The Impact of Technology on how we learned
Introduction
A change is upon us – nothing could be clearer. The printed word is part of a vestigial order that we are moving away from – by choice and by societal compulsion. I’m not just talking about disaffected academics, either. This shift is happening throughout our culture, away from the patterns and habits of the printed page and toward a new world distinguished by its reliance on electronic communications.(Sven Birkerts, In the Electronic Millennnium, in Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age (2003), 63.)
The impact of technology cannot be better explained than what Sven Birkerts has explained above. It is a change, a change that cannot be stop, but needs to be nurture so that it would not get out of hands but works to our advantage. This, however, lead us to the major question regarding authority, that is, are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us?
The impact of technology in our lives is huge and due to the word limit of this essay I will restrict myself by focusing only on the impact of technology and our learning. The term learning here is referring to the ways in which we learn, that is, through reading, interpreting and writing. We absorb information by reading, then we interpret that information to make meaning out of it then we write it down. In this essay, learning will be associated with Biblical Studies, so, I will not talk about learning in general but learning in Biblical Studies. Biblical Studies is an academic field in Theology focusing on studying both the Old and the New Testament in the Bible.
Technology versus Reading and Writing
The medium determines how we read and write, meaning that different medium we lead us to read and write in different ways. A printed book is sequential, so it is logical to read a whole book in order to understand the meaning of that particular book. One of the ways in which the author will arrange his or her printed book will begin with a hypothesis. The body of that printed book will be the investigation of that hypothesis, providing both arguments for the hypothesis and arguments against. At the end, the author will state his or her position and provide a solution (if needed) to his or her hypothesis. Therefore, in order for the reader to make sense of the printed book, the reader, must read sequentially according to how the printed book was written. In whatever way the author writes his or her book, the point is that the reader will read accordingly.
On the other hand, when writing on the web, the author cannot determine which way the reader will read. This is because technology like the web does not arrange its information sequentially like a printed book. In Tim Bulkeley’s article, “Hypertext Bible Commentary and Encyclopaedia: a New Zealand-based international electronic publishing project”, he talks about the process of his project which was to create an online commentary of the Book of Amos (Bible). Bulkeley mentioned that one of the major problems he came across was ‘learning new forms of writing – writing for screen suggests, or even requires, dramatically different styles of writing that reverse many of the conventions of scholarly rhetoric.’ (Tim Bulkeley, "Hypertext Bible Commentary and Encyclopaedia: a New Zealand-based international electronic publishing project," in Stimulus 12, no. 3 (2004), 46.). Bulkeley explain three writing problems he came across, first, instead of writing with the assumption that the reader will follow your writing sequentially, do not assume that. Secondly, do not leave the main points to the end, say it in the beginning then you can have your reasons and explanations. Thirdly, make sure that your writing is scannable.
This is because the arrangement of information on the web is not sequential. Upon opening a web page, that particular page is technically called a lexia. Within a lexia there are links to other lexia, so you might be reading one lexia and you come across a link that says “click here,” when you do, you will come to another lexia. Therefore, a web page is technically called ‘hypertext’, which are lexias connected through links. This means that you as a writer will never know which way a reader will read your text. Not only that, but if you do a google search say on ‘electronic and bible’, the result of that google search will not lead you to the first lexia of your hypertext. The hypertext could be about the advantages of electronic and it has something about ‘electronic and bible’ say on the twentieth lexia, the google search result will take you straight to that twentieth lexia. So the reader could start reading on the twentieth lexia and if it is not making any sense then the reader will look at another hypertext. We now can see that not only you as a writer do not know which way a reader will read, you do not even know where the reader will start reading.
We now see the impact technology have on how we read and write but the question, however, still stand, are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us?
Technology versus Interpreting
In the field of Biblical Studies, there are certain criteria used in determining a valid interpretation. In my blog Modern Technology and Biblical Interpretation I have talk about A. K. M. Adam's article, ‘This is not a Bible’ which illustrate the influences in which technology has in our interpretation.
Who holds the authority?
It took a while to attract but finally an answer emerges from the reasons above. Are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us? In terms of technology and its impact on how we learn in Biblical Studies, the technology is in control of us. The impact that technology has made in the way we learn in Biblical Studies change the way we write, the way we read and the way we interpret. It changes everything in learning, technology dictates how we learn.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have found an answer to our question which is, yes, the technology are in control of us rather then us having the control over the technology. We have account for the impact of technology on how we learned in Biblical studies. It affects how we read, how we write and it also affects how we interpret. This again raised another question; if the technology holds the control, in terms of our learning, is it a good thing or bad? There will be some gain in learning and there will be some loss. For example, in the process of exegesis, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. Now, we have the software BibleWorks and it does the process of exegesis for you. We gain a faster process of exegesis, but will tend to forget those guidelines needed for exegesis. That still leave us with one question, in terms of a person, is it a good thing or bad?
