Reflections For 4.3: A Cautionary Realization...

"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!"

The other day in class, while engaged in brainstorming structural facets of a Twitter usage mini-course, a thought from a rather odd angle came to me, specifically: might the involvement with and emphasis upon digital learning technologies contain serious (even terminal) occupational hazards for teachers?

I am not referring to the risk of being electrocuted or going blind staring at screens all day; could the emphasis on 'what the technology can do' de-emphasize the teacher's involvement and input to the point that he or she might become merely a sort of 'facilitator' - at worst a kind of 'push the play button and vegetate,' nominal position?

If digital courses and materials generally are developed which cover subjects quite comprehensively, how much does the 'teacher' need to contribute anymore? Even when, inevitably, questions arise, maybe these too will be ultimately relegated to a digital response, another form of "Google it."

What happens to the teacher (used to verbally and actively delivering and redelivering material to a succession of classes over time) who is made redundant by an infinitely replayable holographic 'teacher' or similar resource? People are increasingly made redundant by machines in many walks of life, and employers, generally, don't want to pay one more person than necessary...

If teachers input, involvement and enthusiasm (and even competence in a given subject) is increasingly (seemingly) rendered superfluous by technology where does that leave us? Where does it leave teachING, specifically?

Are we becoming so 'wowed' by technology that we, ourselves are beginning to disappear?