"Yes, I love technology. But not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology." One Look at a Love-Hate Relationship with Technology.

Title from Napoleon Dynamite, "Lafawnduh's Song"


First of all, check out this incredibly powerful example of technology in our world today.

Ah technology...a word that ignites a variety of emotions in me.

Excitement. Awe. Shock. Nervousness. Curiosity. And eventually, acceptance but only through adaptation.

Ask anyone close to me how I view technology and they will surely respond that I, in fact, am a paranoid regarding it. And it's true. I can't deny it, though I wish I could, because paranoia has many negative connotations. But I don’t have an Alexa, or Echo, or Fitbit. I will never use Venmo, or the Cash app. I turn off the tracking location on all my devices and refuse to give my credit card or debit card number out over the phone, even when I’m simply talking to my husband.

I will admit that I am on one extreme side of the no technology camp when it comes to certain things. However, with saying that, this morning’s talk and information was helpful for me when it comes to practical research that I, as an educator, will participate in as well as my students. The tools and shortcuts that can be found online are incredible and I will certainly utilize them in the future.

There were even basic things I did not ever know. For example, that control F allows you to search a web page for something specific, or you can search specific domains by typing out what you are interested in followed by “site: etc.”




I am not against using technology as a tool for research and general knowledge goals, but to replace people with technology is where my breath really catches. And that is where the title of this post comes in; I love technology and what it is capable of helping us accomplish (keep in touch with people who live overseas) but I love people more and can't imagine technology replacing that valuable face to face experience. I do not want my students, or myself, to become so dependent on technology that they can not function without it.

Regarding Wikipedia and education, my mind was blown as we delved further into the website. I finally came to realize that Wikipedia isn’t as useless and unreliable as I was always led to believe. I hope to teach k-2, but nonetheless, I would be willing to let my students use Wikipedia in the same way that Jeff Utecht shared. What he said he has done was let students use any Wikipedia site, from there using only C class and above, and finally ones that have been truly tested and are rated GA class and above. Because Wikipedia has this quality scale rubric, you know that it has been reviewed, tested, and proven to be valid.