I have an anti-technology bias.
There I said it. I am working on it.
This is probably a strange statement to see coming from me. I have hundreds of blog posts that might suggest just the opposite. I have been a regular cheerleader for the power of digital tools in the classroom. I have hundreds of emails coming and going each day and get jittery when my iPhone battery falls to 20%.
Maybe it is age, maybe it is complacency, or maybe it is easier to just fit in with the crowd – but too often recently I have taken a jaded, and sometimes cynical view of technology, and that needs to change.
My friend and colleague Dean Shareski made a great presentation early in the summer at a conference hosted by the BC Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association where he argued that sometimes actually it is about the technology. A regular line in most of my talks over the last few years, and one that gets repeated over and over again by many others is “it is not about the technology”. And Dean is right, it is kind of about the technology sometimes. And just like I know I am about to be mightily disrespected when someone starts a sentence with “No disrespect intended” many of the awesome examples shared after someone says, “it is not about the technology” really wouldn’t happen without the technology.
The distinction being made is that the goal is the learning and the technology is there to support the learning. It is an argument that Michael Fullan has been making for a number of years focused on the right and wrong system drivers. I think we can let people off the hook when we too casually say “it is not about the technology” – because sometimes it is about the technology. Whether it is new portfolios, connecting with students across the world or getting feedback from a public audience, to some degree, it is about the technology.
Another interesting point that Dean made was that all the talk about technology disrupting communities – the same could be said for books and newspapers in previous generations. With books and newspapers, people no longer had to connect face-to-face to receive information. There are many photos like this one circulating on the internet that we romanticize as the good ol’ days:
While at the same time when we see a family like this, we shake our heads and wonder why they can’t just be “present” with each other:
And if Dean hadn’t done enough to make me come to grips with my growing anti-technology bias Pokémon Go came along and I felt like an old man wanting to yell at the neighbourhood kids to get off his lawn and stop making so much noise. I went out for a walk at 10 PM and the community was full of mostly young people searching for Pokémon. I was shaking my head – great – another example of kids wasting time on their phones. It took me until the following day to actually realize how awesome this was. Young people were out walking, exploring, connecting and having fun. If they had clipped a treasure map out of the local newspaper I would have thought it was awesome. But there was my bias on display.
I have been reading a lot from Peter Diamandis, Clay Shirky and others lately to challenge my complacency. Their thinking have helped me get back on course. I am an unapologetic believer that the future is exciting, and that technology plays an important role in opening up amazing opportunities for our schools and beyond. And so I will spend a little less time shaking my head at those on their Smart Phones, or playing the latest online game.
It is easy to slip into a “glass is half empty” mindset.
I know, everything in moderation – but sometimes it is about the technology and there is a lot to be excited about.
cultureofyes.ca 
I too have a bias. One that suggests that use of technology use, like drugs, sex and other human behaviours, has the potential to be very helpful and enjoyable, it can also be harmful. Our collective goal, as parents, educators, et al is to help our kids (and ourselves) learn how best to manage our tech use, so like drugs, sex, eating … we get the most out of life!
Disclosure – As suggested above, I have a strong bias on enhancing the health literacy of “our kids” and in that capacity work with a couple of groups, one helping teachers and parents help their kids manage substance use in their lives (www.helpingschools.ca), the other helping them learn how to handle life’s stressors (psychologyfoundation.org).
A few things from an even older ‘tech biased’ educator:
Yesterday, as I watched my now much reduced time for TV news (I read it mostly on line these days), an item popped about that reminded me that in 1991 the internet was launched. At the time I was teaching in a BC school district where a few ‘tech nerdies’ were over the moon about this. I worked in the same building so was able to ‘listen without interest’ until a few months later I realized how incredible this internet thing could be! I took to email like a duck to water. I cannot imagine my life without this technology.
As phones became less and less dependent on needing a ‘land line’, I began traveling for work. I love flying because it puts me in a space with no interruptions. I could read an entire book on a return trip to the east coast! On a trip through Denver CO I was coming off of a plane to wait for a connection. As we raced up the jetway to the concourse I noticed several men turning into cyborgs as they jammed cell phones to their ears to talk business and then talk business through their entire wait in the airport – talk loudly:(( Yes, I realize flying is a work day but I dread the day when wifi will be common place on planes. I am a luddite with phones – mine spends most of its life ‘off’.
A few years ago my husband and I were in Hawaii, sitting in an outdoor restaurant, on the ocean, sun setting – yes, it was a visual and relationship delight. At the next table a much younger couple were buried in their separate phones, interrupted only by their food arriving at their table. I began to look a little harder at what was going on around me; how some conversations I had with people were interrupted when their phones rang in their pockets, text message signals coming through followed by: “I have to take this”… I did not even take my phone to Hawaii:))
Yes, I have a negative bias when it comes to tech HOWEVER, its potential for opening up the world for learning, having gadgets like ‘fit bit’ and yes, even a phone that let’s me keep up with the weather, find a street I have never been to, store pictures I could never get mucking around with my ‘big’ camera and call for help when something goes wrong… is too important to get too ‘down’ on tech.
I agree, sometimes learning is about the technology.
Susan
[…] Kennedys recent blog about “His Anti-Technology Bias” https://cultureofyes.ca/2016/08/24/my-anti-technology-bias/ – and his tongue-in-cheek blog led me to think about how life today has changed since my own […]
Changes can be uncomfortable – especially when “things” feel “just right”. Inspired me to do a little reflection blog on why I like tech… https://technolandy.wordpress.com/2016/08/25/sol-2016-10-kids-these-days-aka-my-technology-bias-inspired-by-chrkennedy/
Great post. I too shook my head a couple of months ago when PokemonGo came and “the outsiders with their heads down” came out. I am a lover of technology…no apologies, my cynicism comes from a different angle…and that is not loss of time and complete takeover of ones life…but judgement, the lack and/or cultivation of it…ours, our students, our families and the collective when we are together.
Tech is great, Tech is liberating, Tech is fun, Tech is creative when you are the driver and not the passenger.
I sourly tweeted something to the effect: “can we leave this one to the kid and not create a pokemon go curriculum”. Thank goodness it was the summer, b/c I am sure there would have been one produced quickly.
A couple of weeks later there was a news story about how some “Pokemon Go’ers” were adopting dogs from the local shelter. They noticed the outdoors, realized they were “out and about” and thought they could put that time and energy to another use and give care, love and a home to a homeless animal.
And there you have it…judgement…cultivated from mindfulness, individual decision making, in their own time and realization and creating a better world for others. And yes, borne from technology.
I thought about deleting the tweet…but that would be messing with my own cultivated judgement…you call it age (and you are probably right) but I prefer to call it “Keeping my connectedness real”
You are so right – I can see “Pokemon Go Curriculum” now . . . we tend to try to do that . .. and coming from a good place as we want to keep learning “real” but us educators can sure try to take the joy out things sometimes.
I like not blaming it on age!