EDLD+5364+-+Week+1+-+Cyborg+Learning?



This week was the beginning of EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology. I have read many articles but there are two things that stand out for me this week. One is the book by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum “Web 2.0 new tools, new schools”. I liked this book because it has a no nonsense straightforward approach to teaching with technology. It does not have the feel of a doctoral paper that is almost impossible to read or follow! It provides much information about studies and populations, Internet use among students, how teaching should be, and what it actually has become.

On page 41 under the subtitle “the challenge” it states: “The goals were to prepare the students for the 21st century – to use higher order thinking skills, apply technology, adapt to change, acquire workplace skills, and more”. Instead, today’s educational goals are the opposite. “We focus more on standards, standardized tests, and accountability, which lend themselves to traditional teacher-directed instruction”. This is possibly the number one reason why teachers are leaving the classroom – they are frustrated we having to teach the “test” at the expense of teaching what needs to be taught!

The other thing that stood out was the Youtube video about Cyborg Life with Kevin Warwick. From the website Infonomia: Cyborg Life: Kevin Warwick dated April 14, 2008 “In 1998, when Kevin Warwick, researcher and Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, England, implanted a silicon chip transponder into his left arm and connected it to his nervous system, he became the world's first cyborg: a man-machine hybrid. Some call Kevin Warwick a pioneer in the field of neuro-surgical implantation, others think he is a dangerous scientist who has gone crazy and wants to change mankind's evolution by creating a superior race: the cyborgs. In this video interview we talk about ultra-sonic senses, brain-to-brain telepathic communication, the therapeutic benefits of his experiments and why he thinks he won't be the only cyborg on this planet in the future.”

I posted about this on the discussion board and all the replies were about people being uneasy about the ethical, moral, and even religious implications. I for one find it incredibly interesting and exciting. I think of the possibilities! Anything we can imagine we can do – if we had listened to the people that hid behind fear of the unknown or religious considerations we would still be sun worshippers leaving food to the Sun God.