Reminiscent of Paramount Pictures Iron Man, the 2010 Horizon Report shows how new technologies will emerge and become critical for educators every where to stay abreast of. One particularly nifty factoid in the report is that the Edinburgh college of art has put out an app called "Walking Through Time" that allows mobile computer users the ability to look into the past, wherever you go. I could walk downtown NYC and find where old parks were, see if their were any battlefields where McDonald's now stands, search for the beginning of Wall Street, etc. For me, this would be very helpful as I am mainly a kinesthetic/visual learner. If I could walk around and point out a physical location where a historical event took place, it would be much more real for me.
Although... I cannot bring myself to accept these gadgets and apps whole-heartedly. The environmental cost of e-books, for example, is mentioned as a contribution to environmentally conscious campuses. Put this way, it sounds green, but it is not simply an environmental "gain" because of less paper. Instead of paper, we have another reason to drill for oil, more ongoing energy usage, and another piece of junk (when all is said and done). So there are certainly trade-offs with these "advances" and they remain undisclosed in the name of the majority. If we, as a society, could somehow build in economic incentives for sound environmental practices (within manufacturing and resource flow), then I would be gung-ho for gadgets. But as an accountable environmental policy would sacrifice the short-term profits for some, and there is simply not enough public concern or dialogue about the issue, I am fairly sure that I will remain halfheartedly invested in these gadgets (with hopes that I will be whole-hearted sooner than later).
If the coming climatic crises were merely an informational conundrum, then gadgets could solve it. Unfortunately, the world our children face will require much more than that, and they will need to develop keen intuition, critical discernment, and moral questioning skills in addition to technological "gadgetry". These skills have been translated forever in time without gadgetry... Although these gadgets are very helpful, I would like to see more energy put into their sustainable production and reproduction (and by this i don't mean green-washing e-books).
The "Walking Through Time" app sounds awesome. I admit, I am in awe, and sometimes jealous, of people with smart phones. I caught that bit about e-readers being environmentally friendly too. They probably didn't think about what goes into making a Kindle. Paper on the other hand, (as my paper science friends used to say) doesn't come from trees, it's engineered. I think I'd rather support sustainable forestry than drilling for fossil fuels.
ReplyDeleteA lot of these new technologies sound great, but when you look at how they are being manufactured is it really being greener? Some of the ideas are great and hope to use in the future when I do research of my own. I hate the idea of electronic books and I will never break down and buy one. Like you said it's just another piece of junk.
ReplyDeleteI agree there is a similar conundrum when you consider plastics made of corn, you can never judge a book by its cover, no pun intended. You must look at all aspects of these gadgets and where they will end up in the future which is most likely a landfill. Calling all these things everyone's new favorite word "green" will not make them sustainable.
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