Education is not alone when it comes to understanding and using technology. I can recall the rules in 5th grade.. detention for using a ball point pen. My son was in 4th grade and was restricted in use of word processors. Teacher/preacher, PP, lecture halls and all technologies part of an industry. We could call it a consumer industry...... I would never claim that there is not learning going on...learning is always going on but there are different type of learning Just as there are different types of learning styles.
Consuming technology For example, when you purchase a ink jet printer ( some printers are free with rebate) you are buying a machine that consumes ink and paper. PP makes it fun for you to present....... and consume materials and technology to package your content.. we want to get a better LCD to see the game. however as with most watching/consuming activity except for the attached parties it is not interactive. Students have become consumers. Take a look at Http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030301studentasnigger.html. Now for social justice issues. These technologies provide access to a narrow range of the spectrum of learning styles. As a result students do not have equal access to the course content. Students are weeded out. The dominant evaluation method grades is ranked and equally narrow. Take a look at Wm. Glasser's "Schools without failure" Also Rosenthal and Jacobson Pygmalion in the classroom. They found that students who were achievers but not chosen were sanctioned for their achievements. This would explain why students of color start out high and score lower the longer they are in school. This raises the question as to whether they drop out or are pushed out. Delivery technology We have tested teacher/preacher technology and will continue. One our panel members told us that Jesus was her teacher. In the end the technology is the same even the setting. Shul is derived from the Yiddish word for school. The content may be different. Our investigation has so far has suggested that many students because of the situation can not distinguish between science content and faith based content. A student panel member summed it up this way. The professor is entitled to his opinion, but so am I. It is not that PP or lecture halls are bad or good. It is a what kind of learning they promote..... in most cases the watchers/audience learns to adopt content (depending on learning style) rather than adapt it. That is one of the reasons that PP works well when students use it. The issues around the extent to which our "new" technologies "create" "learning disabilities" and promote the use of redlin is another can of worms. The industry is powerful Del --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
