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I decided to write today in the forum about the future implications of technology in education and its relationship with culture due to a discussion that Ashley and I were having about her teaching in cyber school.  One of the thoughts that I had was directly related to Isaac Asimov's (1920-1992) story "The Fun They Had" that is based on the concept of cyber school in 2157 and was written in 1952.  Being somewhat of a visionary, Asimov explicitly points out some of the cultural affects this could have.

  "

So she said to Tommy, "Why would anyone write about school?"

Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. "Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago." He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."

Margie was hurt. "Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago." She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."

"Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man."

"A man? How could a man be a teacher?"

"Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions."

"A man isn't smart enough."

"Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher."

"He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher."

"He knows almost as much, I betcha."

Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, "I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me."

Tommy screamed with laughter. "You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there."

"And all the kids learned the same thing?"

"Sure, if they were the same age."

"But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently."

I think this interaction between the characters makes several interesting points.  First, what are the socialization implications for children in such a setting, what implications are there for the idea that technology is an "authority" of knowledge, and is it possible that it is easier to "adjust" the teacher in a technologically run classroom than a human teacher?  Social ideas, stereotypes, norms, and values are culturally constructed.  This being the case, I feel that it is extremely interesting to consider the implications for learning and information gathering that such a setting will create.