Technopoly (Part Two)

Technopoly (Part Two)

In the second half of Neil Postman's book, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, the author continues his harsh criticism of a culture of people who willingly use technology without questioning why they should be using it or not. He maintains his tirade concerning information glut, but goes further in the second half of the book by stressing how it has effected culture. In his book, Postman provides the readers a few examples referencing technology's effect(s) on culture. One example that is somewhat relevant to us, as students, is the use of technology in the classroom. So how has technology changed the way we learn?

As students, we have gone through a career of standardized testing. From grade school to college, students are required to take these tests so that their intelligence, or potential for intelligence, can be quantified and later compared. Some standardized tests are used as a means to see how effective the school is with regards to teaching their students; then, there are other standardized tests which bear more consequence on the students, for example, SATs. The score a student gets on their SAT plays a role in what college the student goes to, or does not go to. Postman would say that this need to rank "intelligence" is one invisible technology that has changed our behavior. So much emphasis is placed on SAT scores. This makes no sense to me (not having to do with the fact that I'm not a good test-taker). Standardized tests like the SATs and GREs are just tests. Why do the scores have such a pull on what people consider to be an average, below average, or above average intelligence when "intelligence" is supposed to describe a wide range of capabilities and not just how well one does on a test?

The idea of grading follows the same logic as the problem with standardized testing so I won't say anything that has not been said before. It is a way to quantify and compare "performance" and "intelligence".

What about technology use in the classroom? Does it really help people learn? Well, it depends. If we look at the use of any technology in any classroom, its effectiveness is dependent on how it is being used. If a school provides their teachers SMARTBoards to better their learning experience but don't properly train them on their use, then all you have is a glorified whiteboard in those classrooms. However, if the school demonstrates how the technology can be effectively used to help teachers teach their students, then it's a good way to use technology to help students learn.