July 13th Class

July 13, 2010

I am very thankful to now have somewhat of a background knowledge of where computers and the Internet were born. The Bush and Engelbart's articles have really enlightened me on the concept of augmentation of human intelligence. It amazes me that these two men were able to conceptualize technologies that did not even exist, yet they seem to have drawn the blueprint and business plan for companies like Apple, IBM, and Intel. Other than the inventions of the printing press and electricity, the invention of computers and the Internet have arguably changed the world more than any other inventions. Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat articulates how the rapid expansion of technology and ease collaboration has created a true global economy.

Technology has forced educators to prepare students for competition in a global economy. One could easily argue that while America offers it citizens the highest quality of life in the world, our economic regulations, unions, and high wages are making it difficult to compete with countries such as India and China. As educators, we must take this into consideration when we are preparing our students for the workforce. In order for America to remain a superpower and a competitor in the global economy, we must continue to lead the world in innovative technology.

In closing, a comment made during our class discussion made be think; since collaboration and information accessibility are so easily attained, will this eventually lead us down a path where we stop utilizing our brain for independent thought? Have we already done this in some ways? While it is obvious that we must teach our students how to utilize, access, and master technology, it is imperative that we continue to teach them how to think.

In many ways I already use communication technologies everyday. For instance, I use 3 different e-mail accounts, which all converge to my iphone., text messaging, blog daily announcements, update the campus website, update my website, and update the digital marquee. After this class, I have been inspired to create a tweeter account for my school and encourage my teachers to check out google documents to increase their collaboration. This portion of the blog relates to the communication technology framework, which provides connectivity and shared meaning (A framework for the technology cognate at baylor university, 2010).