Technological determinism

Technological determinism - negotiating the space between its extremes
By far the most dominant theme I have encountered during my time in the Instructional Technology and Media (ITM) program is the idea of technological determinism (TD). For the sake of clarity of thought in this discussion, I will define TD as "the human tendency to create the kind of society that invests technologies with enough power to drive history" (Marx & Smith, 1994, p. xiv). Also in this piece, the ideas of “hard” and “soft” determinism are compared and contrasted. “At the ‘hard’ end of the spectrum, agency (the power to effect change) is imputed to technology itself, or to some of its intrinsic attributes; thus the advance of technology leads to a situation of inescapable necessity” (Marx & Smith, 1994, p. xii). In contrast, “[a]t the other end of the spectrum, the ‘soft’ determinists begin by reminding us that the history of technology is a history of human actions … Instead of treating ‘technology’ per se as the locus of historical agency the soft determinists locate it in a far more various and complex social, economic, political, and cultural matrix”(Marx & Smith, 1994, p. xiii).

The reason I have found TD so prevalent in my readings, conversations and thoughts in ITM is that I use it as an analytical framework within which I examine the interplay of technology within a variety of settings. I find the TD framework especially useful when it contextualizes spatial, temporal, psychological, social, economic, political, and, of course, educational issues. When the implementation of a technology is implemented, its effect needs to be measured. These interventions invariably take place within a physical or online setting (spatial) and occur over time (temporal). These effects usually manifest themselves in either micro levels (psychological) or macro levels (social, economic, political), or a combination of the two. Like many distinctions, the lines between these issues and levels can become easily blurred. Similarly, educational milieus, whether at the school, university or alternative settings, are ripe for technological interventions and the examination of their effects at a number of levels depending on the requirements of specific research questions. As a result, I have found TD to be a particularly fruitful in looking at the myriad number of issues involving instruction, technology, media, communication, computing and education.

Two lingering questions
In my first post for this blog, I formulated two questions that had arisen from my readings and discussions within my courses in Communication, Computing, and Technology in Education (CCTE). I further reflected on why these questions were important to me in relation to my personal and academic interests. These questions were first, what is TD? Second, how are competing intellectual schools of thought reconciled?

With regards to the first question, from the earlier thoughts in this post, it is pretty clear that the idea of TD is still quite relevant to my thoughts. Given that I use it as an analytical framework across issues and levels, I am sure it will remain with me throughout my interrogation of technology, media and education issues. Given my multidisciplinary academic background in education, media, law and social sciences, this framework seems especially well-suited to the way I normally look at issues. And if I had to categorize myself, I would be a soft determinist with respect to most technological interventions. Although the cumulative power of technology can be incredibly strong, I would normally situate it within a wider “social, economic, political, and cultural matrix". As such, I would conceive of technology as a strong current within a powerful river consisting of other complementary, or competing, flows.

My second question, how are competing intellectual schools of thought reconciled, is much less developed right now but will take greater prevalence later on in my academic career. At the moment, I have a relatively limited background in some psychological and technological issues that are inextricably linked to technological interventions in educational settings. For example, I am just becoming more familiar with issues like constructionism, constructivism, and behavioralism on the psychological side as well as the incredible number of software, hardware intitiatives that have been, are, and will be taking place in schools, universities, etc. I am hopeful that as my understanding of these concepts and interventions grow, I will be able to more fully integrate them within my ever-evolving personal philosophy of technology, media, instruction, communication, computing and education. However, I am respectful of the fact that these things take time… Wish me luck.

References:
Marx, L., & Smith, M.R. (1994). Introduction. In M.R. Smith & L. Marx (Eds.), Does technology drive history?: The dilemma of technological determinism (ix-xv). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.