Something to question

We're more than half way through the Intel Teach Program and so far I'm having a great time. It's not without it's challenges but all-in-all I'm feeling more confident already with using technology in my teaching and passing my new knowledge on to others. For more of my thoughts on the course so far head over to my work blog for a day by day run down.

Yesterday I took a trip to Koorong, seeing as it's sale time, to stock up on all the books I've been after. I found this totally pertinent book called "Habits of the High-tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age" by Quentin Schultze. It has already challenged me and started to address some of my recent concerns about my personal direction as a technology enthusiast.

I'm only up to the end of chapter two so far but what Schultze has to say is really gelling with me already. It's like a lot of things in life... the problem is rarely the tool itself but the heart with which we use it.

As I read I'm reminded of the historical philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, whom I studied and wrote about in my education minor at uni. If a measure of effectiveness, or advantage, to society is contribution to "the greater good" then the internet has questionable benefit because of the ugliness we see there amidst the shared knowledge. Die-hards might believe we have hit the jackpot with the Wests easy access to information, but if you think about it unresticted, and often-times unmanagable, misinformation, viruses, advertising and pornography actually pose indeterminable and immeasurable threat. I tend to agree with this author when he says that we really need to be more aware of the dangers information technology pose to our social and personal inner well-being. It's been in the back of my mind as I've moved closer toward it.

Schultz is not black and white about it all though. This quote sums up the gist of what I'm 'hearing' so far...

"Of course, dismantling all information technologies is not a realistic or even a good solution. Wholesale destruction is both impractical and rash - a quick fix technique with no lasting value. Instead, we have to give as much attention to the habits of our heart as we do to our cyber-endeavours. We need to understand information technologies in the light of the virtues nurtured histrically... Christian traditions are a rich sources of moral wisdom that can virtuously shape informational practices." p.21

I'm looking forward to being taught in greater depth how my faith can be practically worked out even in the way I use and approach technology, maybe even in the way I teach it. Who ever would have thought there was such a book on the market!