Philosophy of Technology

I did my high school in a distant country that was constantly ravaged by wars, which caused considerable devastation and eliminated any infrastructure that could support the least form of technology. When I moved to the United States, I was intrigued by the prevalent availability of technology that supports citizens in various aspects of their lives. I felt that this constitutes a huge asset that should be leveraged to the extent possible.  After finishing my undergraduate degree at UM and seeing how essential the use of technology was for my success in its completion, I think it is incumbent upon us to do our best not to deprive our students from the ability to utilize such a powerful tool while they focus on the enrichment of their learning and the expansion of their knowledge.  This, in my opinion, will help enhance the standing of our next generation in many topics in which they’re lagging behind.

Days went by and my kids joined a local Ann Arbor school in which I taught science topics. It became quite noticeable to me how effective my teaching would be by exposing my students to various technologies that would shield them from the mundane tasks that I feel distract them from the real lesson objectives. I also remember one day when my son came back from school with a clear frown on his face and told me that the school had decided not to offer computer classes for his grade that year and how he felt this would cause him and his classmates to struggle with filling that technological gap by either asking their parents or engage in a series of trial-and-error that would be a complete waste of time. His words resonated in my ears and I became determined to work with the school administration to rectify that situation and ensure that his grade, as well as others’, would be afforded such knowledge that is becoming a norm and taken for granted even at earlier grades.

Recently, I read about a research that was conducted by five economists who published their findings, which stated that students who learn more during their kindergarten years tend to be more successful and better off than others who do not. Although the researchers did not state exactly what kind of knowledge that these early learners acquired, but I would strongly believe that topics that include basic introduction to technology would be a strong asset. Someone may argue that this may be too advanced for Kindergarteners. But let’s face it; today’s kids strike those of us from the older generation as naturally gifted technology savvies that have been raised in a cradle of laptops, browsers, games, and other technical tools that became second hand to them. So I would not be amazed if ten years down the road, pre-k and kindergarten students would be carrying tablet computers that they use to follow through with the teacher or wearing clothe-mounted technology gear that balances their body temperature. Time will tell; however, in my opinion this first step of integrating technology within the learning process is crucial and now is the right time to take that step.