Technical Priority (Walden, Week 1)

A few years ago, the remnants of a tornado came whirling through Southwest Ohio, and the 80 mile an hour winds knocked out several power lines across the city. The energy company worked around the clock for several days to restore power to much of Cincinnati. Before that time, I had rarely ever seen children, or even adults, hanging out outside or playing. The blackout, however, forced everyone out of their dungeons, and a funny thing happened. We got to know a few of our neighbors. It was a novel experience, but by and large, I prefer to have my technology. I think if I absolutely had to pick two pieces of technology I could not live without, the first would be my cell phone. I do not have a land line, so it is the quickest and handiest tool I have to the outside world when I am holed up at home. It can also be used in all manners of emergency. Jan Chipchase (2007), on a TED Talk, described the increased importance these mobile phones are playing in our lives. When we leave the house, we grab three things: money, keys, and cell phone. I used to have a smart phone, but I believe that they are more fragile than the mobile phones of old, and unfortunately, mine died. Smart phones are incredible with how many gadgets they are all rolled into one. My second pick would be my laptop. I do just about everything on it, from work to writing papers to watching videos and sending emails. If I had to have a third pick, I would probably say a car. In some places, you can get around easily without one, but not in Cincinnati.

With those two gadgets, everything I need to know (well, almost everything) is right at my fingertips. It was not always this way, though, and it was interesting reading about how we got to this point. Carlson (2006) wrote about how the Sputnik shock is what encouraged people to make a mad dash into the mathematics and science fields, as well as incentivize psychologists and educators to research and reform instructional methods. Secondly, I was surprised to discover from the article by Molnar (1997) that the BASIC programming language, as well as first computer-assisted learning program were both invented in 1963. This is way earlier than I would have imagined. If I had guessed, I would have said that both of these were invented in the 80s. That means that, before the personal computer, there is a fairly long history of computers between going from the room-sized ones down to the PC version. In both cases, it was an interesting insight into the history of computers. You know, back in the day when people actually got out and talked to their neighbors?

References:

Carlson, R. D. (2006). Instructional technology. Encyclopedia of educational leadership and

administration. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Chipchase, J. (Speaker). (2007, March). Jan Chipchase on our mobile phones. TED Talks.   
TED Conferences, LLC. Podcast retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html
Molnar, A. (1997). Computers in education: A brief history. T.H.E. Journal, 24(11), 63–68.