Technology in Education

Technology in Education
Katherine Iverson
Western Oregon University

Technology in Education

Technology is an integral part of our daily life. Smart phones are the new normal and it
is becoming increasingly difficult to find basic phone options. Most people dont want a phone
that can only be used to make phone calls. With so much technology available to everyone, it is
easy to assume that everyone understands technology. This is not the case. There is an overall
lack of understanding about technology. This is the biggest issue that I see as an educator, a
student and as a consumer of technology. Most people do not understand the technology that
they use every day and just like all skills, learners must be taught how to use technology.
Technology has shaped how we interact with people and information. It is time for public
education to start making meaningful changes and let students take charge of their learning. I
think that technology can be used in K-12 schools to meet the learning needs of our students.
The term technology is difficult to define. People use the term so loosely, it can mean
many things. If we roughly describe technology as comprising the use of artificial implements
for the business of life, together with their original invention, improvement, and occasional
additions, such a tranquil description will do for most of technology through mankinds career
(with which it is coeval), but not for modern technology (Jonas, 1979). According to Feenberg,
there are three aspects to technology: the hardware, the process and the know-how. Technology
is about applying of scientific knowledge to do something practical. To understand technology,
you must understand all three aspects. Technology and science are intertwined. In brief, a
mutual feedback operates between science and technology; each requires and propels the other;
and as matters now stand, they can only live together or must die together (Jonas, 1979). This
connection between technology and science has been discussed since Ancient Greek
philosophers used terms episteme and techn. Episteme is knowledge and techn is the
application of that knowledge in a craft. Knowledge is a scientific understanding. As the

Technology in Education

concept of techn develops, the role of reflective knowledge is emphasized. Whereas techn is
associated with knowing how to do certain activities, epistm sometimes indicates a theoretical
component of techn (Parry, 2007).
Technology is also becoming more prevalent in education. Technology is everywhere in
education: Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five
students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content (Harold). Education
technology is big business; there are large corporations (such as Pearson) and new startups that
all want a piece of that profit. The use of technology in public schools is increasing even when
budget cuts are still forcing administrators to cut programs, teachers and school days. Just
recently when many district faced budget cuts, my school had a half time principal and no music
program, but each teacher now has a SmartBoard and I have a set of 30 netbooks in my
classroom. To the general public and even to others involved in public education that does not
make sense. What is comes down to, is that technology is a priority. While it may look like we
are spending when there is obviously no money to spend, that is not what is happening. Funding
in public education is interesting because certain funds are designated for very specific purposes.
Grants or other outside sources of funds are usually how we are able to purchase new
technology. For example the 30 netbooks that I have in my classroom were purchased with grant
money that was designated to be used for technology supporting our engineering curriculum.
The school was given that money, but only allowed to use it for the intended purpose. The grant
money in my example came from an organization that is funded by businesses to support
education about careers in technology and engineering. These businesses want to start preparing
students at an early age for careers in technology and engineering because there is so much

Technology in Education

opportunity in those fields. Technology is an important part of education because it will be an

important part of our students future.
Technology is a black box for most of society. The sheer multiplicity of technologies in
modern society poses serious difficulties for anyone who seeks an overarching grasp of human
experience in a technological society (Winner, 1993). We may understand how to use
technology, but not how it works or the history behind it. There are so many different types of
technology, ranging from simple to extremely complex and most people in the world now have
access. It is not good to have so much access to something that you do not understand. Without
episteme you cannot have effective techn. The knowledge of technology is limited, which is
why it can be considered a black box. A black box is anything that you do not understand its
inner workings. The inputs and outputs are clear, but not the inside. For technology such as a
cell phone, we can operate it, but we dont know how it works, or the history behind it. This is
an issue because we use it everyday. It is dangerous to think that because we use technology, we
are technologically literate. It is often assumed that the younger generation understands
technology because they use technology, but that simply is not always true. The more we blindly
use something, the less thought we have to put in to using it. As a result, we become more and
more dependent on technology that we know nothing about. The use is increasing, but the
knowledge is decreasing. One problem with this concerning trend is that because people give no
thought to the technology they are using they do not consider that they may be giving up make
choices about technology. That control can be taken from society and given to businesses and
the government.
Without the proper skills, focus and determination, it is impossible to hit a moving target.
Technology is that moving target, continuing to evolve. Often people are instantly dissatisfied

