XplanaZine

Transcript

I’m not a Catholic but when I was twelve, I went to confessional with my best friend, Rob Watcher. To be honest, I don’t remember many details, but it must have been positive in some way because I went home and asked my mother if we could join.

Well, we never did, but that doesn’t lessen my admiration for the Pope and what he represented to catholics and to the world in general.

One of the things I particularly admired about Pope John Paul II was the fact that he was our first Internet pope and, in reality, did pretty well with the whole thing. In fact, the Catholic Church’s gradual embracing of and success with the Internet has made me think about its usefulness in education this weekend. What lessons can we learn from the way churches in general use technology and how do those apply to education?

1. Technology breeds populism and growth — The Internet along with the proliferation of communications technologies, allows more people to express their opinions in an uncensored manner. This means that anyone who thinks they have a good idea can weigh in on controversial topics or just talk about their marginal interests. Even more important, it means that everyone has a chance to gather communities around their ideas, either for opposition to the mainstream of for support of the common ideal.What religious leaders have realized over time is that they should not be threatened by all of the dissident voices in this process because they possess what it takes to remain in communication power — a larger base of listeners, a focused message, and a consistent stream of information. In other words, they have the resources to out-shout the opposition, even on the Internet.

   The same thing applies, of course for teachers, particularly those who worry about technology like blogs meaning things will get out of hand and that they will lose control. That cannot and will not happen if teachers actually use the medium, keep a consistent message, and a steady flow of information.

2. Technology means greater intimacy — Pope John Paul was the first modern Pope to feel like he was entirely one with the masses. He used television to his advantage and he used technology to make people feel like they had ready access to him. Catholics can now hear daily papal messages over their cell phones. The Vatican set up a special page for the pope to deliver messages about faith and world peace. And, during this recent health crisis, the faithful could submit prayer requests through local Web shrines and were encouraged to engage in e-mail chain prayers. Technology has allowed people to feel closer and more a part of the pope and of the Catholic Church.Again, there is a lesson here for education and teachers. If we want our students to learn and internalize information, the must have a context for the information and they must experience some kind of a connection with it. In most cases, we as teachers are that connection. And any sense of intimacy or positive feeling we can provide means our students will have a greater likelihood of succeeding.
3. Technology leads to greater honesty and, hence, better education — Popular lore holds that the United States never would have elected a man in a wheel chair (Roosevelt) in this era of modern communications and media. I don’t know about that, but I do know that modern technology has given us a ton of additional information about our leaders, sometimes more than we want — who they are sleeping with or what’s wrong with their colon. In the end, I think this is a good thing. Having more information helps us make better decisions and it makes us more comfortable with the people who are in charge. What I’ve learned is that we are willing to forgive or show compassion but we do not like to be kept in the dark.Again, another good lesson for education and for educators.

Broadcast Information

podcast feed
i-podder download