As I was going through the readings for this week I was really struck by a comment James Kalmback made in his piece “From Liquid Paper to Typewriters: Some Historical Perspectives on Technology in the Classroom,” specifically:

“As we brace for the future, these arguments about the value of technology in the classroom (whether liquid paper or laser printer, typewriters or computers) must be grounded not on the allure of the latest hardware and software but on the awareness of how new technology reflects old patterns of using technology and of how these patterns are shaped by larger philosophical arguments about the value, purpose, and goals of education” (67).

The reason I latched on to this comment revolves around the idea of how technology should be approached in a composition or technical communication classroom when our patterns of use should be “shaped by larger philosophical arguments about the value, purpose, and goals of education” (Kalmback 67). So, what should our “larger philosophical arguments” about the value of teaching with technology constitute? My last question seems to lead to an even deeper issue regarding the role of technology in education, and the never ending debate – as illustrated in the Gerard article - about what we should be teaching our students in regards to technology. In other words, should we be teaching our students how to use new technology by basing our pedagogies on tool acquisition or should we be teaching our students how the technology can fit into a larger rhetorical situation by basing our pedagogies around furthering knowledge? I guess the debate might boil down to an even simpler question, which might be, do we teach the technology or do we teach what can be done with the technology? (I apologize if this is an issue some of you have already discussed in a different class, but even new takes on old issues can sometimes be beneficial)

I think part of the answer might revolve around developing and using a mixture of both application and theatrical approaches to technology in our pedagogies, but I’m interested in what others have to say on the topic. What do you all think, should we give application instruction or should we assume that our students will pick up the skills or the knowledge of technology on their own given the idea that most applications may be out of date before our students leave college?