Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Kirsten Brandler
In Geek Heresy, Kentaro Toyama introduces the Law of Amplification the idea that
technology amplifies existing human forces and intentions. Toyama asserts what people get out
of technology depends on what they can do and want to do even without technology (2015, p.
29). He uses the popularity of the Walkman and subsequent portable music devices as an
example of what he calls a latent desire (p. 39): a desire people have always possessed even if
they werent aware of it before the technology brought it to light. The Walkman example
provides convincing evidence that technology brings to life latent desires, but it is worth noting
that technology is also capable of giving rise to previously unimaginable ideas. Technology is a
powerful agent of change with the capacity to alter our lives in significant ways that lead to ideas
for more innovations to follow; however, Toyama is correct that technology results in positive
outcomes only where positive, capable human forces are already in place (p. 54). In other
words, our underlying intention and purpose determine whether a technology becomes a positive
or negative social force, but the inherent power of technology makes it capable of creating ideas
technology trends often have a pre-digital history (p. 76). Technologies especially the ones
that become extraordinarily popular appeal to innate human desires. Social media has exploded
with popularity over the past decade and has become an integral component of many peoples
social lives. Although people may not have been able to predict the specifics of the technologies
(e.g. the retweet on Twitter or the reactions on Facebook), our attraction to social media arises
from our human desire to connect and to belong. Social media allows people to share their life
events, thoughts, and photos and to receive immediate responses from the people in their
network. Social media allows people to fulfill their deep-seated desires to feel beautiful, loved,
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noticed, and successful. These are powerful human desires that have greatly contributed to the
new ideas is overly dismissive. There are countless examples of cases in which one technology
has led to ideas for new uses of existing technology or for a revolutionary new technology. The
growth of the Internet and live-streaming video spurred the creation of Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOCs). Before streaming video became widespread and reliable, no one could have
imagined having the ability to watch a professor in another country deliver a lecture in real time,
even though the desire may have existed to participate in courses at a renowned foreign
educational institution. Additionally, no one would have thought it possible to have course
rosters of thousands of students for a course, but these numbers became feasible within MOOCs
an educational innovation that came to life because of the capabilities of the Internet.
Similarly, the burst of personal fitness tracking devices (such as the Fitbit or Apple Watch) in
recent years has led to a previously inconceivable source for research data collection.
Researchers can now tap into enormous pools of data to use in their studies, and this new wealth
of data completely changes the concept of a sufficiently large sample size. Before fitness
trackers allowed for a new method of data collection, this large scope research scope was
certainly also be considered fulfillments of latent desires, it is critical to note that without the
advancement of technology itself, some of these desires might have been left permanently
unrealized.
Alongside our human desires are our intentions and purpose. As Toyama illustrates
throughout Geek Heresy, technology amplifies the human forces that are already in place. Using
the previous example of social media, these kinds of technologies can be used in vastly different
AMPLIFYING THE PURPOSE TO SERVE OTHERS 4
ways depending on each users intentions. Someone who has always been good at staying in
touch with friends and family before using social media will tend towards using the technology
to amplify those intentions: the technology will allow that person to communicate with people
quickly and to stay informed about the events in their friends and family members lives. On the
other hand, someone with the predisposition to bully peers in school will find those inclinations
amplified by social media and will likely act as a cyber bully. Technology has the propensity to
intensify the values, characteristics, and tendencies that are already present in people before they
use it.
Technologys abilities to awaken latent desires and to amplify human intentions have
significant implications for educators especially for technology leaders. It is crucial for
schools to develop a strong culture of learning before attempting to implement new technologies,
as the technologies will amplify the pre-existing culture of the school. According to Toyama,
its the schools that work hard to maintain a strong learning culture, whose faculty and parents
make important decisions together, and that put their educational goals first in making
technology decisions exactly the schools with strong heart, mind, and will that technologys
power optimally amplifies (p. 121). Technology cannot be brought into schools with the idea
that the technology will solve the schools problems. On the contrary, bringing technology into a
school with serious achievement or behavior problems will often make the existing issues even
worse. Only in schools with a clear educational purpose and with involved stakeholders can
technology enhance the existing positive facets of the school and result in improved learning for
students.
This context-dependence of technological innovations and initiatives could seem to
indicate that educational technology leaders cannot strive to make a broad impact on education.
If it is only possible to implement a technology initiative successfully after developing the right
AMPLIFYING THE PURPOSE TO SERVE OTHERS 5
cultural foundation in the school, it would seem that an educational technology leader could only
hope to effect change in schools where he or she is intimately familiar and involved with the
culture. This viewpoint, however, assumes that the technological leaders only role is to
implement technology and disregards the importance of larger educational goals. All technology
leaders must prioritize educational goals over flashy new technologies in order to select
that can guide schools in fostering the growth of a positive learning culture and subsequently in
with all schools in order to develop overarching principles that can be effective in all schools.
The key is to develop principles that are intended as guidelines with the understanding that the
specifics will look different from one to school to another and even within each school itself as
time moves forward. Todays technology is advancing rapidly, and technologies that were once
at the cutting edge quickly become obsolete as new technologies hit the market, so educators
cannot build their curriculum around a specific tool that will be considered outdated within a few
years.
Toyama contends that educators must focus on teaching critical thinking skills rather than
teaching students to use digital tools (p. 13), as the value of critical thinking skills will endure
long after any particular tool is forgotten. Technology leaders in schools must recognize that
state of the art data centers dont cause better strategic thinking (p.45) so thinking skills must
be the primary goal. Technological tools can certainly be part of the approach to teaching critical
thinking skills and in many cases can provide an efficient and effective approach, but the
technology must always serve the educational goals. Technology leaders who develop a
curriculum focused on developing critical thinking skills in students and who find ways to weave
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technology into the implementation of their curriculum will be able to share their approaches
which can be combined into an overall god of purpose. Toyama uses the words heart, mind,
and will interchangeably with intention, discernment, and self-control and says that
improvements in intention, discernment, and self-control allow a person to act not just in pursuit
of pressing, self-focused, short-term needs, but also toward longer-term outcomes that may
enhance others well-being (p. 165). These characteristics provide people with a purpose, and
that purpose allows them to contribute to humanity at large. Purpose is Toyamas most important
god, and schools that serve this god can serve their students effectively.
If our intentions determine what technology will amplify, our responsibility as educators
is to create schools that mold students of high character who will seek to contribute to the world
around them. If students desire to help their peers, their communities, and their world, their use
of technology will amplify these desires and intentions and will result in the positive outcomes
that Toyama describes. Schools must focus on igniting in students the flame of desire to help
others. Students who desire to make a difference in the world are intrinsically motivated to solve
problems, and technological tools will provide them with opportunities to solve problems more
others would require fundamental changes in the priorities of our school system. It would
require schools to focus less on standardized curriculum and testing and on measurable data, but
as Toyama argues, not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can
be counted (p. 92). Our school system currently overestimates the importance of testing and
data and underestimates the importance of instilling in our students a drive to help others. By
helping students develop this sense of purpose in the world, schools can participate in creating
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the self-transcendent world for which Toyama believes we can and should strive. Although there
is no guarantee that we can reach this kind of a world, Toyama summarizes it best when he says
its a dream worth believing in, a possible self-fulfilling prophecy, and a brighter aspiration for
our future (p. 191), and that future begins with our students today.
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References
Toyama, Kentaro (2015). Geek heresy: Rescuing social change from the cult of technology. New
York: PublicAffairs.