My gob is smacked, it truly is…

Because four times over the past six weeks I have been involved in discussions in which members of the ELT profession have expressed the view that technology somehow exerts an unexplained influence on teachers, turning them from caring professionals into dribbling idiots as they gaze upon the shiny lights and clicking buttons.

Here’s one from the British Council / IATEFL Cardiff Online site:

“Because, given a taste of IWBs, the poor unsuspecting teacher will be lured into moodle, twitter and Second Life? Are IWBs the first step on the slippery slope of techno-addiction?“

Damn, those wires are worse than cocaine, to be sure…

And here’s another from the same site:

“I think the problem is that too many educators have drunk the IWB Kool-Aid“

Yes, I was weak, dammit. At first it was just one little click here and there, and by the time I reallised I was addicted it was just too late…

And here’s one from this very blog:

“Even ‘creative, interested and trained’ teachers can take their eyes off the prize when governments and corporations pair up to dangle digital carrots in front of our eyes“

Yes, I feel it…. it’s draining me of all critical awareness… My values are melting…

Like the Gollum to the precious they swarm, apparently, shedding their values, their intelligence and ultimately their dignity to be led astray by the glistening demon of the motherboard or interactive pen.

As if all their skill, their experience, their qualifications go out of the window as they gaze upon the wonder that is an LED and a wireless mouse. Such is the influence of technology, they assert, that it should not be left in the hands of the layperson. No – these otherwise sober individuals who have an array of qualifications, years of experience, shelves full of books on their chosen profession, they just can’t hack it.

No, in any other facet of their lives they’re capable of logical thought and valued judgements, but you just can’t trust them with an iPod. They’ll let themselves down, but more importantly they’ll let everyone else down as well. Learning will go out of the window if they take a laptop to class. You know it makes sense because loads of people say it. People who don’t use technology in class, granted – but they’re the only sane ones left in the world today.

Where does that come from, I wonder? Is it fear of being left behind, fear of having missed the boat. The ridicule usually reserved for ‘long haired boys with their silly pop music and their daft trousers’ as dad watched Top of the Pops in the seventies?

Is it a part of the profession that many people have no control over, no real hands-on experience with, and an increasingly knowledgeable audience to deal with? Is that it, is it born of desperation – and from there comes the myth that it’s best not to get involved in case it sucks you in?

Is it that their supreme influence in class (after all, whatever approach you take in class, you’re quite recognisably the bloke or blokette who’s in charge, whether you’re behind a desk or sitting crossed legged in your leather-patched corduroys and amusing t-shirt) is threatened by giving their learners access to other sages?

I don’t really know, to be honest. It’s got me baffled…. must be all that technology I use, I just can’t seem to think straight anymore…