Key Concept 10:
Critical Perspectives
10.1 Candidates will be able to understand the pros and cons of technology from a variety of critical perspectives and apply that understanding to evaluating current and potential technology in schools and society.
In ET 690, our Ed Tech seminar, we read Sherry Turkle's book titled, Reclaiming Conversation, The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, in which she shares her views on how technology affects our daily lives, focusing on the themes of solitude, relationships with friends and family, and education and work. In her book, she claims that technology can enhance our lives, but it can also negatively affect conversation and connections with others. This project includes an explanation of her perspective of the negative impact technology has on our society, but also includes the positive affects it can have on us. In addition, I included critical perspectives that supported but also disagreed with Turkle's claim through additional resources. It's important for teachers to truly understand the impact technology is having on our society as we continue to educate in the 21st century, so that they are able to best adapt to our changing society and support the needs of their students.
10.2 Candidates will be able to demonstrate how technology can be used to empower some and disempower others in schools.
In the same project mentioned above, I discussed how technology can be used to empower some and disempower others in schools. Technology can empower the learning in the classroom in a variety of ways. Technology helps teachers to differentiate instruction for individual students and provides unlimited resources to students who may not have access to them outside of the school building. In addition, I also discussed how technology can provide "virtual field trips" to help provide a more real-life experience than just reading about a topic in class. While there are several advantages of using technology in school, there are some disadvantages. Technology has made it difficult for students to make real connections and friendships with each other, as Sherry Turkle presented in her book. This is due to students spending so much time behind a screen instead of in face-to-face settings. Students in today's society have a difficult time communicating their feelings or have a real, authentic conversation with others, which could be the result of spending too much time with technology.
10.3 Candidates will be able to use critical frameworks to think about the value of specific technologies.
In ET 690, I had to read What Schools Could Be by Ted Dintersmith. In his book, he shares his personal story of traveling across the United States visiting schools that are designed around innovative learning experiences. As he traveled, he identified four common principles that were associated with schools that students were thriving in. He called these four principles that students were developing the PEAK (purpose, essential skills, agency, & knowledge) principles. Within this paper, I discussed the PEAK framework more in depth and explained how my school was helping students to develop some of these skills. In my narrative, I also explained how technology is a critical part in building these PEAK skills, specifically the use of 1:1 devices within the classroom. While the idea of incorporating PEAK principles into schools sounds ideal, there could be some reasons why you should not try to create a PEAK classroom. First, PEAK classrooms ultimately result in organized chaos with all of the communicating and collaborating happening among the students. The students may all be working on different assignments with the teacher acting as the "guide on the side." In a case where a teacher has a difficult time with classroom management, this could lead to very unproductive, wasted time. To develop these PEAK skills, students are also encouraged to work at their own pace with their own learning. This could hinder certain students who lack the intrinsic motivation to do well in school. Some students may take weeks to learn a skill that should be learned at a quicker pace simply because they don't feel like putting forth the effort. This could cause them to fall behind, for example, with essential reading and writing skills that are important in any area of study.