Demands for standardization and accountability as systemic cures for perceived ills in the education system are paralleled by a public and private sector promotion
of technology integration as one pedagogical
solution. The general critique of education and of
technology in society has developed as two related yet
separate threads in critical inquiry and discussion. As
electronic forms of media and communication are becoming
pervasive in society in general, solutions to
long-standing educational dilemmas that mirror problems
in society at large need to develop from grounded
theories for educational practice that embrace technological
forms of information, knowledge, and culture
production. This needs to be done to reverse the historical
trend of education as an institution first adopting
and then adapting technological forms to purposes
of replicating status quo culture and social relationships.
Despite the claims of many to the contrary, new
technology may not make any difference in education.
Individual attainment and achievement through technological
efficiency may prove meaningless in a world
pressed to reconcile problems that move diverse societies
closer together rather than farther apart. Hope,
meaning, belonging, and what has been termed the
pedagogy of possibility are posited as an ethical foundation
for advancing the integration of technology into
education for an equitable, democratic, and different
future. |