Post #1

One question that has arisen from this week’s readings is, whether or not technology is the driving force of history. Another is whether or not technology is linear; must we develop one technology to get to another?

Both of these questions that have arisen from the readings are ones that are important to me on an academic level. Being a Deaf Education major involves understanding the current technology there is for hearing aids for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. If we look at Deaf History through the idea that technology drives history, then we would see that Deaf History took a big turn when the hearing aid was invented. More people who were Deaf could hear better with the hearing aid and thus could be a part of the "hearing world". This brought about a great controversy between the Deaf and Hearing world. Some thought that people who were Deaf should remain that way and only use American Sign Language. Others believed that people who were Deaf should use the hearing aid. The technology of the hearing aid, and further more the cochlear implant, brought about a major controversy in Deaf history that still continues today. In this example, history was extremely impacted by technology. The next question concerning whether technology is linear is very prominent throughout Deaf History. In looking at Deaf History from this standpoint we see that we must have developed the hearing aid first to get to the cochlear implant. There would not be a cochlear implant without a hearing aid because we need the hearing aid technology to be expanded upon to get to the cochlear implant. We need the research from the hearing aid to develop something more complex as the cochlear implant. This further implies that technology drives history because if we had not developed the hearing aid, then we would have not had people to make the cochlear implant, and even more so would not have had the controversy between getting the cochlear implant or not. From an academic view, the questions of whether technology drives history and is linear are very important to me.

While these questions are important to me to be considered from an academic view, I do not want to dismiss that it is important to me on a personal level. Throughout my academic career I will have to decide what kind of approach I want to take in educating people who are Deaf. I can look at it from one point and say that the cochlear implant should not be used (only American Sign Language should be used) or I can say that all means of communication should be used to educate people who are Deaf. The question of technology driving history is important here because I can look back and see how the new technologies in the Deaf Culture have impacted society and decide from there what kind of standpoint I would like to take. The question of whether or not technology is linear is important for me to consider as well because I can look at how far technology in the Deaf world has come and decide if it is crucial to use such technologies because of what might come about in the future. Looking at technology as being linear will help me decide if using all means of communication would be beneficial to my students or not. I can say that if we have come this far with the cochlear implant, then what is next? Will there be something better in the future that I may want to use to help my students? I can also look at the history of technology and Deaf Culture and view how technology has impacted people who are Deaf and decide if all means of communication are best for my students or not. While this deals with academics, it will be a personal choice of which way I would like to teach and therefore makes both of these questions important to me; both personally and academically.