XplanaZine

I remember falling in love with science fiction when I was in college. It started when I got really sick my sophomore year and was confined to the dorm for a week. I made it through the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy but still had a day or so of convalescing left and needed something to pass the time. The only other interesting book I could find was a book on my roommate’s shelves called I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Those stories got me through the rest of a bad time and also set me on a course of Sci-Fi reading for the rest of my life.

What was particularly interesting about Asimov’s robot stories was his depiction of a society that had lost interest in taking care of things. People lived extremely long lives but had nothing that was really required of them since the robots took care of everything mundane. The people were losing their purpose for being. In this way, the robots became an ironic form of advanced technology that led to a certain type of devolution.

I thought about Asimov’s robots again today as I read a story about a robot designed to look after the elderly. According to the article, a Japanese-led research team claims it has made a seeing, hearing and smelling robot that can carry human beings and is aimed at helping care for the country’s growing number of elderly. What I found particularly compelling was the photo of the robot carrying a mannequin that looked like an elderly woman.

Asimov’s worlds seemed cold and, for all their technological advances, appeared to have lost their sense of humanity. This picture from our world, however, depicts a technology development with a human, tender element.

It’s not hard to see several motivating factors behind the robots discussed int he article. As Japan is a developed country with an aging population, I’m sure there is a real market for these robots. But I have to admit that what I really thought about was my own father. You see, Dad suffered form a stroke several years ago and I imagined how comforting it would be to know that he was being looked after by someone who wouldn’t go to sleep on the job and who would always be focused solely on his care.

What I found most interesting as I looked at the picture, however, was the fact that I was aware that the only emotional value placed on what it depicted emanated from my own thought. The robot and the mannequin had no inherent emotional status. I was projecting from my own needs and experiences.

I actually think that’s actually true about most technology. In and of themselves, technological tools are only as valuable as we decide they are. Some have social or emotional value and that’s because we’ve extended that value to them. Some seem menacing but it’s really just because we humans have made them so.

When we think specifically about educational technology, we see the same thing is true. Miguel Guhlin and Will Richardson had posts on their blogs today that dealt with the new generation of technology tools we have and asked what the role of these tools is in our efforts to revolutionize education. I agree with Will when he writes that “It’s getting to be less and less about the tool and more and more about the
opportunities the tools create.” But I also think the ultimate reason for this is that the tools are never the real answer anyway.

At best, our tools and technology are mere extensions of our personal reasons for living and growing — our “why.” The extent to which blogs, wikis, or any other technology can revolutionize education is really dependent on the extent to which we, as a collective community think they should. Our communal “why” will either make them transformational expressions of a new commitment to education, or render them impotent through a continued disinterest in real learning.

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