Chapter 7

Chapter 7 discussed what may be lost and what may be gained from the technology revolution that is occurring in society. To be totally honest, I feel that that the cons outweigh the pros. America already tends to be an individualistic society. In other countries that I have visited, I have seen the importance of family and friendship bonds. People live with one another and help one another succeed. They have more of a cooperative attitude than a competitive one. In America, people tend to compete with one another to get to the top. I feel like school is a place where students learn to cooperate and collaborate and solve problems with their peers. If children were to pursue their education individually, I feel like America would become even more individualistic than it already is. School is an institution that provides an equal education to all. Without the public school, I believe the opportunity gap between the rich and poor with increase drastically. Children with wealthy families will have resources such as laptops, educational games and videos, educational services, and specialized tutoring; while children from poor families will have little opportunity to pursue their education to the fullest. I also agree with what the books says about an increase in depression and loneliness. I often notice that when I am home alone working on my computer I often feel lonely. Sometimes I go over to my neighbors to do homework just so that I don't have to be alone. I have also noticed that communicating with someone over the computer is not the same as communicating with them in person. I have had situations in which I have have talked extensively and personally with friends over the internet, but then when I see them in person after several years it is awkward. I believe that humans were designed for interaction.

The books also talks about what may be gained from the technology revolution, but it seems very broad. Since education will be more directed towards what people want to learn, people will be more engaged. It will be easier to customize education to the needs and abilities of the individual. Students will have more opportunities for one-on-one interaction when learning. These are wonderful benefits, but this book seems too radical for me. Maybe it's because it doesn't provide specifics as to what this change would look like or how it would operate. It makes me imagine children waking up in the morning, opening their laptops and thinking "Hmm...I wonder what I'll learn about today." I guess I would like to know more about how students would be held accountable for their learning and what constitutes as necessary or unnecessary information to learn. I feel like it would be a much better balance to find a way to individualize education and incorporate technology within the classroom. Perhaps a portion of the day could be dedicated to learning information that everyone needs to learn and another portion of the day could be focused on individual long-term projects or research assignments.