. Rather than expect tools and techniques to provide solutions to our educational concerns do the insights we have gained by learning about them, what they are capable and what promises they hold for the future provide us with an even more important gift-the gift of re-empowering us to learn how to use such to come to a better understanding of, appreciation of, and interaction with the underlying systems and methods that are just as much a modern technology as the physical technology itself? This assignment has taught me many things about various technological tools, programs, websites and articles but what I value most about it is that it has given me an insight into how to use them, to use them so as to empower others to find ways to make discover their own ways to use them. I plan on using the websites, articles and tools I have learned to one day make my own article, my own webpage, dedicated to helping new teachers-in-training better understand the education process and what is required of them and how to access resources that will aid them in creating their own careers and lives, so, in the end, this is not an end, but a beginning, and that will have to do for now.