Teaching and Learning: Whose Computer Is It?
Yong Zhao, Sophia Hueyshan Tan, Punya Mishra · 2000
When we invite young people to use new t echnologies, they often take them in directions we never anticipated. This unce rtainty is what makes new tools and media fascinating and frightening. In the United States, groups as diverse as Computer Professionals for Social Responsib ility, the Motley Fool investment advi-sory, and the Church of Scientology recogni ze this in their use of the phrase, “the good, the bad, and the Internet.” One consequence of uncertainty is that peo ple become cautious. We see this in the tendency to use new technologies fir st in ways that replicate old practices. Thus, early television sets looked the way rad ios looked, and our computer desktops look like the desktops they purportedly rep lace. Another consequence is that we seek to retain control—to ensure that we d ecide whether, where, when, and how the new technology is employed. In the classroom, these tendencies can m ean that teachers often see the computer as a tool to help them do their w ork, and they are uneasy about what students might do with it. As a result, stud ents are limited in the range of things they can do with new technologies. There is nothing wrong with taking advan-tage of the ways that technology can aid t eaching, but a focus on teaching per se can limit what learning can occur. This