About "The Computer Delusion"

Hi all,

After last class, I looked over our readings more and found that I thought of some other feelings I had toward the conclusions the author came up with. Namely, I looked at "The Computer Delusion" by Todd Oppenheimer. I found that his article was one-sided in that it didn't speak to the other activities teachers are doing in classrooms besides their use of technology. If you are going to look at technology's effectiveness or lack thereof on student achievement in the classroom, the researchers should also look at the quality of the teacher and their integration of technology into the classroom and also the school systems take on teacher training on the technology so that it can be used appropriately.

I also thought about our role as educational technologists. Our goal is to find ways to effectively use technology to enhance education; it's not to use technology instead of teaching; it's to use technology to promote a more wholesome learning environment, coupled with traditional teaching methods, to supplement the traditional. In Oppenheimer's article, he approaches the topic of educational technology as one that is only for the use of technology in education, as if we are going to do away with the traditional altogether. I feel his argument is unfair in that area. Did I read him incorrectly?

That's my thoughts for now...more later

Kathryn :)