Pounding a Nail or Building a House

When teaching, we must continually examine what we are doing and if it has purpose. This is particularly important in our use of technology. As a science and math teacher I sometimes get so caught up in the use of technology that I lose sight of my purpose. I need to continually ask myself if I am using technology just to do it or if there is a deeper purpose. I compare technology to a hammer in wood shop class; it is one of many tools that is at my disposal.

When you use technology are you deepening a child’s understanding of the world or are you simply performing mundane tasks that could be done with a pencil and paper or rock or hammer or any other tool that we have access too? Technology is not the solution to all of the world’s problems, it is simply another tool. Hammers have furthered our society (Building houses, universities, schools, churches, etc.), just like technology has, but we don’t train students to sit in class all day and pound a nail into a board. Similarly, we should not use technology so that we are just “pounding nails into the board” from the age of 5 to the age of 18. The use of technology is a powerful tool when it is used to create something that will lead to a better society and a better life for all. Some practice of the fundamentals is absolutely necessary as a foundation for creativity (you wouldn’t want a five year old to build you a house), but the true learning occurs when we move beyond the simple use of a tool to a place where we can create new ideas and understanding of the world that we live in. With that said, technology and its use should not be entirely discouraged. It must, however, be used carefully and must be tethered to the human experience. The real question is: Are we are going to use our hammer to pound a nail or to build a house?