As I read through the first eight chapters Martin Weller’s 25 Years of Ed Tech I couldn’t help being surprised at the many similarities between education technology and ‘Tech Bro’ culture. Weller argues that there is a year zero mentality in education technology, “…where any recognition of prior work undermines the myth of the individual creator.” (p. 6). This immediately made me think of Elon Musk, an investor who has at times been venerated as a genius despite the large teams of people actually developing the technologies associated with his companies. I draw this parallel to highlight something that I’m seeing in education, the promotion of technological solutions to ‘problems’ in education without spending the time to investigate if the solution is needed. In my field we see new simulation technology geared towards nursing education programs all the time; AI patients that students can interview that then provide real time feedback, medication administration simulations where a student must complete a medication order step by step, and high-fidelity mannequins that can do everything from talk, to bleed, to deliver a baby. While these technologies sound amazing at face value, they don’t always address real problems, technological sophistication doesn’t always translate to better learning. I have found that students get more out of interviewing a real person, medication simulation can be done with paper, a pen, and candy, while high fidelity mannequins are costly financially and in time required to train instructors in their use. Another point Weller made that I found surprising at first was that universities often feel pressured to adopt new technologies because they fear they may get left behind, but my experience in nursing education makes me question if this pressure actually results in better learning. This constant Silicon Valley style disruption, that doesn’t look at what came before I think can do more harm than good, especially when the companies producing the technology have a strong incentive to prioritize profits over education. Weller’s discussion of Shirky’s disruption narrative brought to mind Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Johnson, 2022), where Miles Bron and his sycophants call themselves ‘the disruptors’ and constantly pursue the next big idea without considering its consequences. While I don’t think all technology in education is bad, I do think it needs to be approached in a critical way that is always asking the questions; does the technology fill an actual need? Is the technology beneficial for learning? And/or is the technology addressing an actual problem in education?
References:
Johnson, R. (Director). (2022). Glass Onion: A knives out mystery [Film]. Netflix.
Weller, M. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press.
https:/doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01