Tag: technology

Low-tech Schooling: Avoiding the Shallows in a High-tech Society

Think back only a short while ago to how the transformation of schooling occurred rapidly in response to Covid-19. Materials were sent home and school was provided digitally through internet video services such as Zoom, Skype and Teams. Technology, and particularly screen-based learning, became ubiquitous. While we have since seen a return to on-site schooling, did Covid-19 bring an end to schools without screens? Technology – and here I mean specifically screen-based devices – has transformed all aspects of our lives. Now, there are upsides to this technological transformation such as instant access to our fitness data or knowledge of

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Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 1: Traditions and Divisions

The previous two articles have paved the way both for our discussion of Aristotle’s intellectual virtue of techne, artistry or craftsmanship, as well as the intellectual virtue of phronesis, practical wisdom or prudence. In a strict sense, the analogy between artistry and morality is aside from our central argument, which consists in working out the implications of each of Aristotle’s five intellectual virtues as educational goals for school, curriculum, classroom, and pedagogy. The moral virtues are therefore outside the purview of our main purpose, even if they are organically connected to phronesis or practical wisdom. In addition, the moral virtues’

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After the Black Death . . . What?

It was a little over a year ago that I wrote “The Black Death and an Educational Renaissance” about how the Black Death serves as an analogue to the Coronavirus. In that article I argued that the Black Death initiated a series of societal changes that eventually led to the Renaissance. I particularly noted how education took on a more prominent role broadly in society. Despite a general decline in population, universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris saw an increase in enrollment. In light of potential parallels between the transformative effects of the Black Death and Coronavirus, I put

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Rest for the Weary: On Cultivating the Intellectual Life

As the pace of our modern world grows busier and busier, spurred on by the services of smartphones and laptops, people need somewhere to turn for relief. Our glowing rectangles promise us conveniences such as efficiency and a life of ease, but for what purpose? More efficiency, more ease. It’s a never-ending cycle. Technology frees us up to consume…more technology.  In order to escape the technological addiction that has mystified the 21st century, it is not enough to take smartphones, laptops, and video streaming services away. They must be replaced with something better. Something deeper. Something more satisfying. In this

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