After reading chapter 3, I was left
with very little understanding of what “technology refusal”
actually meant. My first idea was that it meant schools refuse to
use the new existing technology except for basic things like
research. Then I found an essay written by Steven Hodas in 1993
entitled “Technology Refusal and the Organizational Culture of
Schools” where it was defined as a set of behaviors rooted in the
increasingly archaic purposes of schooling. Hodas writes "They
(schools) are systems for preserving and transmitting information and
authority, for inculcating certain values and practices while
minimizing or eliminating others . . . " Technologies which
support these purposes (intercoms, overhead projectors, chalk boards,
CAI and ILSs) are welcomed and embraced while others are shunned,
isolated or bent to fit the outmoded purposes (Hodas 1993).
So my next thought was how much has
changed since this essay was written in 1993? The case of Ridgeview,
where the young ladies was not allowed to use the internet because of
access to inappropriate content hardly seems germane today because of
all the filter software used by places like the Public Library and
even some agencies that disallow access to social media sites as well
as sites deemed pornographic in content, so what might be a reason
for technology refusal today?? Since I have no formal teaching
experience I am at a lost. From the readings, I gather that it's a
systemic issue that evolves around the attention span of the
students. There was also much written on the “culture of
education”. Hodas writes, school practice and teaching structure
has remained unchanged for seven hundred years (Hodas 1993). So the
present system is based on a structure from the year 1315 or better
yet, a structure that started before the United States was born. This
to me explains why there is technology refusal. The system of
teaching or rather the culture is based on very old ideas and
concepts and has yet to catch up to the advantages that technology
has brought. Technology is described as a curricular topic, like
math or science rather then a set of social practices (Leander pg
61).
Slam Poetry in my opinion is a form of
expression much like rap, only without musical accompaniment. Having
grown up in the era of the 60's and 70's I dont see it as new. I
remember the Last Poet's and Gil Scott Heron. I also remember spoken
word contests much like the free style rap of today. I agree with Vasdevan who writes that educational spaces must become spaces that readily accommodate and encourage literacy experimentation, exploration and discovery (Vasdevan 2009). Technology refusal is an impediment for allowing this.....
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