tkt8763-01: Failure to Connect

[Gloria Stella Garcera <gsg1@ra.msstate.edu>]

I just want to share some thoughts about the interesting points which
Aimee brought about the book "Failure to Connect". I too have some
concerns about the vision of many people who see the implementation  of
technology  as being the panacea for our educational problems. Here are
some thoughts:   

I think it is healthy to explore the advantages and the downsides of
technology  something which a number of important educators and writers in
this country have done There is strength in diversity, and something that
will increase our knowledge and understanding of the issues is to explore
as many different views as possible.

I think it is necessary to be more critical in our analyses of the role of
technology in schools and how technology can enhance learning.

I think it is important to know that, in many cases, we are victims of the
marketing, advertising and promotion campaigns of many large hardware and
software companies who see schools and their occupants (i.e. the children
and teachers) as a million dollar (and sometimes billion dollar) business
Therefore, as instructional technology graduate students  and therefore,
as potential future technology leaders  we must be that much more unbiased
and critical in our thinking and our analyses.

For any of you who are interested  in finding out more about the issues of
implementing technology in schools,  the following links (and books
contained at these sites) provide some interesting viewpoints:

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~stoll/silicon_snake_oil.html
http://www.decus.org/decus/people/stoll.html
http://www.lib.uconn.edu/cla/reviews/snakeoil.html
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hightech/cliffsto.htm
http://www.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/on_air/show805.html

See you tonight
   
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            Gloria Stella Garcera
        Mississippi State University
           gsg1@ra.msstate.edu

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