Journal 3

Heller McFarlane, Sarah (summer, 2008). The Laptops Are Coming! The Laptops Are Coming!. Rethinking Schools, 22, Retrieved July 21, 2008, from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_04/lapt224.shtml

Question 1—Is having all the worlds information at your fingertips at all times beneficial for education?—I graduated from high school just prior to the internet taking over and I believe that my education was just as good if not better than what the most technological school of the present day could give. While computer skills as a whole are integral to much of life in general, their use in the classroom and in learning as a whole is not so cut and dry. I had a hard enough time memorizing, processing, and understanding the information contained in the textbooks, and that was without having the world of information/distractions to contend with.

Question 2—Who benefits and who loosed with this heightened expectations and reliance on technology in education?—One thing that this article reminded me of was the theory of multiple intelligences in relation to types of learners. My first thought was that the “Intrapersonal intelligence”, those who learn best on their own and have a good understanding of their own thinking, would be those coming out on top but with the onslaught of interests vying for attention and the mobile infiltration of entertainment and information, especially in these formative years, it is next to impossible to understand your thinking or even know what it is your are thinking.

Heller McFarlane discusses how lessons and life became more about technology, its supposed benefits, how to use it, and continually learning new technological skills as opposed to the technology actually being used to learn things about the real world. There is no real discussion or debate over what, why, and how all this technology is contributing, or not, to understanding or actually altering the curriculum itself. This overall encroachment of the computer in every aspect of education has led to an overall detachment from students and of students which has led to more of a monitoring of students and less trust.