The Fear of Change – it’s Nothing New

Friday, October 2nd 2009 by Megan DolmancloseAuthor: Megan Dolman Name: Megan Dolman
Email: mdolman@iste.org
Site: http://www.iste.org
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I recently read an interview with Dennis Baron, author of A Better Pencil. His new book takes a look at people’s fear of computers having a negative impact on various aspects of human interaction, including common complaints that instant messaging (IM) is ruining the English language and that Facebook is causing us to be anti-social. Baron argues that we don’t need to be concerned. He feels computers are improving writing and actually making us more social. And what I found to be most interesting is his view that this fear of ‘changing technology’ is nothing new.

I’ll admit it. I sometimes struggle with change, and often over trivial things. Things like upgrading to Office 2007. Why does it have to be so different from what I’m already using? It’s silly to find it frustrating, but it’s a fact – at least for some of us. There are plenty of people who embrace change. I have a feeling that many of you reading this post find change exciting. Where some people look at Twitter and say “Why?” you say “professional development!” When someone says “cell phones don’t belong in the classroom,” you say “what a great educational tool! How can I get my students to take advantage of this?”

In the interview, Baron shares many examples of people throughout history who found technology to be frightening. He points out that Plato saw the written word as a threat to memory retention, that Thoreau thought people wouldn’t have anything to say to each other if they used telegraphs, and that many felt the typewriter was too mechanical and would disconnect writers from language. Just like these technologies, computers have brought about a great deal of change. While many of us see unlimited opportunity, a lot of people find it downright scary.

You probably work with people that feel this way, which can be hard to deal with when you can’t wait to use wikis, blogs, digital video, and the hundreds of other technology tools available to help your students learn. When you come up against people that are hesitant to implement technology it may be a good idea to remember what Baron is saying: this fear of new communication tools is as old as the pencil. Reassure them that just as the telephone didn’t lessen the need or desire for face-to-face conversations, Facebook and other social media won’t either!

(pic from flickr.com/photos/brettlider)

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