Wiki for Dr. McClurkens Courses

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====== Pursell Reading ======
As some have already stated, Pursell tells us that technological determinism is the idea that technology determines what shapes society. I agree with Anna in the fact that I believe that the consumer shapes the market and technology. While the versions of technology may vary, such as different versions of the smart phone, they all are trying to fix the same problem and fill the same need created by the consumer. Our ability of creative problem solving and innovation lead to a consumer driven market and technological innovation. -Madison White
==== What is technology? (How does that definition (or at least the examples of it) change in different eras and places?)===

The author mentions "the fallacy of total revolution", which is the assumption that new technology will completely replace previous technology used for a given purpose. I found this confusing because I believe that there are several examples of new technology replacing old technology. Today, items like VCRs, record players, cassette decks, CD players, etc. are virtually defunct as a result of modern technology. How can this assumption be labeled a fallacy if the timeline of innovation shows that new technology displaces older technology in most instances? --- //[[ynasser@mail.umw.edu|Yousef M Nasser]] 2017/01/18 14:52//

Webster defines technology as the use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or to solve problems. Pursell spoke about the pros and cons of new technology through an example of self driving cars. Self driving cars would be a new piece of technology aimed to lower crash rates and slow automobile injuries and deaths. The flip side to introducing this new technology would see collision shops see exponentially less clientele, leading to the extinction of the business, and leaving more than thousands of people without a job. I found it pretty interesting to look at technology from a negative light from those who used to work on assembly lines, but have now been replaced by machines, or any industry that has continually updated their technology, making it difficult for people to continue their blue collar or outdated jobs. It seems to be the blue collar jobs that are being increasingly squeezed out of existence, in my opinion, and it would be interesting to see if others agree. --- //[[kmcgowan@umw.edu|McGowan Khayla J.]] 2017/01/18 15:27//
==== What is culture? ====

Culture is defined (by Webster) as "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group, and/or the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time." In relation to technology, Pursell defines cultural history as focusing on what technologies mean or represent (4).  -- Megan P.

Pursell also quotes historian Lynn Hunt who writes "the accent in cultural history is on close examination - of texts, of pictures, and of actions - and on open-mindedness to what those examinations will reveal." Pursell uses the example of automobiles to describe cultural historians in relation to other historians. A social historian might be interested in how quickly African Americans were able to buy and use automobiles while a cultural historian would be interested in what the fact of being able to buy and use the car meant to African Americans. - Helen Salita

Technology helps shape and depict culture, according to Pursell. He uses the example of Native American "race" as separated between savage and civilized based on what kinds of tools they used; the more civilized would accept and use European tools while the savage would use their original tools, in the eyes of European colonists. Technology does help determine cultural relativist views of other groups of people. For example, many countries do well without microwaves and, upon its people crossing into a country that depends on microwaves, they may prefer to continue heating items on a stovetop because the microwave doesn't seem to do the job. To someone who owns and depends on a microwave, this might seem excessive and ridiculous, but the cultural perspective of a microwave's usefulness is the only defining difference between depending on one and not. Learning to understand relativity in culture helps define technology's role within it.  --- //[[lmccuist@umw.edu|Lindsey McCuistion]] 2017/01/18 23:48//
==== What is technological determinism? ====

Pursell defines technology determinism as the assumption that technology determines what happens in society. He points out that advertisers use this assumption in order to sell their product. For instance, advertisers sell their product by suggesting this new technology changes lives. However, Pursell argues that society influences technology more directly. While technology does impact and influence society Pursell suggests that technology mirrors society's needs and norms. 
 --- //[[ejames@umw.edu|James, Emily B.]] 2017/01/18 12:57//

Just as Emily stated Pursell tells us that technological determinism is the assumption that technology determines what happens in society. There is also a key part of technological determinism that is not always recognized—us. Consumers influence the market more than anything else. The consumer's needs wants, and culture brings about new inventions, technology, ideas, and understandings. Though new technology and gadgets are invented by a few people, the need for that product must be present. Otherwise, there would be a drive to make it. We create the future of technology with the needs of today.  --- //[[abrooks6@umw.edu|Brooks Anna R.]] 2017/01/18 16:31//

I found the three fallacies to be very interesting, the first one being that many times it is assumed that new technology will essentially replace and the old technology would no longer be used. It's almost funny to me that people would assume that considering new technology never just replaces the old, for example a new laptop being created does not mean that that one will take over all and everyone will just get rid of the ones they are currently using and upgrade; it is not realistic. I also found the fallacy of the technological fix interesting, to assume that new technology would only solve problems is not thinking in a long term way. Technology always comes with some kind of problem, for example the new samsung phone a year or two ago was a great phone and came with more advances than the iphone, the only downside was that it would explode on planes. Many advances come with learning curves and need time to fix the problems that will happen.
-Megan Liberty

Anna and Emily have already stated what Pursell defines as technological determinism. What I found most interesting was the social history that intertwines with technological determinism, especially the example regarding the thin-line between a "labor-saving machine" and a machine that puts people out of work. Technology doesn't determine what happens in our society, instead it's our society that often times tries to make things simpler and easier by creating technology that produces unexpected problems.
-Angie Sanchez

