Enhancement
The idea of a change being an enhancement or not has stuck with me and reminded me of the film Wall- E (Pixar, 2018). In the film, the humans have used so many technological ‘enhancements’ that have they have become completely dependent on all technology, you could see it as a criticism on instrumentalism. I think the point is well made by the creators of the film, see the short clip below.
If we translate this criticism to enhancement in education, it is especially relevant at the moment. Almost all education has been ‘shifted’ to an online environment in a very short time over the last 9 months. This has been accomplished with haste in many places and I think we should make sure that the pedagogical framework has not been lost in the process.
Wall-E as an expression of the perils of instrumentalism and transhumanism!
For the shift to remote teaching, I wonder whether the prevalent pedagogical frameworks are the most appropriate. I saw many colleagues initially seek to replicate their classroom experiences in to online and distant contexts with many now moving towards very different forms of teaching practices.