I wouldn’t say either article completely confirmed or challenged my views on edtech, however I would say that both articles opened my eyes to new information, ideas, and perspectives to consider. Baker and Gualiti both express the importance of education and its influence on individuals and on society (Baker, 2014; Gualiti, 2008). However Baker’s piece focuses more on the extent that an “education revolution” has taken place through “mass schooling”, influenced society’s institutions, and yielded a “schooled society” and culture (Baker, 2014, p.1-8).
Gualiti’s article focuses more on the gaps where society, especially in developing nations, has not been influenced by widespread formal education. He emphasizes the current use and impact of older technologies where formal education is available. Internet availability and technology-enhanced learning are far from ubiquitous in developing nations (Gualiti, 2008).
When faced with the question of whether to continue to invest in new technology, I thought of an article I’ve read on dual transformation where Apple and Amazon improved on older products while at the same time rolling out new ones (Anthony & Schwartz, 2017). Perhaps continuing to use older technologies for education as it makes sense, and then continuing to develop technology-based education at the same time seems like a good strategy.
I was reminded of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs when Gualiti wondered how technology could help those whose basic needs are not met (Gualiti, 2008). Then I thought of organizations like World Vision that go into villages and work to provide the basic needs for people in addition to providing educational opportunities. For future outreach efforts with educational technology, this is an important element to consider.
Gualiti (2008) stated “The Internet is often seen as a value-neutral learning tool that potentially allows individuals to overcome the constraints of traditional elitist spaces and gain unhindered access to learning” (p. 1 ). Gualiti seems to be saying that many perceive the internet as an almost magical solution for balancing the playing field in education. Though the internet is a valuable tool for learning and certainly allows access to opportunities for learning that have been unavailable to many of us in the past, those opportunities are not universally available at this time. Potentially? Possibly. Many challenges must be overcome for the internet to truly provide “unhindered access to learning” for all (Gualiti, 2008, p.1). The internet as a tool may be value-neutral as a conduit for information, but the information itself is definitely not value-neutral. It’s up to each of us to assess the nature of the information that we receive online.
Anthony, S., Schwartz, E. (2017, March 8). What the best transformational leaders do. Retrieved
from Harvard Business Review website:
https://hbr.org/2017/05/what-the-best-transformational-leaders-do
Baker, D.P. (2014). The schooled society: The transformation of global culture. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Gualiti, S. (2008), Technology-enhanced learning in developing nations: A review. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(1) 49-64.
Catalyst 