Which Road to Travel? ‘Technology’ or ‘No Technology’

Which Road to Travel? ‘Technology’ or ‘No Technology’

By Aleena Hameed

Just as the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution suggests that every organism has undergone through the process of evolution in order to adapt well into their existing environment, same as the present world of technology has evolved different domains so as to make us adjust with the changing world.

On one hand, people like Clay Shirky who teaches Interactive Telecommunication Program at New York University has developed an online education system, in an interview with The Chronicle Review stressed about implementing the culture of getting all information through a medium of Internet. While on other hand, people like Nicholas Carr advocates in his article, ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid?’ that, internet is distracting and new technology can only change our natural intelligence into artificial intelligence.

For me although, it’s way hard to detach yourself from technology these days, still I think that we are neither robots nor we have a weak immunity to easily get detach from the physical world. What would you people think, is it possible to stop yourself from being too much absorbed into this world of technology?  

MOOCs? A big question for the world

MOOCs? A big question for the world

By Maida Ali

 In the article Myers quoted Mike K that there’s something fundamentally wrong when a college degree can cost upwards of $100,000 when all of the information can be learned for free (Myers, 2011). Answer this, if God forbid your mother needs a lifesaving treatment from a doctor, who would you choose? A doctor who paid $100,000 for a college degree or the one who learned it free from online courses? If no courses have been introduced for such important fields, then WHY NOT?

Let’s talk about reality for a change, the live (face to face) educational system provides a student to be groomed and progress at the same time. Through online courses you may pass written tests for any job but not the interview. Does grooming mean you sitting on your couch, eating popcorn in a casual wear studying for ‘Fundamentals of Economics’ while chatting with your friends on Facebook?

I am not criticizing the use of technology at all, progressive schools like Ngnee Ann Secondary School (Singapore) is doing it commendably (Course Site). They merged technology with their old school ways making it a balanced equation. We take out one thing from this equation and everything might fall. And MOOC’s do not fulfill the criteria to be in this equation.

References

Video of the Week. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from Technology in Education, FCC:https://sites.google.com/site/educ240fcc/student-of-the-month/johndoe

Myers, C.B. (2011, May 14). How the internet is revolutionizing the education? Retrieved September 10, 2013, from The Next Web: thenextweb.com/insider/2011/05/14/how-the-internet-is-revolutionizing-education

 

Welcome to the 1st Week of Digital Discussion!

Dear EDUC 240 students,

Welcome to Discussion Forum! We have been talking about this forum for quite a while now and finally you have landed on it the very first time today. Please try to get use to it ASAP, as all of you will be required to visit this forum every week till the end of Fall 2013, unless told otherwise. You have already been informed about your individual tasks, both verbally (in class) and electronically (via web). If you need any further clarifications, please do not hesitate in either contacting me or referring back to course site.

Some of you have expressed to me your doubts/concerns, most importantly your anxiety, regarding this whole digital discussion phenomenon. Please know that I understand your position real well. For most of you, this is probably the first time you have been asked to do a task like this for an academic fulfillment of a course. I guess your unease is natural. But really if you have an acute look, it is not that big of a deal. All I am asking you with this activity is to utilize your FACEBOOK aura for an academic issue-oriented discussion. Post – Comment, Post -Comment, Post -Comment…. This is the entire drift you have been asked to follow in this activity. Quite FACEBOOK like! Right?

Remember, your post/response, is like a recipe. In order to make it more and more scrumptious, you will have to add a calculated mix of following ingredients: objectivity, preciseness & rationality.

Wish you the Best!

– Muhammad Adil Arshad