Turkle and Wesch

I started by pulling out some meaningful quotes from the articles before starting this blog. I really enjoyed reading both of them and I wish we had more flexibility in the classroom like Wesch.

Meaningful quotes:

The Flight From Conversation by Turkle

So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation.

As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters.

A high school sophomore confides to me that he wishes he could talk to an artificial intelligence program instead of his dad about dating; he says the A.I. would have so much more in its database. Indeed, many people tell me they hope that as Siri, the digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone, becomes more advanced, “she” will be more and more like a best friend — one who will listen when others won’t.

Always-on/always-on-you devices provide three powerful fantasies: that we will always be heard; that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; and that we never have to be alone.

When people are alone, even for a few moments, they fidget and reach for a device.

Michael Wesch’s Article

If we accept John Dewey’s notion that people learn what they do, the lecture format, which is the mainstay of teaching (especially in large introductory courses), teaches students to sit in neat rows and to respect, believe, and defer to authority (the teacher).

I have even toyed with the idea of calling what I do “anti-teaching”, as I have come to the conclusion that “teaching” can actually be a hindrance to learning, especially when it is assumed that learning requires it. As most of us know from our own experience, the best learning almost always occurs in the absence of a teacher, for it is then that learners are free to pursue with great passion the questions that are meaningful and relevant to their own lives.

I have increasingly focused less on simply trying to convey good information and more on inspiring good questions.

The emphasis is on “managing” this environment rather than simply conveying information.

What is the relationship between Turkle and Wesch? Do you see them as allies, or opponents in this discussion of new media and technology?

I feel that the relationship between Turkle and Wesch is that they are both studying the world of people, how we learn and interact. I don’t see them as allies or opponents. Turkle is studying the idea that people are too attached to their devices and should step back to learn better conversation skills. Whereas Wesch is adjusting his classroom to better fit our changing world and the way students learn best. As I just wrote that it made me think, Wesch is using what Turkle is saying about lack of conversational skills, this desire to never be alone, and our connectedness to technology to adjust his classroom physically and pedagogically. Wesch is making his classroom student-centered to give them all the attention just like Turkle says in his article. This will hopefully make them not so attached to their devices and more willing to communicate and share their interests with others.

“As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters.” This quote from Turkle’s article contradicts what Wesch is trying to get his students do in the classroom. He wants students to come up with the “good questions” and from those questions come up with more “good questions.” Turkle is arguing that our need for high speed answers through the use of technology is causing us to come up with simple, easy questions even when it’s something that really matters to us. This is quite concerning to me and I hope we can have more teacher like Wesch to teach students how to come up with the “good questions” about our world and not “dumb down our communications.”