(From Ted.Com Conversations) The net generation isn’t necessarily a technology generation. You can point to surveys, you can point to various industry groups, but inherently there is a flaw in the expectations. Assumption that you can program a VCR (who has those anymore?) does not suggest that presence and collaborative spaces will reach people who have never experienced those things. There is persistence of “student centric” or even “customer focused” to the educational environment that are in parallel with the advancements of technology.
There is already a lot of technology in the classroom that has been used poorly and turned active teachers into passive instructor. Whether PowerPoint or other display tools; the rampant advancement of computer terminals; or worse, recorded lectures. The concept of active learning is taking a back seat to technocracy in the classroom.
Instead we should embrace an education centric policy statement. We are not letting the students at any level set the agenda of their education. They simply don’t know what they need to learn yet. We are not ignoring the learner in the equation but setting the syllabus to foster education and ignore the passivity of entertainment. If then technology has a place in this education environment we can make changes to the education environment. The purpose of education and the role of the teacher in the classroom has been lost in a technocratic take over. We need less office of instructional technology programs and much more offices of educational outcomes assistance programs.