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Is it really our job to teach kids how to live without technology?



This Sunday, I read this article in the Star Tribune. It talked about how professors are asking students to have a technology fast to gain an appreciation of what life is like without technology. It got me wondering. (Surprise, surprise!)

Is it our job to teach kids how to live without technology? Did teachers need to teach kids how to live without cars? Without tv? Without radio? What if your pencil stops working?

I understand that these teachers want their students to understand the value of face to face interaction. I also believe wholeheartedly that we should learn to appreciate nature and the world around us. But it is not like these teachers were leading hikes or canoe trips.

Am I way off on this? I don't have a problem with learning to appreciate life without technology if you are also teaching them about life with technology. Where are the lessons on appropriate use? Who is teaching them how social networks are a valuable networking tool if used properly? Who is infusing these tools into their classroom so students learn how to live WITH technology in a balanced way, using the technology to expand thinking, not shrink it!

Just saying...

Comments

  1. KWMarch 15, 2010 at 2:20 AM

    "I understand that these teachers want their students to understand the value of face to face interaction."

    I'm not sure students will see this value. They live in a world of instant communication. They don't have to wait for a letter to arrive in the mail. They can talk to relatives who live far away in a variety of ways, instantly.

    I don't think the value of face-to-face communication has depreciated; I think the value of instant communication has appreciated.

    With regard to the article, I pose this question: I wonder how the teacher would fair if she could only use technology that was prominent before her lifetime?

    ReplyDelete

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