A change is upon us – nothing could be clearer. The printed word is part of a vestigial order that we are moving away from – by choice and by societal compulsion. I’m not just talking about disaffected academics, either. This shift is happening throughout our culture, away from the patterns and habits of the printed page and toward a new world distinguished by its reliance on electronic communications.(Sven Birkerts, In the Electronic Millennnium, in Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age (2003), 63.)
The impact of technology cannot be better explained than what Sven Birkerts has explained above. It is a change, a change that cannot be stop, but needs to be nurture so that it would not get out of hands but works to our advantage. This, however, lead us to the major question regarding authority, that is, are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us?
The impact of technology in our lives is huge and due to the word limit of this essay I will restrict myself by focusing only on the impact of technology and our learning. The term learning here is referring to the ways in which we learn, that is, through reading, interpreting and writing. We absorb information by reading, then we interpret that information to make meaning out of it then we write it down. In this essay, learning will be associated with Biblical Studies, so, I will not talk about learning in general but learning in Biblical Studies. Biblical Studies is an academic field in Theology focusing on studying both the Old and the New Testament in the Bible.
Technology versus Reading and Writing
The medium determines how we read and write, meaning that different medium we lead us to read and write in different ways. A printed book is sequential, so it is logical to read a whole book in order to understand the meaning of that particular book. One of the ways in which the author will arrange his or her printed book will begin with a hypothesis. The body of that printed book will be the investigation of that hypothesis, providing both arguments for the hypothesis and arguments against. At the end, the author will state his or her position and provide a solution (if needed) to his or her hypothesis. Therefore, in order for the reader to make sense of the printed book, the reader, must read sequentially according to how the printed book was written. In whatever way the author writes his or her book, the point is that the reader will read accordingly.
On the other hand, when writing on the web, the author cannot determine which way the reader will read. This is because technology like the web does not arrange its information sequentially like a printed book. In Tim Bulkeley’s article, “Hypertext Bible Commentary and Encyclopaedia: a New Zealand-based international electronic publishing project”, he talks about the process of his project which was to create an online commentary of the Book of Amos (Bible). Bulkeley mentioned that one of the major problems he came across was ‘learning new forms of writing – writing for screen suggests, or even requires, dramatically different styles of writing that reverse many of the conventions of scholarly rhetoric.’ (Tim Bulkeley, "Hypertext Bible Commentary and Encyclopaedia: a New Zealand-based international electronic publishing project," in Stimulus 12, no. 3 (2004), 46.). Bulkeley explain three writing problems he came across, first, instead of writing with the assumption that the reader will follow your writing sequentially, do not assume that. Secondly, do not leave the main points to the end, say it in the beginning then you can have your reasons and explanations. Thirdly, make sure that your writing is scannable.
This is because the arrangement of information on the web is not sequential. Upon opening a web page, that particular page is technically called a lexia. Within a lexia there are links to other lexia, so you might be reading one lexia and you come across a link that says “click here,” when you do, you will come to another lexia. Therefore, a web page is technically called ‘hypertext’, which are lexias connected through links. This means that you as a writer will never know which way a reader will read your text. Not only that, but if you do a google search say on ‘electronic and bible’, the result of that google search will not lead you to the first lexia of your hypertext. The hypertext could be about the advantages of electronic and it has something about ‘electronic and bible’ say on the twentieth lexia, the google search result will take you straight to that twentieth lexia. So the reader could start reading on the twentieth lexia and if it is not making any sense then the reader will look at another hypertext. We now can see that not only you as a writer do not know which way a reader will read, you do not even know where the reader will start reading.
We now see the impact technology have on how we read and write but the question, however, still stand, are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us?
Technology versus Interpreting
In the field of Biblical Studies, there are certain criteria used in determining a valid interpretation. In my blog Modern Technology and Biblical Interpretation I have talk about A. K. M. Adam's article, ‘This is not a Bible’ which illustrate the influences in which technology has in our interpretation.
Who holds the authority?
It took a while to attract but finally an answer emerges from the reasons above. Are we in control of technology or the technology are in control of us? In terms of technology and its impact on how we learn in Biblical Studies, the technology is in control of us. The impact that technology has made in the way we learn in Biblical Studies change the way we write, the way we read and the way we interpret. It changes everything in learning, technology dictates how we learn.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have found an answer to our question which is, yes, the technology are in control of us rather then us having the control over the technology. We have account for the impact of technology on how we learned in Biblical studies. It affects how we read, how we write and it also affects how we interpret. This again raised another question; if the technology holds the control, in terms of our learning, is it a good thing or bad? There will be some gain in learning and there will be some loss. For example, in the process of exegesis, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. Now, we have the software BibleWorks and it does the process of exegesis for you. We gain a faster process of exegesis, but will tend to forget those guidelines needed for exegesis. That still leave us with one question, in terms of a person, is it a good thing or bad?
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