The ‘Technology' Pole

Abstract

Whether new or old, technologies are a recurring issue in the practice of university teachers and researchers. While they form an integral part of everyday life, they are considered as specific objects in the field of research and teaching. Although they are prized for their instrumental functions, their epistemic dimension remains largely ignored. Resorting to a technical device to optimize a research or a teaching activity or make it more comfortable seems operational; pondering over what this technical device modifies in the organization of the message and the tasks, as well as in the subject (teacher and learner)’s representations is often regarded a waste of time and efficiency. The energetic and material cost is then considered too high for the individual and the collectivity. Yet, if one easily disregards the changes brought about by the introduction of an artifact in educational interactions, the risk is high simply to reproduce the same thing indefinitely: a technically improved pedagogic model – sometimes at a high cost – but basically still the same1. (Albero, 2004, pp. 253-54)