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Neil Postman: Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change

Type classification: this is a discussion resource. Please feel welcome to join it.
Subject classification: this is an information technology resource.

First, that we always pay a price for technology; the greater the technology, the greater the price

Second, that there are always winners and losers, and that the winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really winners

Third, that there is embedded in every great technology an epistemological, political or social prejudice. Sometimes that bias is greatly to our advantage. Sometimes it is not. The printing press annihilated the oral tradition; telegraphy annihilated space; television has humiliated the word; the computer, perhaps, will degrade community life. And so on.

Fourth, technological change is not additive; it is ecological, which means, it changes everything and is, therefore, too important to be left entirely in the hands of Bill Gates.

And fifth, technology tends to become mythic; that is, perceived as part of the natural order of things, and therefore tends to control more of our lives than is good for us. .... When a technology become mythic, it is always dangerous because it is then accepted as it is, and is therefore not easily susceptible to modification or control.

First

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that we always pay a price for technology; the greater the technology, the greater the price

From Artichoke's Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference:

  • What do ICTs give to teachers and/or students?
  • What will ICTs do for pedagogy?
  • How will ICTs advantage the conditions of value in learning?
  • What does ICTs take away from teachers and/or students?
  • What will ICTs undo in pedagogy?
  • What is the cost of ICTs to education?

Second

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that there are always winners and losers, and that the winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really winners

From Artichoke's Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference:

  • Who specifically benefits from ICTs in school?
  • Which groups will be favoured by ICTs in school?
  • What kind of processes will be enhanced by ICTs in school?
  • Who specifically is harmed by ICTs in school?
  • Which groups will be harmed by ICTs in school?
  • What kind of processes will be harmed by ICTs in school?
  • Who are the winners when ICTs are introduced to schools?
  • Who is trying to persuade others of the benefits of ICTs in school?
  • Who are the losers when ICTs are introduced to schools?
  • Who is being persuaded by others on the benefits of ICTs in schools?
  • Are all schools benefited and/ or harmed in the same ways by the introduction of ICTs?

Third

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that there is embedded in every great technology an epistemological, political or social prejudice. Sometimes that bias is greatly to our advantage. Sometimes it is not. The printing press annihilated the oral tradition; telegraphy annihilated space; television has humiliated the word; the computer, perhaps, will degrade community life. And so on

From Artichoke's Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference:

  • What bias does ICT bring to your thinking?
  • What bias does ICT bring to managing self?
  • What bias does ICT bring to participating and contributing?
  • What bias does ICT bring to relating to others?
  • What bias does ICT bring to using language, symbols and text?
  • What bias does ICT bring to communication?
  • What bias does ICT bring to community?

Fourth

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technological change is not additive; it is ecological, which means, it changes everything and is, therefore, too important to be left entirely in the hands of Bill Gates.

From Artichoke's Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference:

  • What are the consequences of the introduction of ICTs for the culture of school (culture = the things we do to belong)?
  • What are the consequences of ICTs for the culture of the city, the suburb, small town and rural New Zealand?

And fifth

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technology tends to become mythic; that is, perceived as part of the natural order of things, and therefore tends to control more of our lives than is good for us. .... When a technology become mythic, it is always dangerous because it is then accepted as it is, and is therefore not easily susceptible to modification or control.

From Artichoke's Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference:

  • What are the ICTs that are ubiquitous in school?
  • What are the ICTs in school that we cannot imagine doing without?
  • What do these ICTs do for us?
  • What do these ICTs do to us?
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