====== New York Times on Classroom Technology ======

It is impressive to see the advancements we have made in classroom technology since the beginning of the 20th century. We didn’t even have mass-produced pencils and papers until 1900, followed only 25 years later by the Filmstrip Projector, and the Overhead projector in 1930. The way teachers and students interact with knowledge has changed dramatically over a relatively short period. Especially in the past few years, our relationship with digital technology in the classroom has flourished. For example, when I was learning basic arithmetic in elementary school (early 2000's), my teacher told us we wouldn’t always have access to a calculator for computations. Today, smart phones and iPads function as pocket super computers, able to crunch any simple or complicated equation. Nonetheless, as stated in the reading, technology like the calculator joins the existing methods (computing by hand) and presents a consequence (less students able to solve basic equations) for the sake of the benefit (instantaneous computations at your fingertips).
-Heather Taylor

I thought that this article was extremely interesting because it allowed for me to see all of the different types of technology as well as how far we have come throughout the years. Many of the items that it showed were items that I never would have considered to be a form of technology. The ferule was an example of this, but after reading the description of the object it made sense as to why it could be considered a form of technology. I was also surprised by how much some of the items have evolved in such a short time period such as calculators,  CD-Rom Drives, interactive whiteboards and iclickers. It's crazy to think that these items were all created fairly recently and have evolved drastically in such a short time. 
-Emma Baumgardner

This article was incredibly fascinating to see how technology has changed in the classroom over time. One of the objects in particular stood out to me, and that was the Filmstrip Projector. What stood out to me was the quote the author used to accompany it, where Thomas Edison predicted that "books will soon be obsolete in schools." It reminded me of when Pursell explained the three mistakes that are made when predicting the future of technology according to Joseph Corn. Pursell wrote, "first, we assume that the new technology will completely replace the technology we used to use for that purpose" (Pursell, 2). Not only does Edison's comment demonstrate that attempting to predict the future of technology is nothing new, but it also provides a great example of the mistake Pursell mentions. Books are still incredibly important/relevant in the classroom today, despite the increase of technology in classrooms. In fact, books and technology are often used together in order create effective and richer lessons for students. The Filmstrip Projector (and the descendants of the Filmstrip Projector) did not replace books in the classroom, but rather now work alongside books to enrich the education of students. - Shannon Keene

I think that technology has advanced so much in the past century, that it is allowing people to re-invent how they can discover new ways of learning. When comes to a classroom setting, teachers can explore other technological settings for their students to grasp the material in a new way. We should be incorporating these types of technological advancements worldwide rather than trying to ban it. If we start to accept this type of technological transformation, then we can begin to do more good rather than harm. - Rachel Kosmacki

As a kid who grew up playing educational computer games but also read every book I could get my hands on, I see the validity in both sides of this "should video games be in school curriculum" argument. However I agree that school needs to be more relevant to the outside world and always found it extremely silly of all the things that are "not allowed" at schools. For example, in my middle and high school we weren't allowed to have water bottles in the classrooms. What is this teaching kids except not to be hydrated? In the real world you can hydrate whenever you want. Similar in my mind is this debate of technology in schools. Corbett's article reinforced the idea that we need to embrace technology. I do agree that letting go of old technologies, such as handwriting, is scary, but it's also true that most people outside of school in the "real world" are typing more than writing by hand. And using their cell phones, whereas in most schools cell phones are forbidden. I think it's about a heathy balance. We need to stop shaming new generations for using technology but also encourage reading and learning math. If this means using more creative means to make school more exciting, why shouldn't we make school more exciting? The world is evolving and changing, and so should or means of educating.    --Anna Collins

As a student in the education program, I found this article very interesting. Seeing all the different technologies and how they developed over time was interesting especially since I know how common some of the more modern technologies are in classrooms today and how important they are in today's educational system. Education has gone from wooden boards and slates to Smart Boards and iPads. Theses technological advances have had a huge impact on education and how things are taught. It also make me realize how some of the technologies I consider common, but vital part of education have only become so in the last 100 years or so. --Kasey Mayer

I am in the education program, so this article was very intriguing to me. When Corbett talked about how technology was banned from the classroom, and the internet was filtered at school, it reminded me of how much I hated that myself as a student. But as an educator observing classrooms during my practicums, I saw how many students in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) setting, where the students can have their technology out during class and use it without penalty, misused and abused their access to technology. During note taking times, the one time that the teacher specifically requested the students to not use their technology, the students would be using their devices, the teacher would have to ask them to stop, and it was a huge distraction for the whole class. This may be because our generation is part of the generation that had technology taken away during school at some point, so when the opportunity presents itself, it may be too tempting to use at the wrong time. I think that if technology is going to be so freely used in the classroom, it needs to be started in elementary school, where the students can be taught rules and how to respectfully use technology in the classroom to help everyone's educational experience. -- Heidi Schmidt

The invention that grasped my attention the most while looking through this timeline was the pencil. When I hear the words "technology advances in the classroom," my mind immediately shifts to the creation of computers, smart boards, projectors, the internet, mostly things that are electronic based. Pencils are such common objects in the classroom nowadays that I have never thought about the times where there were classroom settings without this product that has been an essential part of my learning experience since the day I stepped foot in a classroom. This article not only served as a reminder for all the learning tools, like the pencil, that I take for granted in my academic endeavors every day, but it also highlighted the idea we discussed on the first day of class that just because something is not electronic, does not mean it is not an important technological advancement.--Kelsey Dean

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