New (class)room war: Teacher vs. Technology

Technology forces change. I generally disagree when I hear people say (as I have in the past, but I’ve since repented): “Technology is just a tool”. No. It’s not. Technology possesses/creates affordances. It symbolizes world views (the web, for example, symbolizes equality and democracy…the reason why closed-silo structures suffer at its hands). Technology also forces role changes - teacher and student on an equal footing with regard to information access. But the situation in schools is far more complex than simply information access. It’s about building new skills, functioning in a new environment, and building deep, complex understanding of fields of knowledge. Technology serves the former two well, but does not necessarily achieve the latter without appropriate implementation. The recent Times article - New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology - provides a bit of a glimpse into the social, education, and cultural factors at conflict in classrooms.