Technology in Education

with technology as soon as they realize the next greatest thing is available. With the example of
cell phones, there is always a new phone coming out that will make you feel like your phone is
obsolete. Technology thus adds to the very objectives of human desires, including objectives
for technology itself (Jonas, 1979). Your current phone is of course not obsolete, but the power
of advertising fuels your desire for the next greatest thing. When the i phone 5 came out, people
who owned an i phone 4 didnt need it, but they were still willing to wait in line and spend their
money. When people do not understand technology, they are more likely to be persuaded
businesses promoting a product. Technology will continue to evolve driven by the pressure of
competition for profit and the desire for a better life. Technology gives us more and more of
what we think we want (Carr, 2011, p. 285).
As we use any new tool or technology, our brains may change to accommodate that tool.
I have felt that change in how I read and process information online. Weather I am online or
not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly
moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I skip along the
surface like a guy on a Jet Ski (Carr, 2011, p. 7). Critics say current technology may promote
superficial learning and not allow for deep connections or building long term memory. However,
we now have access to greater communities of knowledge and can build our own personal
learning environment. Another concern is that the increased use of technology in schools is
dangerous because students are not always in a safe place and some feel we must control this
access. Contemporary youth are growing up in a cultural setting in which many aspects of their
lives will be mediated by technology and many of their experiences and opportunities will be
shaped by their engagement with technology (Boyd, 2014, p. 26).

Technology in Education

In education we have to be careful not to use technology just for the sake of using
technology. New technology is being thrown at teachers with the expectation that it will improve
teaching and student learning. Unfortunately a lack of understanding leads to poor choices and
ineffective use of technology. When teachers are given the hardware but not the knowledge to
use it, it is no longer valuable as an educational tool. For example, every teacher in my school
has a SmartBoard. The district felt that it was important to have that technology in every
classroom, but teachers have never been trained on how to use the SmartBoard. Without
episteme, techn is not effective. To be able to use technology, like SmartBoards, as effective
learning tools we need knowledge of that technology. Opening the black box is not easy. We
must be willing to dedicate time and energy to expand our knowledge of technology. Only then
can we improve as educators. Just like anything else we teach, we must be knowledgeable. Our
techn is the craft of teaching and it requires episteme in all areas that we teach. There is no
question that society is using technology more, so our role as educators is to understand
technology so that we can teach technology to our students.

Our networked life allows us to hide from each other, even as we a tethered to each other
(Turkle, 2011, p. 1).

Technology in Education

Then personal computer isnt personal because its small and portable and yours to own. Its
personal because to pour yourself into it - your thoughts, your programing (Watters,
2014).Citations
Boyd, D. (2014). Its Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven: Yale
University Press.
Carr, N. (2011). The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company.
Feenberg, A. (n.d.). Science, technology and democracy: Distinctions and connections.
Feenberg, A. (2001). Whither educational technology? International Journal of Technology and
Design Education, 11, 83-91.
Herold, B. (n.d.). Technology in Education: An Overview. Retrieved from
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/#testing.
Jonas, H. (1979). Towards a philosophy of technology. Hastings Center Report.
Kline, S. J. (1985). What is technology? Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 1, 215-218.
Parry, R. (2007, October 28). Episteme and Techn (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/episteme-techn/
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together. New York: Basic Books.
Watters, A. (2014). The Monsters of Education Technology. Creative Commons.
Winner, L. (1993). Upon opening the black box and finding it empty: Social constructivism and a
philosophy of technology. Science, Technology and Human Values, 18(3), 362-376.

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Xin, C., & Feenberg, A. (2006). Pedagogy in cyberspace: The dynamics of online discourse.
Journal of Distance Education, 21(2), 1-25.