Double Entry Journal #11

Technology, Education, and the Discourse of the Digital Native
"Between Evangelists and Dissenters"
-Michael Thomas

     Technology is a major component of the twenty-first century. It is virtually everywhere and present in every aspect of life, from the electronic billboard across the street, the cell phone in one's hand, to the computer one sits in front of constantly. Technology is vast and continues to grow. However, there are numbers of institutions and individuals that are not as keen on technology as most are. In fact a number of people are against it completely. It is in the first chapter of Mr. Micheal Thomas' book Deconstructing Digital Natives, that he compares the ideals of "Technology Evangelists" and those that oppose technology in the fullest. To better understand what exactly Thomas was referring to one must first have a proper definition of technology evangelist. A technology evangelist or technical evangelist is "a person who attempts to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects" (wikipedia.com where the term first appeared). A technical evangelist makes it his/her mission to spread the awareness and love of technology to everyone they possibly can. Everyday technical evangelists are not as rare as one would image. These modern advocates include typical bloggers, podcasters, and tweeters.
     As was made mentioned before there are several people who do not fully approve of the use of technology, or they think that technology usage has a proper time and place. These people, as strange as it may seem are often modern educators. Not that they don't allow or promote the use of computers in their classrooms but they feel that computers and other electronic devices take away from the material that is being presented through lecture. These educators believe that technology should only be used when the appropriate time arises. In one such case one school of thought wants technology banned in the classrooms since they cause distractions. To be completely honest, I understand where they are coming from but I also feel that technology plays a major role in the classroom and the growth of knowledge fully. There is most definitely a time and place for computer usage but to ban them completely goes against the twenty-first century. They are a natural thing...well they have become a natural thing. With technology growing vastly there have to be individuals that grow right along with it, and thus the birth of the digital native.