the seven deadly sins of technology in higher

The Seven Deadly Sins of Technology in Higher

Education: Exposing Our Crimes Against the Future

Sarah “Intellagirl” RobbinsEC Moore Symposium

March 2009

Technology did NOT create these problems

Technology merely brings them to light

exerting control to comfort oneself rather than sharing power

Administrators

“Kent banning athlete Web profiles”

Administrator:"We're really concerned about the safety of our student-athletes and some of the personal information some of them have on there.“

Columbus DispatchThursday, June 22, 2006

Faculty

“Law professor bans laptops in class, over student protest”

University of MemphisUSA Today 3/21/08

Students“How much is it worth?”“How long does the paper have to

be?”

“How much do really need to learn?”“I don’t want to accidentally learn

more than I have to.”

positioning oneself as an expert who cannot learn

AdministratorsAfter being asked about

student/faculty pilot studies for a new LMS:

“We know what they need better than they do.”

Administrator interviewOct. 2008

Faculty“I’m not paid to know how to useOncourse. I’m paid to be anexpert in my field.”Instructor interviewFeb. 2009

Students“I know I’m not going to haveto know this for the job I want soWhy should I bother?”student interviewFeb 2009

distrusting new methods of acquiring knowledge

Wikipedia is blocked on all computers in the Warren Hills Regional School District.Seattle Times November 21, 2007

Administrators

Cathy Davidson, Duke University (2008): the media and academia distrust Wikipedia

because they have not yet figured out how to use the Internet to their advantage.

American Journalism Review

Faculty

“I hate working in groups. I always end up doing the work and profs never care that other people are being lazy.”

Student interviewJan 2009

Students

making decisions for students/faculty rather than allowing students to decide for themselves

Administrators“Ohio University officials say [they’ve

banned all P2P networking] because P2P traffic can consume so much bandwidth -- not because the RIAA sent more copyright infringement notices to Ohio than any other American university.”

WiredApril 2007

Faculty“If they’re not disciplined enough to not pay attention, let ‘em fail. These are college students.(I graduated in 2005) I found that writing notes made for better retention, due to the fact I could draw diagrams and such.”Wired Campus – Chronicle Forum commentFeb 2009

“He [the professor] doesn’t understand how to use PowerPoint. Why should I care what he has to say about Wikipedia?”

Student interviewOct 2008

Students

not wondering what's new or embracing change, lack of intellectual curiosity

Administration

“The price of textbooks might be out of the average college student's control, but where you choose to spend your textbook dollars is not. It goes back to the law of supply and demand: if enough college students find "creative" ways to buy texts for less money, perhaps the publishers and those who make the buying decisions will get the message.”

Peninsula College Paper1/31/07

Faculty

“Today’s senior faculty members look at blogs the way a previous generation of academics looked at television — as a guilty, tawdry pleasure that should not be talked about in respectable circles.”Drezner 2005

Students

“I do enough to get by. Most of my profs don’t really care one way or another.”

Student interview Dec 2008

assuming that the old ways, or the ways that we were taught are somehow superior

When asked about the quality of classroom experience:

“Our faculty are world-class researchers.”Administrator interviewAug 2008

Administration

Faculty“It’s not my job to make learning fun.

Edutainment is just another ‘dumbing down’ of higher education. If they [students] want entertainment they can go watch SpongeBob.”

Faculty interviewOctober 2008

Students“I got really mad one time when I got a C on a

paper in class. I always got As on papers in high school.”

Student interviewOctober 2008

inability to change, lack of willingness to embrace the new

Administration“Zhejiang University, Nanjing University and

Shanghai Jiaotong University launched a rule during the new term that freshmen are not allowed to buy computers. University authorities asserted that this could prevent freshmen from indulging themselves in electronic games.”

China.orgOct 2007

Faculty"The concept is interesting and well-

formed, but in order to earn better than a ''C,'' the idea must be feasible."--A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith''s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

Students“I tell my classes that if they

just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”

Marshall GrossmanNew York TimesFeb. 17, 2009

Are our approaches -to learning

-to technology -to change“sinful”?

Let’s talk!

SL: Intellagirl TullyEmail: intellagirl@gmail.comWeb: intellagirl.comSkype, Yahoo, AIM, Gchat: Intellagirl