This author reflects on the last 25 years of educational technology
literature and advocates for a critical inquiry into this field. Most researchers
in this field used to devote themselves to the effective and better use of technology
in educational setting, while ignoring the educational reality. That is, many efforts
were spent on the exploration of the potential of educational technology
without serious consideration of how social, political, economic, and cultural institutions
impede technology’s flow into classroom. This paper aims to remind educational
technologists to look at educational technology from a broader perspective and to
uncover power, resistance, and conflicts hidden in the social milieu of
techonogy use.
If you have read the article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of
Work” by Jean Anyon, you must have the idea of the differentiation of
curriculum working in different schools serving children from different social
classes. You might as well connect her article with this one and think about
the possibility that educational technology may reproduce, instead of
alleviating, in school the unequal relationship of our society. Certain
schools, especially those for elite students, are allocated more monetary and
technological resources to enact their dream classroom of 21st century.
However, for lower-class schools educational technology may be only a theoretical promise, not a reality happening every day.
Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work
Great post, Cheng. BTW: I just saw this free event advertised and thought you may be interested (I also posted in on my blog):
ReplyDeleteEvent to be held March 8
Gerry Hanley from California State University's Affordable Learning Solutions Initiative has created a “one-stop shop” for faculty and students to find and use no or low-cost course materials from MERLOT/OER, digital library collections, publishers’ digital textbooks and faculty authoring their own materials. The presentation will demonstrate the services open to all and review the strategies to institutionalize affordable learning solutions within your campus culture and organization.
The event is scheduled twice from 9 to 11 a.m. or from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 8, in Milton Hall, Room 50.
For more information or to register visit http://teaching.nmsu.edu.
Hi Roberta,
DeleteThank you for the information. I think that providing students with affordable technology resources is an important step towards digital equity. I would like to go to this event.