Effectiveness vs. Morality

The Kindle could be an entire library at your fingertips, a Dymocks bankrupting phenomenon. And yet, books with physical pages and their accompanying shelves on which they sit, still exist and seem to thriving (that links to an ABS website btw with boring stats). The Kindle, therefore, on a large scale is a very ineffective replacement for books.

Similarly, in education, technology must be chosen and utilised in ways which maximise learning experiences. Rather ironically then, as I watched James Humberstone's online lecture about technology and the importance of critically analysing the pros and cons of using technology as education tools, only one ear and one eye were really focusing and the other pair fixed on r/aww.

As educators, the idea of using technology effectively to enhance students' learning is really attractive. He outlines a phenomenon called the the Hype Cycle which can really play on feelings of want and need, sometimes so well as to sell gimmicks as effective learning tools. Can I just say that the majority of Baulkham Hills High School class of 2014 mainly used their government mandated laptops to play flash games? Sorry Kevin 07 but also thank you. Apps like GarageBand can seem just the most amazing creative space when it gets demo'ed by somebody who knows the ins and outs of the app, but the Trough of Disillusionment sets in fast, when amateurs aren't able to use it as effectively.

Thinking critically about new technologies sets expectations to realistic standards, and empowers us to maximise usage potential.

Humans are also pretty fickle creatures with short attention spans and senses which seem to conflict with each other as they try to gather all the information that the world is throwing at them. And to really drive this idea home, I hope you're noticing how much less cluttered this website is now, with minimalistic text fonts and way better structured layout. All the important stuff on the left hand side. Blog posts are still real wordy though...

As humans, we're also really social beings, with cultures of hugely diversity and varying customs. How can technology be used in ways which make us better connected, better global citizens, without distorting these cultural traditions? Can cultural diffusion exist in the same world of cultural convergence? Can technology help them co-exist?

A question which has been on my mind since taking Balinese Gamelan classes with Gary Watson is whether videoing the teacher's playing so that the student could practice at his own pace at home would be against the culture that is so embedded within the religious and cultural customs of the instrument and music?

Or is recording, even with musicological intentions, of Indigenous Australia songs which traditionally were only orally codified, culturally insensitive and against their cultural practices?

(Answers to come...?)

Ahmad Sarmast's real-world success story of founding the Afghan National Institute of Music to revive music in his country after Taliban rule, shows how critical analysis of using technology, weighing up both effectiveness and morality of using technology in music education, is a very empowering and always a necessary thing to do.

As music educators, critical thinking on the effectiveness of technology as teaching tools for enhancing students' learning experiences is absolutely crucial. But so is the critical thinking about the morality of using such technologies, especially as the world gets increasingly smaller...