Chapters 1 & 2
There is a large disconnect in how technology is used in popular media and scholarly communication. There was a large effort made to bring technology and the internet into classrooms. The problem was that it was unknown how the computing would actually improve the education of the students. In popular media these technologies seem to be used easily to solve complex problems.
If you ever watch a movie or TV show, it seems so quick to find something on a computer. Just type on a keyboard, and your answers are there. There is a much different reality. Computers can do many great things, but the users need to know how to use them. The machines are only as powerful as their operators let them be. Different people use the technology in different ways. Some people are purely followers of what teachers show them. Others teach themselves and explore the technology more throughly. Some even contribute to the technology itself in projects such as wikis, open source programs, forums, etc. The power of computing must be unleashed by the people who use it.
Saying that ICTs rarely cause social transformations is not cynical. ICTs tend to provide an enhancement to previous social structures rather than dramatic change. If ICTs created a transformation, it would typically be minimal or at least based on a previous one. Otherwise it would most likely be rejected by the community because of the radical change. Workers were never replaced due to the new technology as was predicted. This is because they computers are a tool, not a replacement. You would not say that after the invention of the tractor, farmers were no longer needed. There still need to be a human mind to operate the device (at least until artificial intelligence can take over). Social networking sites, for example, do not really change the way people interact, but rather the medium in which they do. The technology does not invent new forms of communication. Instead it enhances the previous ones.
There are, however, times in which there would be radical change from the previous methods. With faster processes and the use of computers do make hash searches, people can finding information at phenomenal speeds. This would make work much more efficient and faster, but would not fundementally change what was going on. Behind the scenes, the methods of action would change, while the results would stay the same, just with more efficiency.
If you ever watch a movie or TV show, it seems so quick to find something on a computer. Just type on a keyboard, and your answers are there. There is a much different reality. Computers can do many great things, but the users need to know how to use them. The machines are only as powerful as their operators let them be. Different people use the technology in different ways. Some people are purely followers of what teachers show them. Others teach themselves and explore the technology more throughly. Some even contribute to the technology itself in projects such as wikis, open source programs, forums, etc. The power of computing must be unleashed by the people who use it.
Saying that ICTs rarely cause social transformations is not cynical. ICTs tend to provide an enhancement to previous social structures rather than dramatic change. If ICTs created a transformation, it would typically be minimal or at least based on a previous one. Otherwise it would most likely be rejected by the community because of the radical change. Workers were never replaced due to the new technology as was predicted. This is because they computers are a tool, not a replacement. You would not say that after the invention of the tractor, farmers were no longer needed. There still need to be a human mind to operate the device (at least until artificial intelligence can take over). Social networking sites, for example, do not really change the way people interact, but rather the medium in which they do. The technology does not invent new forms of communication. Instead it enhances the previous ones.
There are, however, times in which there would be radical change from the previous methods. With faster processes and the use of computers do make hash searches, people can finding information at phenomenal speeds. This would make work much more efficient and faster, but would not fundementally change what was going on. Behind the scenes, the methods of action would change, while the results would stay the same, just with more efficiency.
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