The case against pessimism

http://beyond-school.org/2009/12/25/on-using-technology-without-understanding-it/
I found this blog following a link from the week 3 resources and I was disappointed to find the latest entry seemed to be an adieu of sorts, I then aimlessly procrastinated by looking at the Youtubes embedded in the latest posts before I found this gem about a high school  news paper's editorial comment regarding the use of technology in schools. 
As I have been striving to get my head around the course materials and embrace the ideals of integrated technology that actually ensures learning the way no other tools can I have been developing a quietly pessimistic view. Surely a student could use a face to face meeting with another for collaborative learning as successfully as a wiki my mind tells me... And I fully blame being a mother of a teenager and therefore a relic of the digital immigrant society for this negative view point. Technology is stealing my past and the right to be a Luddite out from under me.
I guess that is why I enjoyed this blog post so much. The authors position, that by sharing in online environments arguments, opinions and information can be added to and built upon not just with those that are physically close to you but around the world and in ways that establish new knowledge really summed up the idea of connectivism. Similarly I applauded that someone had said and supported the idea that technology is not the be all and end all, that teacher's passion and their expertise is just as necessary and as individually important as web tools may be. I realise now that is the premise that we will be uncovering at the heart of this course but up until now I have felt that instead of recognising teacher strengths it has instead been the idea that teacher's who are not au fait with the technology must just " work harder " . Instead this author has managed to uncover for me the difference between the 'technology' and the learning, that technology can provide. Particularly his remarks about facebook as a common graffitied desk - Marc Prensky in his 2009 article regarding digital wisdom alluded to similar ideas by his admission that using technology was not an end in itself but how you use the technology - your digital literacy and its intentions in regards to knowledge creation are key.

So I can still be a mother who occasionally bemoans my children's screen time while also cautiously embracing technology in the classroom, recognising that it does offer us learning that no other tools provide.  The globalisation of our world and the information overload and its associated challenges of evaluating information are part of society and I am not immune to it. My reticence to embrace the technology may be because of the lack of role models in my life who know the power of what these tools give us. This blog, this author, he just gave me a glimpse.