Technology, can we enjoy life without it?

I am lately returned from a long family reunion in the WV mountains. As I am currently enrolled in a course at Walden University focused on the impact of technology on society and education, this trip was appropriately addressing just that topic. Our hosts supplied a wonderful view, a fabulous fare, and good company. They did not, however, supply the dozens of family with any reliable technology. In fact, the literature detailing the event carried the following disclaimer:

“Please Note: There is no cell service at the farm. No carrier at all. Really! The last opportunity you will have to use your cell phones is in Elkins, an hour north of our location.”

Needless to say, even being told this ahead of time, many guests did not believe it. An hour?! That is a pretty big dead zone. No carrier?! Well, certainly Alltel or Verizon or so-and-so has coverage there, we thought. Alas, it was true. Over a week with no cell phone was a difficult adjustment for many of us! Internet service was doggedly slow and intermittent. We had to get our news from CNN instead of cnn.com. Who among us can remember being so isolated, feeling cut off from our loved ones and the steady stream of input we typically enjoy? Many in our party struggled with knowing the time. Several guests did not even own a wristwatch because they had come to rely on the cell phone as their personal timepiece. I found this particularly entertaining. Dr. Thornburg discusses the surprising uses of the cell phone as a camera, mp3 player, etc. Here it is at its most extreme. We can follow Dr. Thornburg’s evolution of the clock to where we have people continuing to charge and carry a cell phone that can’t even be used to make a phone call only to know the time! (Laureate Education, 2008)

As I reflect on my time in the dead zone, I see the implications for using technology in the classroom as a bigger challenge than I did previously. When we rely on the technology, it is so much more difficult to do without it. I want to incorporate technology, but not as a replacement for basic skills. I always tell my own children that SpellCheck is not a substitute for knowing how to spell. Similarly, I would want my students to be considering sources beyond those available electronically.

One of the first things I would like to introduce to my students is a literature blog. As a social studies teacher, I find the volume of historical literature to be so rich, that I can hardly keep up with my own reading list. What I would like to do is provide my students with a list of recommended historical works, fiction and non-fiction from which they would choose a book to read. Over the course of the grading period, they would have required blog entries to share the book with their classmates discussing the historical period or event, basic plot, favorite part, their recommendation or not, etc. Over the course of the nine weeks, the students would have ample time to read and share without overwhelming the regular curriculum. Each grading period, they would choose another title and repeat the process. The literature blog would serve a dual purpose. It would allow them the class to practice writing and reading appropriate blog entries and also reinforce the value of reading actual books made out of wood pulp. The best of both worlds!

A Book in Time website has a great list of suggested non-fiction titles separated into World History and American History categories, and then further broken down into period and topic. A good selection of historical fiction titles for secondary students can be found here.

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program Four. Technology and Society. [Motion Picture]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author