I heard a story on NPR today about how Texas Instruments invented the electronic calculator 40 years ago. I looked at my husband and asked "how did my parents do math when they were in their twenties?" I imagined my mom sitting in a mustard colored room trying to use an abacus to solve division problems. I could not believe that the calculator is so new! I would never be able to maneuver my way through my math or physics homework without my graphing calculator. Were my parents not subjected to math problems of the same caliber? This may sound naive, but I really never thought about life without a calculator. I remember life without computers, but a calculator seemed so basic.
This shock made me think of how dependent we become on technology, which is something we read about in Neal Postman's work and something we often debate in the MAC program. Is technology a crutch or a catalyst? I noticed today how heavily I rely on auto-spell check when typing papers, and I became afraid that I do not know how to spell anything correctly on my own. What is going to happen to me when I cannot write words correctly on the blackboard when I am a teacher? Can smart boards fix this problem?
Technology has so many great benefits. During the NPR story today, the inventor of the calculator was asked whether he thought that people were dependent on calculators. He said something along the lines of "cars replace the need for walking, but people can go so much father." I guess that could be true of calculators. All I know is that when it came time to figure out how much rent I owe this month, I resisted the urge to get out the calculator and added the numbers up by hand....
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2 comments:
Courtney-
You're absolutely right about calculators. I never really thought about calculators as technology before. Of course, it helps that we don't really use them in English class, except for maybe calculating grades or something.
Anyway, while I think that calculators are a wonderful invention, they have become a crutch. I can't tell you how many people I know who can't do complicated division or multiplication on their own. While it's not something I have to do very often, but I can when I have to.
On the other hand, I also remember the early calculator my mother, the accountant, had when I was a kid. It was probably about an 8 inch square and had to be plugged into the wall. How far we've come from that thing, which only did the basic functions, to those crazy TI-84s and -85s!
Really great point, Courtney. I am one of those people who is completely reliant on a calculator to do all of my finances. Initially, I used it because it was more efficient, but soon I started doubting my own mathematical ability and using a calculator for anything I couldn't do in my head. I had a major reality check when I started studying for the GRE and realized I was going to have to reteach myself basic math skills that I had become reliant on calculators for, like long division. This made me reflect back on my early educational experiences and realized that I've been able to use a calculator since elementary school. There is no reason why a student should need a calculator until they are performing complex equations. Unfortunately, most teachers would probably prefer their students to use calculators because it saves valuable class time.
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