Postman Paper

Kathryn Batwinis

ET690: Educational Technology Seminar

October 3, 2016
Postmans Quote

Technology is constantly changing and while all new ideas and new changes may bring

about positive results, in its wake it will leave inequity and disadvantages for others. Technology

competes with our status quo of the world. How will it come in and takeover? It will change our

habits, it will change our attention, spending habits, the amount of time we spend looking at our

phones, how we access information, how we perceive the world and how we act in a social

environment. While no inventor ever set out to change all of these things by creating and

implementing a new technology, from Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone to Steve Jobs

with the iPhone and everyone in between, they have done just that. A compilation of

technologies over time has created an invisible barrier between the haves and the have nots,

changed our lifestyles sometimes for the better and sometimes maybe not- and shifted the

world into a little bit more of an unbalance each time there is something new. Some may see this

as a negative idea, some may see it as a positive idea and some may see it as a generational gap.

All of these may be true. It is important that we realize, with the rise of technology and the

increase in accessibility in our 21st century world, that we need to understand these benefits and

limitations so that we use technology well but do not let it completely take over our lives. There

will probably never be 100% complete access to technology, or an even distribution. But that

doesnt mean we stop trying. Knowledge is power so we need to educate ourselves about these

changing aspects of our world due to technology, on both the positive and negative ends of the

spectrum. We need to balance the advantages and disadvantages, we need to acknowledge and

accept how it is changing our lives but not let it overtake us, and we need to not let it compete

with ourselves as human beings.

With the rise of technology in the world, there is also a rise in technology in education.

As part five of the quote says, technology does not merely add something; it changes

everything. Since technology is so transformative to a classroom, it needs to have training along

with implementation, so that teachers see the benefits of these changes. Often teachers have

strong negative feelings about the way technology changes everything, so it is important to gain

the knowledge about how it can be incorporated well. Technology is changing how we teach and

learn inside the classroom. There used to be one-classroom schoolhouses and the teacher had all

of the information to be shared. Now the teacher is not the only source of information. We are

changing how we access information in schools, changing the attention span of children and

tackling the immediacy of needing to know an answer. We are getting many students in our

classrooms who play video games with immediate gratification and are facing a lot of time in

front of a screen, so as educators, we need to balance this influx with what we know as good

teaching practices as well as how to use technology to our benefit.

Technology in the classroom is also faulty in that there is not equal access amongst

everyone. Having technology available within the schools gives kids a more equal, but still not

completely equal, playing field, by letting them have access at school. But there is still a

difference in who has access at home that can continue to work on projects, look up more

information, and come to school on different level. There needs to be more access outside of

school as well as in school, especially as the amount of technology in our world continues to rise.

On page 18, Postman poses The question is, what kind of public does it create? Or a

public imbued with confidence, a sense of purpose, a respect for learning, and tolerance? This

question is surrounding public education as he originally poses it, but couldnt the same be true
for using technology in schools? We know what technology is like in our students lives outside

of school, so how do we need to frame it in school? Are we using technology to feed into the

disadvantages of the 21st century learning idea or are we using it to support a better public and

teaching children how to use it respectfully. We need to teach them to become those confident

learners with a sense of purpose and respect for learning, while also incorporating technology

into our practice.

Postman also states one of the purposes of an education is to give us greater control of

our situation (p176) Is technology helping or hurting our control in schools? Always? Is it case

by case? We need to think about the negatives and positives that surround technology in the

classroom, think about how are children are accessing these technologies, how it starting to

shape all of those things above from a young age.

The Current State

A technology that has become very prevalent in schools, especially in Montgomery

County, is the use of chromebooks. Chromebooks are now available for every student to use in

grades 3-5 and in various grades/subjects in grades 6-12, and is constantly increasing. Students

now have daily access during the school day to use chromebooks and the internet. But with this

availability, students need to be taught the responsibility of using the internet so frequently,

specifically for an educational purpose. The computer itself is not what is changing classrooms

so drastically. It is what these computers allow students to do. They are changing, or can change,

everything about what you think of in a traditional classroom. They are revealing many

disadvantages as we start to take advantage of their positive qualities. They are changing how

students use their minds, apply their learning, and interact with others. The chromebooks are
now competing with more traditional teaching practices, and competing with many teachers

views on education, and transforming what it looks and sounds like in a classroom.

Chromebooks are not all bad. This is when it becomes important to look at all sides of the

spectrum, acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages, and teach children to acknowledge

them as well. We need to teach our students about digital citizenship. It is important for them to

know, especially growing up in a digital world, that almost everything can be traced online.

Typed words can be as mean as verbal words. Permission needs to be given before posting

pictures or videos. Many things they post can be seen by anyone or may not be quite as private as

they originally thought. Kids are being exposed to more and more technology from a younger

age, but rarely do they find out the disadvantages on their own. Or if they do, the damage has

already been done. So we, as educators with these technologies in our classrooms, need to

educate students about how to use the chromebooks responsibly. If students realize this, and use

them appropriately, many new doors will open for them. Chromebooks allow students access to

so much information so quickly. You can now talk with others across the world or submit

assignments remotely if you have to go away on a family emergency. It can open their minds

intellectually to concepts outside of the classroom walls. In The Fallen Angel, Postman says

Textbooks, to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial

learning (116). He is questioned about what would replace textbooks and while nothing needs

to replace textbooks, chromebooks are almost doing just that. We are no longer bound by the

information in one textbook, or trivial learning from one source. We now have the whole

internet to search and find information from. It allows students opportunities to navigate the

world around them independently with the right resources, rather than just one.
 Chromebooks are bringing the 21st century world into the classrooms. It is

revolutionizing teaching. This is not always a bad thing and should not always be seen this way.

Teachers will need to take the time to digest new technology, and open their minds to having

something new in their classrooms as well.

Currently these computers also stay in schools. But I am sure it is only a matter of time

before students can take them home, or bring their own laptop not connected with the county, to

school. This will broaden the accessibility even more. Students would then really have more

equal access by allowing all students to have access not just in school, but also at home. This

would improve the point Postman touches on about an even distribution. It may still not be

perfect, if some students do not have internet connection at home, for example, but as long as we

continue to work on improving the conditions, technology will continue to grow and impact our

students in a positive manner.

Conclusion

With every new technology, there comes change in our world. Technology can change

how we think about things, how we interact with others around us, how we access information

and how we feel about ourselves and our world. Every technology brings some new convenience

or benefit, but also may come with some disadvantages. Technology will always come in

different forms, and may reach some before others. Not everyone will have the same equal

access or the same opportunity. Not everyone will want that same access and opportunity. We

need to be able to acknowledge all of these aspects so that technology does enhance but

supplement our lives, and not take over our lives.

Postman, N. (1995) The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York: Vintage

Books.