How Technology has Changed the Way we Learn.

Technology, it may be argued has increased the speed in which we hunt, gather and disseminate information that enables content and recorded experience to transcend cultural, religious and racial derision. That is not to say that these tensions have been buried in the archives of historical shame, however in terms of realising the right to a 'freedom of expression', the proliferation of global technology has given a voice to the voiceless and to the advocates who share the plight of vulnerable people worldwide.

Perhaps this is because, as Dr. Mc Knight (2012) argues that technology has changed the way we communicate, that we are able to communicate in "...different modalities, as a result of technology." Technology we might surmise is transforming our local vision towards global citizenship - helping and showing us where tolerance is needed, the importance of empathy, that actions speak louder than words and the significance of a shared responsibility towards building economically sustainable and socially viable communities.

But if you ask me if whether I think that the multitude of technologies available at the skillful press of a few widgets makes the human species any more sociable, I am not so convinced. Teachers in our local primary school comment that more and more children are unable to speak in sentences when they start school at four or five years old. Perhaps technology has accelerated our daily activity to the point where the quest to research and fulfill as many tasks as physically possible is beating the life out of 'real time conversation'. Post-modernist theorists such as Jean Baudrillard argues that we are all living in a state of hyperreality, a virtual existence, almost!

I refrain from sharing such a pessimistic view, but rather continue to have faith in the progress of technology and the way in which it continues to shape our learning. If behaviour is a personal choice, then the decision to communicate in a socially acceptable manner, including the aid of technologies might equally be regarded as the responsibility of the learner, an ideal for which I am always mindful of doing.

References:

Dr. Katherine Mc Knight, Top 12 ways technology changed learning, (2012), Retrieved, 12/12/2013:> http://www.teachhub.com/how-technology-changed-learning