Assignment 2 reflective task

Why do you think digital technologies have been put into schools?

Digital technologies have been introduced into schools not as optional extras, but because they are already an inseparable part of how we learn and understand the world. Technology is necessary in schools because students simply cannot carry out learning activities without some degree of technology use (An & Oliver, 2021). All technologies, from language and pedagogy to walls and laws, teach and shape how we think, our cognition is not confined to the brain but is distributed through the tools and artefacts we use, making technologies literal extensions of our minds rather than mere tools we operate (Dron, 2021, p. 161). Digital technologies, among all these other technologies, are critical to understanding the world they are now ubiquitous within. Integrating digital technologies purposely into schools offers a chance to shake up how students see the real world, by pushing back against their existing assumptions and viewpoints (Stables, 2016, p. 225). This could happen through explicitly teaching about the limitations and capabilities of tools, or through their integration into the hidden curriculum, as technology use shapes the school learning environment in unintended ways. Beyond mere efficiency, technology in schools serves as an intervention that transforms the world toward a preferred state, fostering reflection, embracing uncertainty, and developing a meaningful ‘being-with’ relationship between students and technology (An & Oliver, 2021).