In his Phi Delta Kappan Technology column several years ago, Royal Van Horn defined what he called the "technology penalty"—what happens when you do something using technology that you could do easier, quicker, or more efficiently without using technology. A recent trip to Indianapolis and the National Middle School Association annual conference gave me the opportunity to think about this concept.
Not wanting to carry my bulky and heavy MacBook Pro (as much as I love it and could have used it in the three days I was gone), I elected to give my new iTouch a whirl. I really wanted to like it but frankly, as cool as it is, it didn't work well for me as a substitute for my computer. Just connecting to the Internet was difficult for me with the small screen and even smaller keyboard...difficult to see and operate. I know, millions of people happily and productively work away on similar systems, but it just didn't work for me. Using the iTouch was fine to listen to music and podcasts and even to view video, but surfing the net or checking my e-mail, not my cup of tea.
Another technology penalty for me would be keeping an electronic calendar on my laptop, phone, or PDA. While this sounds terribly old-fashioned I am happy with my paper calendar where I can see the entire month before me without having to power up. I always have my calendar with me and no batteries are required!
This trip also gave me some perspective on a couple of potential other technology penalties. As connected as I am and as much as a technology and learning advocate I've become in the last few years, I realize that I do not want nor need to be connected 24/7, neither personally or professionally. As a professor with several hybrid or fully online classes occurring at any time, I spend a great deal of my time online, but I don't need to be available 24 hours each and every day. For me, that would be another painful technology penalty. Also, the jury is still out on the value of social networking (for me)...even as I see the value for many others. Do I really need to spend another hour or two every day connecting with that many more people?
Yet, the biggest potential technology penalty is the sheer volume of resources...trying to manage the tens of millions (billions?) of professional materials out there. Sometimes the sheer volume of resources that I can access or I should read or I should require my students to read/view/listen to, is simply overwhelming. Too much of a good thing. So I am working valiantly to control my online time and be a better manager of resources and data available to me.
Everyday I communicate withe people through e-mail, Google Docs, Skupe, chat, and wikis; I listen to podcasts, watch instructive and entertaining videos, and work on a variety of projects in creative and innovative ways. But sometimes, as it is in hockey, the penalty box of technology takes me out of the game for awhile if I'm not careful.
What opportunities and penalties does technology provide for you?
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its interesting to think about. I too tried to use an online calendar, but quickly reverted back to my old paper one. It is more efficient for me to manage, especially the small personal organizer i can carry around in my purse.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people have the issue with being bombarder with too much information. Even the business world has caught on to this notion when they launched "Bing" the new search engine. It is designed to filter out a lot of the junk information and helps to focus you. However there is still a massive amount of factual information to use at your disposal. You could sit for days just learning about one single topic. However we are lucky to have all this great information at our finger tips! I guess it just supports the quote " live like you will die tomorrow and learn like you will live forever"