Laptop Classroom

I read a feature story in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “The Laptop Debate Rages On.”

The gist of the story is that one-third of private high schools in the St. Louis area now require or supply laptops for all their students.

Some schools are resisting the trend. Kudos for them. I think this story is a microcosm of three major issues regarding technology in our society.

Devaluing of Human Communication
As I discussed in my first post, I think the pace of technological advances is dehumanizing people. We are being conditioned to “communicate” with people as if they also were machines. This goes beyond rudeness, impatience and immediate gratification. It contributes to stunted emotional complexity. People are becoming emotionally less complex. When this happens, it becomes easier to view people as objects. Does not bode well for the divorce rate or raising healthy children.

Changing how we Think
Processing information vs. intellectual debate. Presentation over substance. Efficiency is more valued than originality and spontaneity. In other words, how we think is changing.

The Real Digital Divide
Not everybody can afford a laptop. The divide between the haves and have nots is growing.

Now, the price of laptops is dropping. So this have/have not scenario will probably decrease in the United Sates. But not across the globe.

To Summarize
Digital communication is a fantastically effecient tool. But effeciency has nothing to do with creating meaningful relationships or true intellect. Effeciency serving itself can quickly splinter individual relationships and relationships among groups of people.

Thank you for your comments to my first post. I’ll look forward to reading comments to this one.