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Does technology connect or disconnect us?
Facebook, My Space and other social networking sites provide instant connections with friends, but are not a replacement for actual human contact. It’s when people forget this that technology has the potential to change from a connect to a disconnect.
In the Difference of Opinion discussion entitled ‘Communication breakthrough or breakdown?’ (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/differenceofopinion/content/2007/s1904089.htm) Tim Brunero argues that this potential disconnect is countered by the ability of people, including students, to become active ‘producers’ rather than ‘consumers’ of technology. In this sense they are authoring, and controlling, how they ‘connect’ with others. The issue with this is that people are able to create themselves as entirely new people – their name, age, beliefs, interests can all change with the tapping of a keyboard. In this way the ‘connect’ is not always genuine or real.
Is this a problem? Isn’t an active imagination/fantasy life healthy?
Well, yes and no. For us, as teachers, I think it’s important to teach our students to be discerning producers and consumers. As consumers, we need to make sure they can actively distinguish fact from fiction, and bias from representation. And, as ‘producers’ they need to learn how to create quality products. Videos of students talking to camera posted on Youtube does not constitute a study of ‘film’. Things like podcasting and videocasting are only of value if the content is relevant and educational. I strongly believe technology for technology’s sake is a disconnect.
Image: Technology – “Future Vision”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sydneya/130164091/
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