For this professional inquiry project, I decided to read Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle. I have written reflections as I have read. In the reflections I share a summary of the chapters I’ve read, my personal thoughts on the topics, and how I will connect what I’ve read to my future work. My goal through this inquiry project is to gain a better understanding of the evolution of technology, and how the relationship between humans and technology has also evolved. I hope that by better understanding this relationship, I can utilize technology in my teaching/learning environment in a more meaningful way.
How does this meet EDT 520 course outcomes?
The essential course questions I’m exploring are:
• “How might we advocate for appropriate use of technology in teaching and learning?”
• “How might we use technology to enhance real world, collaborative, learner centered education?”
The two course outcomes met by this project are:
• Read and synthesize literature and research on educational technology to support personal experiences and deepen conceptual knowledge.
• Through various modalities engage in reflective practice and goal setting.
As I mentioned above, through this project I am looking to gain a better understanding of the relationship humans have developed with technology. By delving into this topic and reflecting on these relationships, I can identify ways it may be appropriate or inappropriate to use technology in my teaching/learning environment. By understanding how humans interact with technology, and what they expect from it, I will be able to implement it in a more meaningful way. Through meaningful use of technology, I can enhance the learning experience to be real world, collaborative, and learner centered.
This project has enabled me to read the latest literature on technology use, how it can be implemented in higher education, how we can better prepare educators to use technology, how technology can be used for peer evaluation, how human/technology relationships have evolved, and many other topics. I reflect on some of these topics in my posts, and share some related articles. Reading and reflecting on these topics has allowed me to deepen my own conceptual knowledge and set goals for how I want to implement technology moving forward. Throughout my reflections, I share how this new knowledge affects my professional practice. At the summary of the project, I will dive deeper into the goals I have set moving forward.
Related Articles
Here are some articles related to the topic of my inquiry. For each article I have provided a summary of the findings/topic, and discussed how it supports my personal inquiry and professional practice.
Reading Reflections
Personal Reflection
My inquiry project supported my professional growth because it provided ample opportunity for personal and professional reflection. As I was reading, I was able to spend a significant amount of time thinking about my own relationship with technology. I was able to reflect on the meaningful parts of my relationship with the digital world, and the parts that don’t really contribute positively. Understanding my personal relationship with technology also helped me explore my relationship with technology in my professional role. I was able to reflect on some of my own personal feelings and philosophies regarding use of technology. Through the readings, I explored new areas and concepts about the digital world that I hadn’t previously thought about. I reflected on human relationships with technology in ways that hadn’t been brought to my attention before. I think that overall this inquiry was very reflective and allowed me to have a more open mind about technology use, and also be more critical of it at the same time. In my professional and personal life, I want to be open to utilizing and exploring more technology, but aware that it’s implementation should be meaningful and contribute in a positive way. I’ve explored some of the ways humans build unhealthy relationships with technology, and I want my use of technology to promote healthy habits, especially when used in my learning environment.
I will likely share this project with my colleagues, and also share it publicly. I think that part of professional inquiry, is sharing your thoughts, feelings, and findings. I hope that others will gain something from my exploration of this topic, whether they read Alone Together themselves, or simply reflect on their own relationships with the digital world. Changing the culture of the relationships humans have built with technology means everyone plays a role. Everyone must think critically about the health and unhealthy relationships they have with the digital world, and challenge themselves to push for a shift in culture change. I hope this project challenges others to reflect and perhaps make small changes.
My next steps after this inquiry are to continue reflection on my own relationship with technology, encourage others to do the same, and make small but meaningful chances in my everyday actions. As I mentioned in my last reflection, this might be a simple discussion with a colleague in the office instead of an email. This might be asking a student to come meet with me after class instead of adding another email to their inbox. This will likely include leaving my iPhone out of some day to day activities such as faculty meetings or dinner with friends. My hope is that through these deliberate actions, my relationship with technology becomes “healthier.” I want the use and purpose of technology in my life to be clear and meaningful. I think by making this culture change in my own life, I can carry that over to the classroom and cultivate a learning environment of meaningful use as well.
Bedside to Classroom 