Guest Post: Can You Do Without Technology?

Guest post by Mistermeeker

Are we too dependent on Technology?
That’s the question that was asked of me today. It’s a question that has been asked for hundreds of years, probably. Every time that something new comes along to replace the old, fears creep in and people question. I have just finished reading The Giant Slayer by Iain Lawrence (@iainlawrence). It deals with the polio epidemic of the 1950’s. No one with any shred of compassion would think to ask if those children were too dependent on technology when the iron lungs were introduced. We all recognize the need for transportation to get us to work. Although 100 years ago I am sure that there was the fear of the automobile and technology replacing the blacksmith(OK, they had reason to fear that, hence the dearth of openings in the blacksmith industry today), generally people don’t decry our dependency on the automobile, per se. The gas versus electric debate is entirely a different discussion.

So is it the fear of being replaced by technology that has people screaming we are too wrapped up in its cords? As a teacher, the question of allowing children to use calculators on tests often comes up. When I was first learning about computers in the early 1980’s the phrase GIGO was commonly thrown about. Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you program in the wrong stuff, the output is not going to be what you wanted either. The same thing applies to the calculator. If a student understands the procedure and the operations that are required to solve the problem, the calculator doesn’t cheat for them. It simply gives them the correct answer to the problem, as they input it.

Computers, and by extension, cell phones and tablets have become an integral part of our lives. When my 12 year old was 4 (8 years ago and I DIDN’T use a calculator to figure that out, thankyouverymuch, she was sitting at the little table we had in the kitchen for the children. She wanted me to feed her and I wanted to get the dishes done. As she begged, “Feed Me!”, I replied “I don’t play that game.” Her response cracked me up. She said, at 4 years of age, “Then I need to go to WWW.I Need Some Help.com!”  The Internet had already taken hold of her. I blog. I Twitter. I listen to podcasts that I download from the Internet.  I teach in a classroom that has a projector and a SmartBoard. But my teaching is not better; the learning is just more engaging.  And I could do what I do without the technology. It is just easier and faster WITH the technology.
And so that leads back to the question of dependency. To me, the question deals more with “since we are using technology to save us time, what are we doing with that time?” It is the answer to THAT question that concerns people the most. I am guilty of sitting in front of my Twitter stream and just watching it go by endlessly. But I have also learned the value of hashtags (#ctrlaltdeliverisawesome, #baldisbeautiful, #edtech, etc.) to filter out the information. I remember a time around 1985 when I lived with my brother. We sat in a living room with computers that were connected with each other and would text back and forth “what’s next on TV?” Is the technology overload causing YOUR personal relationships to exist only online?
And so, back to the 80’s, we return to GIGO. I think that it is not a question of dependency, as it is a question of quantity and quality. We are flooded with so much information from so many different devices that it is hard to get away from it. And a lot of it is Garbage! Don’t fill your brain with it and then wonder why the output is not good. I tell my students all the time that we have a limited space in our brains, so don’t fill it up with junk. READ A GOOD BOOK! I have to check my email at work, obviously. I enjoy the other aspects of technology or I wouldn’t be in the blogging business. So yes, I am dependent on technology for those aspects of my life. But my life doesn’t begin and end there.

So do you feel that you are too dependent? If so, send me a tweet at @ctrlaltdeliver with the hashtag #iamdependentbecause. If you do not feel that you are too dependent, please send me a message by carrier pigeon with a handwritten message that says, “Nay, you foolish churl, I am not dependent upon thee.”

Also check out the author on twitter@ctrlaltdeliver