A Valentine for Education Technology
A Q&A with Gardner Campbell
In conversations with educators, have you ever heard one of them say they "love" a certain technology? We hear that all the time, particularly when it's about a technology someone may feel fortunate to be using in one of their current projects or initiatives.
So, with Valentine's Day this week, we are wondering what it is about education technologies that educators actually love. Gardner Campbell is an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University and a technology thought leader who has both taught with and studied education technologies for nearly 30 years — at times using the word "love". Here, we ask him what he loves about education technology.
"The technologies I love are those communications technologies that truly change and enhance teaching and learning." —Gardner Campbell
Mary Grush: What do you love about education technology?
Gardner Campbell: That question makes me think about Othello, who at the end of the Shakespeare play says that he loved not wisely, but too well. The notion of love in the context of education technology may leave us just as perplexed as poor Othello, but it might be something that's worth some thought.
First, how do we distinguish love from temporary enthusiasm? It's a hard thing to do, because it requires us to think in terms of deep meaning over long periods of time. But we can try to learn from our history with education technology and ask: What are the things that emerged that still seem vital today? Along with that, you can consider strong feelings you may hold for certain technologies — as I hold for those that tap into the deepest human aspects of teaching and learning.
Grush: So with all that in mind, how would you pick your most lovable education technologies?
Campbell: I would start by making a distinction between technologies of management and technologies of communication. I like certain kinds of management technologies that help me with record keeping and organization. But I don't love them. I love technologies of communication because, I think, they're at the heart of teaching and learning — creating opportunities for human beings to think together, to study something together.
I love technologies of communication because, I think, they're at the heart of teaching and learning — creating opportunities for human beings to think together, to study something together.
And communication technologies offer the chance for community; something that you don't get working just on your own. When minds come together, something synergistic happens, something greater than the sum of the parts.
Grush: So with the communication technologies, it seems you are actually getting something out that's much more than what you are putting in.
Campbell: Yes, those are the technologies that leverage computers or other devices as communications platforms on which you can build a sense of community. At the peak performance of these technologies, users may even begin to experience what I'd call communion, with this mingling of minds. Those are the technologies I love.
Grush: What does that mean in a practical sense, stated in terms of education technology?
Campbell: I love the way these types of education technologies allow us to be present to each other, and to transcend the limits of time and space. In the traditional classroom, it's great to be in the room together, but those class sessions are usually of limited time; they offer limited opportunities for community building. But when you are using computers as communications platforms, now you can interact at a great distance. You can interact over different spans of time. You can mingle in ways that are not so bounded by time and space, and sometimes overcome other obstacles as well.