Technology and Classical Education

Technology is a beneficial part of our world. I am not a gadget geek, but I greatly appreciate the techno-tools that make my life and work easier. For example, writing on a computer is far easier for me than writing with pen and paper. Oh, I still do my research on paper, and I still craft my basic theme and rough outline on paper, but I do the actual writing on the computer. The reason being, since I can easily correct, add, or rearrange things, the computer allows me to concentrate on what I am saying without worrying about the mechanics of how I am saying it until the second draft.

In the mid-nineties, Neil Postman wrote of the threat of technopoly. When technology goes beyond its utilitarian function and begins to shape and even monopolize our thinking, he says, we are witnessing the advent of technopoly. Two decades after Postman's warnings, I see no evidence that that he was right; we are no closer to technology controlling us or taking over our minds. However, future generations will and do have a different relationship with electronic technology than does my generation. They have grown up with it, whereas I had to learn to use it as an adult.

This became apparent to me when I recently visited my granddaughters in New York. The three-year-old is all girl and loves changing into her prettiest outfits ... several times a day. No surprise there, but the second of my granddaughters did surprise me. Though she is only eighteen months old and speaks only in grunts, her skill at using an IPad is amazing and certainly surpasses my own. Watching her, it occurred to me that Postman might have it backward-rather than humans being changed by technology, technology is being adapted to fit human thinking and behavior; that is, it is becoming more intuitive.

So, what is the point of this discourse? Simply this: When it comes to education, we hardly need to teach students how to use computers any more-just how to use them safely and responsibly. Instead, we must teach them how to read, how to write, how to cipher, and how to think, so they in turn can use the techno-tools they have grown up with to accomplish their tasks. Technology is a great tool, but it cannot and will not ever replace the need to read, to write, and to think well. Viva la Classical Education!

Pastor Heine

 Memorial Lutheran Church and School