5 little things that may change your view on technology

According to Postman there are 5 things we need to know about technological change

1 Technology is always a trade off

Whilst new technologies offer advantages there will also be disadvantages. Personally, since using technologies with spell check my spelling ability has dropped. Interestingly Schon in his blog also highlights this as an issue. Sometimes I am not even aware I have spelt words wrong as it automatically corrects them. This becomes an issue when I handwrite essays or letters.

2 Technology creates winners and losers

The advantages and disadvantages brought about by technology are not evenly distributed among the population. For example, big companies such as supermarkets or chain stores benefit from being able to track customers purchases and gain personal information. This data provided to companies makes citizens easy targets for targeted marketing.

3 Embedded in every technology is a philosophy, epistemological, political or social prejudice

This prejudice predisposes users to certain perspectives and accomplishments. For example during the national election News Corp which controls 70% of the newspaper industry in Australia used their various media outlets – website, digital and print newspapers to run a slam campaign against Labour, with many suggesting it was instrumental in helping swing voters to the Abbot and the Liberal government.

4 Technological change is not addictive; it is ecological

Introducing a new medium such as standardised testing changes the way we think about education. Additionally, Rossco in his blog highlights how internet has changed education, bringing about the introduction of online learning, changing traditional teacher and student roles and the age old perception that higher education occurs on a campus.

5 Technology tends to become mythic

A tendency to view many everyday technologies as part of the natural order of things. For example, most of generation Y have grown up surrounded by mobile phones and the internet that they don’t question who invented it or cannot imagine a time before it these technologies existed.