This book was a little “out there” for me in the fact that I am not that savvy with technology. I still have a “dumb” phone, don’t know computer codes, and don’t own anything but a computer and iPod. However, I really liked some of the things Kelly had to say in the book. One section that I think would be completely applicable to us as social studies educators is when he talks about world cultures. On page 288 he states that minority cultures benefit from technology and we can benefit from them: “Once connected to standard roads, electricity, and communications, their differences can potentially make a difference to others.” I had never thought about technology in that way. So often we think about technology as something that hinders a people group and causes them to give up their way of life. But think about it – without technology, we wouldn’t know what the Great Wall of China looks like or that an island called Guam even exists. We wouldn’t be able to connect with people across the world or even across the country. Technology in this sense has caused the world to not only see different things and be able to experience them through travel or pictures, but also it has caused the world to (sometimes reluctantly) accept differences. We have an appreciation for Indian culture because as technology has grown, so has our awareness of it. This can be said with most things throughout the world.
This directly relates to our teachings of literally every social studies. What people didn’t even know existed hundreds of years ago is at our fingertips in the sense that we can find someone, somewhere who has experienced it via the internet. Our knowledge has grown so much in the past few centuries and so has our technology. We must be willing to explore the physical world and technological world in order to engage the next generation and provide them with tools to become responsible citizens.
Is Kelly correct in equating technology to biology?
Like what was stated throughout the presentation and discussion, I think that it all comes down to how you define technology. While yes, many ideas have happened around the world at around the same time, does this organic organization go all the way back to the beginning of the world? Kelly obviously says yes – pointing back to the big bang and the composition of the world. Though I am no expert in the many theories of the beginning of the world, I thought the whole reasoning behind the big bang theory was that it was random and not ordered. But other things, like DNA, are very orderly and organized. The universe and DNA are very organic and can be considered “living organisms.” However, do each of them “have its own wants” or a driving force behind them as Kelly defines as a part of the technium? I would say no. I don’t think that the universe has a motive for existence or that DNA works to undermine the living things it is in – however I am not a biologist.
Sara, I like the point you made about how different cultures benefit from technology. I agree it's interesting because so often we do hear about the detrimental effects of technology on more traditional or less-industrialized cultures and societies. I also like how in the book Kelly compares how much our standard of living as evolved through technology, when he states that someone living in a slum in India in the present-day in many ways lives better (because of technology) than King Henry VIII was living in the 1500s. I also love that you point out how to use this book effectively in a social studies classroom...I got so carried away with focusing on certain aspects of the ideology behind this book that I overlooked some of the more practical ways we could use such a book in our teaching so I really appreciated that you mentioned the connections between technological history and other aspects of human history.
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteI completely with your thoughts about the book being a little “out there” as I am not presently as proficient with technology as I probably should be! In addition to your introductory sentiments, I too agree with your beliefs that technology is an incredible tool that assists in enriching our lessons and students’ educational experiences. You’re so right, as educators without technology, we wouldn’t be able to explore the vastness of our specific field of education or be able to communicate with people around the world. I love your last line where you address the idea that educators must be willing to explore both the physical and technological world in order to provide students with the meaningful engagement they seek and provide them the tools to become responsible citizens.
Great post AND responses! Yes, I sometimes think we in the social studies are the luckiest beneficiaries of the technologies that facilitate the specific work that we do.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the biological issues, Kevin Kelly wrote that the technium and nature could be in harmony over the long term EXCEPT for one area where they are at odds: elimination of species habitat. He said:
"The technium seems to be insensitive to species elimination. I think this a real problem, but it quickly became apparent that we didn't have a very good understanding of all the species on the earth."
He helped to start the All Species Inventory to address this problem. He said:
"We don't know what species there are on earth, and we don't know very much about the ones we do know. We're in that really horrible position where we don't even know how much we don't know. We think we know about 1.7 million species, but even that's uncertain because there's no clean master list that has eliminated all the duplicate, synonyms, and erroneous species we think we have identified...As far as how many species may be on this planet we don't even a have consensus of the nearest magnitude. Guesses range from 3 to 100 million. The astounding fact is that nowhere else in science is there the same magnitude of ignorance as in our meager knowledge about the organisms on this planet. Trying to guide the technium's interaction with the biosphere is hampered by our vast ignorance. We can't do biology knowing only 5% of the species. It's like trying to do chemistry without knowing all the elements; it's impossible. If we were to discover life on another planet, the first thing we would do is a systematic survey of all the life on that planet. But we've not done it with our home planet, which is a shame...If science had only cataloged 1 million species in 200 years of taxonomy, how could anyone expect to do an additional 10 to 20 million in one or two generations? Done the way Darwin did it, which is how taxonomy was still being done, it was impossible. But done using DNA sequencing, it seems more likely every day. As the technium accumulates the vast genetic knowledge of all species on earth, and as genetic engineering technologies advance, it may be that this wealth of genetic information will become a reason for the technium to care about species survival."
WOW! That is pretty mind-blowing.