PLN #6: What If?

The video, “What If?” by Karl Fisch, proposes the idea that the world today is made up of many types of technology that didn’t exist before, and that the new technology that is being invented and improved is a statement to show how much the world has accomplished throughout the past few centuries.  In the video, Mr. Fisch gives quotes that teachers, administrators, and other officials gave about how they thought that technology would fail or become a burden rather than an achievement in the world.  Many of the quotes stated that the technology that was getting invented (in the time era that the quotes were taken from) was taking away from students’ learning and that it would become an inconvenience to them as time went on.  However, with each quote that came on the screen, each one talked about more recent technology and how it was effecting the world, and they never dwelled on one subject, which showed that over time the “obstacle” with that certain piece of technology was overcome.  The first quote was taken from the year 1703, in which a teacher is complaining about how slates are too expensive and students shouldn’t be expected to use them.  The technology moves from slates to modern technology like cell phones, calculators, and laptops.  At the end of the video, Mr. Fisch asks the question, “What if we’d listened?"

 
I think that the video “What If?” by Karl Fisch is very interesting and is a good way to look at how far we have come in the world of technology in just a few centuries.  Personally, I use all kinds of technology every day and without it, everything I do would be very inefficient.  I do most of my homework and even some class work on my computer so it is very important in the sense to get work done.  My phone is also an important piece of technology to me because I can do almost everything I can do on a computer on my it.  It is also an essential way for me to communicate with family and friends.  Facebook is just one of the many sites that people go on to stay connected and live vicariously through others.  Many websites like Facebook as pastimes as well as time-wasters, but they are still a big part of what technology is today.  The internet is also a huge achievement in the world of technology because before the internet, people would have to research everything in books and find other ways to occupy themselves.  If we had listened to the people’s quotes on Mr. Fisch’s video, we would have never gotten this far so I am glad that people challenged these statements instead of gave up on what new piece of technology was yet to come.