Introducing The Personal Computer to The Classroom

Charles Rattan

ISTM 5009 Emerging Technologies Assignment 1

Mr. Faheem Mohammed
June 3, 2016

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The introduction of personal computers to the classroom has been plagued with back and forth
arguments of different reasons for and against such a construct for quite some time. In current
times, it seems merely a question of when this technology will be adopted yet the past has taught
us that new technology in the realm of teaching does not necessarily mean the end of traditional
methods but merely a change in the way it is approached.
Many technophiles agree that the in order for the education system to keep abreast of current
trends the personal computer must play a crucial role in the teaching and learning environment.
We live in an age where a nations status can be directly linked to how technologically advanced
they are therefore the introduction of this piece of technology into an area of society that is held
in such high regard seems only natural. By far the biggest advantage to the user, in this case, the
students, will be the ease of access to information whenever and wherever they need it. Teachers
can also easily disperse information using many methods e.g. email, forums, message boards etc.
Teachers will be able to reduce the time taken to do certain tasks creating more time to focus on
individual student attention and mentoring. The benefits of this new technology are not very hard
to discover at all and at a glance it doesnt seem like any party involved would be at a
disadvantage.
Books will soon be obsolete in schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye. It is
possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system
will be completely changed in ten years. Thomas Edison 1913
Edison made this statement considering the rise in popularity of the Television system and
motion pictures. Edison presumed like the technophobe that the introduction of this new

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technology would disrupt traditional methods so much as to cause drastic effects and this was not
the case, after all, we still use books in school today.
The technophobe does not question whether the personal computer will be an efficient tool that
would benefit the education system, but asks to what end?. Their concern is for the things that
are going to be lost and the things that are going to lose value as a result of the introduction of
this technology. Are technical solutions really what we need? And what skills do we lose when
we so greatly rely on computer technology? (Neil Postmans Technopoly Twenty Years
Later 2012) The traditional teaching method viewed as a technology would have had,
metaphorically, the blackboard as hardware and the chalk and writing as your software. In this
scenario, a student can be called upon to write something on the board. Somebody asks me to
stand in the front of the class and do something, somebody cares what I think. (A Different
Way To Think About Technology in Education Greg Toppo, TedX Ashburn, November 2012) Is
the personal computer going to take this thought process away and what implications is that
going to have? This ideology in addition to some of the subtle, very human attributes of the
traditional education system can be eliminated with the introduction of the personal computer to
the classroom.
Technology brings fundamental change, which leaves us with not just the old reality plus a new
technology, but a new reality. It alters the deeply embedded habits of thought and creates new
conceptions of what is real. ("Neil Postmans Technopoly Twenty Years Later" 2012)
The introduction of the personal computer to the classroom, in essence, alters our structure of
interests the things we think about, the things our mind naturally ponders on and how we
respond to those thoughts, the character of our symbols the ideas, images and language we

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think with and the nature of our community the place where our thoughts develop. (Postman
1992) Presently the personal computer has evolved to become our handheld devices which also
happen to be internet ready. We now have all the information we need, in many formats, sitting
in the palm of our hands. Edisons statement about the motion picture being able to teach
anything we need it to is realised now more than ever only using a different device with access to
it all that happen to be our major form of communication and therefore mostly necessary to be
had in our possession at all times. Before computers were in every home we relied on books
which gave us one opinionated view of a particular learning topic. The topic, being new to the
student, required some kind of basic explanation of the meaning which was the teachers job.
The student needed teachers to explain, in different ways, this topic that they were well
experienced in. Computers and access to World Wide Web brought with it a great relief from this
methodology but it also changed how we thought. We could now access multiple opinions about
a topic in an instant. Where there usually was a student that read a topic and waited for an
interpretation by the teacher, there was now the student having access to all this information on
the topic. In this age, it becomes even easier with mobile devices.
This raised the question of how relevant is the teacher and the textbook. The student now
doesnt find it necessary to pay grueling attention in class and take notes because information
about the topic can be found online and the teacher will probably email the notes to the class as
well. It may seem a less stressful method but just like the story of Thamus and Theuth about the
invention of writing Thamus said: Those who acquire it will cease to exercise their memory
and become forgetful; they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance by external
signs instead of by their internal resources. This shows us the direction introducing this
technology is going to lead us. The student no longer forms a personal opinion but instead

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researches one and uses that. The skill of developing an idea is slowly dying because of the
infinite ideas that already exist, ready and available to be used.
The symbols created to define ones level of education, certificates, degrees etc. are no longer
viewed in the high esteem that they once were. Indeed obtaining one before the information age
required innovative and creative thinking and now not so much. The difference between a
student that is capable of this kind of thinking holds the same certificate of one who skillfully
researched and regurgitated information. A measure no longer exists. The idea of learning has
changed, it has become a matter of internalising a topic and speaking or writing about it with just
the required effort to get a certificate. Knowledge has become how well one is able to put
someone elses idea into their own words. The culture of the teacher being that individual that
imparts knowledge and engages students in thinking and pushing themselves is no longer in
existence because it is no longer necessary.
The societal effect of this introduction is one where people only do whatever is necessary and
nothing more and figuring out what is necessary is now a couple taps on your mobile device. It
barely requires thought, only what combination of words should I put into this search engine.
Reliance on the Internet is at an all-time high and will continue to grow. Yes, we have found a
way to quench the thirst for information but is it worth the loss of our natural problem-solving
skills?

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Bibliography
"Neil Postmans Technopoly Twenty Years Later". 2012. Kyle Jantzen.
https://kyletjantzen.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/neil-postmans-technopoly-twenty-years-later/.
"Technopoly: Man or The Machine". 2015. Online Journal of Christian Communication and
Culture. http://www.ojccc.org/2015/11/technopoly-man-or-the-machine/.
A Different Way To Think About Technology in Education Greg Toppo, TedX Ashburn,
November 2012
Postman, Neil. 1992. Technopoly. New York: Knopf.