When relating Fouclault's idea to 'technology and education' my first thoughts are of the intercom systems that are hooked up in every classroom. At any point in time the administration can listen in on a class and 'observe' the teacher. There is no way to know when they are listening and as a result I believe this type of technology can exercise control over the behavior of the teacher.
And although I believe that this technology does have an important function in student safety, it can also hamper their learning. If the teacher internalizes that power so much so that he/she is too afraid to address certain issues or topics, out of fear that they may be too controversial, or deemed such by an unknown, or even unwelcome eves-dropper. I think teachers have a unique opportunity with students in that they can have such conversations with their students in a safe environment. I believe that all too often adults try to protect their children by ignoring and not discussing the realities of our world. Yet students remain aware of such issues and even more so intrigued by them by the very fact that certain information is 'kept secret'. Is it just me or does this feel a little like censorship?
On another point, I would just like to say that I feel that prescriptive technologies are dehumanizing. When the process is so broken down, you as the creator do not get to the point of satisfaction or completion. By breaking down processes in this manner knowledge and power are spread so thinly that no one actually knows every step. 'Fordism' diminishes humanity and decreases individual power, therefore perpetuating the power structures that exist in our society.
~Erin
2 comments:
Erin, great point re. the intercom system in classrooms, which leads to censorship and dehumanization. As you mentioned, internalization is what happens because of the existence of power, which then becomes part of the person; so he/she would not even know that their behavior is being controlled; and this is exactly what Foucault means by the notion of panopticism and surveillance, which is also related to what Franklin says.
Erin
I think that your statment regarding presciptive technologies as "dehumanizing" is very accurate, both in the symbolic and literal sense. Symbolically it is removing interaction and ownership for the sake of effeciency and increased profit. In the literal sense, it is dehumanizing as technology is now able to remove the amount of people involved with the production (result of the industrial revolution).
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