Education and Technology

When I was young some of my teachers assumed that I had a learning disability until. Although that all changed in 5th grade with Mr. Ellefson. He made education fun and exciting. He worked with me and helped me see that I could learn. One of my favorite projects from his class was my state report. We spent much time preparing for the presentation of our projects by walking as a class to a nearby computer lab. We were given the freedom to use the internet to find information on our state and put it together in a power point presentation. I always looked forward to going to the computer lab and I felt as though I learned so much from that project. This was my first real use of the internet to help me in my school work. Technology has changed a lot since then and is even more helpful yet we aren't taking full advantage of all it has to offer. With proper structure, guidance and protection I believe that kids can and should be allowed to take full advantage of technology to help them learn. Here are some more of my thoughts on the matter:

Internet Epistemology

The Enlightenment inspired us to ask ourselves how we know what we know, an ideology that we sometimes sweep under the rug. A change that is necessary, particularly in our internet age, is asking ourselves where we learned what we know.

The advent of mass media facilitated unearned credibility. It began with the printing press and has found its new home on the web–particularly in the blogosphere. I am not arguing that these sources should always be ignored, but the effulgence of the knowledge of those authors caught in the throws of their own passions is lost. Their watchers, readers, subscribers often only pass on base, emotional rhetoric.


Beyond this, information cherry-picking is easier than ever. Demassification of mass media has created niches in which validation for any worldview, opinion, or "best family recipe" is not only available, but readily accessible.

I understand confirmation bias has been and will continue to be an integral piece of individual development. However, moving forward with more information more accessible than ever, we must train ourselves to be vigilant in the media that we consume, particularly when it is more driven my emotion than reason. A professor recently relayed a caution about searching for news media, "if there is more heat than light, it is useless."

The next time you hear or are tempted to say, "I read in an article that..." remember that Facebook friend who authors a popular blog. We must fundamentally change what we consider credible, or at the very least take more grains of salt rather than spoonfuls of sugar with our information.

Video Killed the Radio Star?

As the years have gone by, radio seems to have been kicked farther and farther into its grave. First, the Walkman and portable mix tapes. Then CDS. And the most fatal blow of all—MP3s and iPods. Each development has made radio seem more and more irrelevant. Why listen to a random stream of music when you can listen to a personally curated playlist? And when’s the last time you heard of a family sitting down together to listen to their favorite radio program? It was when your grandparents were talking about their childhood. Nowadays, we have our widescreen hi-def 3D plasma SmartTVs to keep us entertained.

So radio is dead, right? Broadcast executives sure treat it like it is.  And that is the source of their many problems.