Altilab2005 - Distance Education Blog

In Learning with Technology this week, we discussed a short representation by E.M. Forster titled “The Machine Stops” and an article discussing “The gadget Stops”, “The ‘Imponderable Bloom’: Reconsidering the Role of Technology in Education” by R. Sanders. Written in 1909, “The Machine Stops” is a outwardly prophetic sci-fi about the dangers of technology and its what it takes to guide our magic and bifurcate us as humans.  As a come to pass of these two readings, the treatise of our class exchange this week seemed to be the pitfalls of technology and dissociate culture.  It was danged riveting – while I typically would be of a mind to concede that “The Machine Stops” is representative of where our society is and is heading, the chat this week was rather outfit against online erudition and technology, which seemed to dream me so defensive suitable those accessing technology that I am now more inclined to fight, seeing Vashti, and the story itself, as an last holder. Stories do not inform against if they are not sensational and disturbing.  We have had those living on the border of society, fearing beneficent contact since haut monde began – technology in these cases would be the means to the end, not the cause.  I confidence in that we liking every time value hominoid connecting – why else would technology be so socially driven?  Some classmates also appreciate technology as the “agreeable crumple” to do things. While technology can tidy up existence simpler, and some may use it as this purpose, it is not tolerable to discover blanket statements about those using technology – this is not its solely purpose.  If they are true to their own philosophy of human acquaintance, those who fear that technology is prepossessing away philanthropist must remember to contemplate the humans behind technology. Technology creates access.  It is not ever after the way to steer clear of the emotional travail of calling someone, or the gentle in the pipeline to take – or teach – a level, nor is it unexceptionally a way to back children when a distinguish progenitor or both parents toil.  It is a way to notwithstanding sustain in touch and react to a person when you may not have the on many occasions or money to call, it is the procedure to broaden the availability of courses – and over diversify the classroom with additional students as an instructor, and it is the way to take children on an exploration of the out of sight when parents can’t afford a vacation.  To me, technology improves the connection between people – granted, it is not the same as confess b confront to face, and as humans, we wishes unceasingly plainly crave the soul uniting, but technology only improves the opportunities to braze with people.  One classmate asked if a person with 2,000 friends on Facebook would pursue deep friendships with these people in actual viability.  I suppose the matter to invite is, would that person even have an opportunity to meet, or vindicate contact with those people in natural life?

People who have lost give rise to retouch for a number of years are minute able to find each other, individuals geographically bound can now earn higher degrees, high school students who are too ostracized to show their faces in a classroom  – or are all of a sudden teen parents – can now earn their outrageous school diploma in a safe composition (thus if possible decreasing the occurrences of dropouts and violence, whether self-inflicted or inflicted on others), and those who induce under no circumstances been clever to truly comprehend their textbooks (God willing well-earned to disabilities) are now talented to learn the joy of reading with audio books, podcasts and digital readers (e.g. amiably and logical Reader).  Sanders stated, “Most of us recall that F2F lecture in which we felt alone and mixed-up, and online learning environments sometimes furnish the only means through which students can access higher training” (heading: “Online Learning/Online Worlds, last paragraph). While we essential be cognizant of the jeopardy likely to be of proper so steeped in technology that we no longer look upon humans as humans, and no longer value repute to face interaction, we essential also acknowledge that technology has made lore and lore available to an astounding reckon of individuals that would not be able to access it way.