Turkle and Wesch - Allies or Opponents?

I thought for this post it made sense to break down components of each piece and then make a final claim. 

Wesch: Crisis of Significance 

Wesch begins his article by stating that students today are struggling to find a sense of meaning and significance in their education. He references a small sample study he conducted in regards to his own students.

“131 students reported reading less than half of the assigned readings, and further perceived only 26 percent of the readings to be relevant to their lives.”

Similar to his TED Talk, Wesch mentions the often stated notion that "some students are just not cut or for school." Wesch claims that this doesn't sound absurd, but it is. He poses the thought of replacing the word school with learning. To say "some students are just not cut out for learning" sounds far more egregious. But learning/school are supposed to be the same. 

Wesch goes on to state that school has become a “game of grades" and how he wanted to challenge that notion. He sought to create an environment that inspired dialogue and critical thinking. He decided to make these changes within his own room to see if it could be done. 

He had to work with his materials, the physical space, desks, podiums and other structures that came into play. In the end, Wesch challenged the norms of schooling and created a class where students were important. They shaped the world, became experts, collaborated, and ultimately reshaped/retold history as a final collaborative project.

Turkle:  The Flight from Conversation 

Turkle's main points is that society has sacrificed conversation for mere connection. The connection being the excessive use of technology.  Turkle states that the “…little devices most of us carry around are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are.”

She goes on to name that we are “alone together,” meaning that even when surrounded by others we focus on our tech.  She also mentions a scenario like “in today’s workplace, young people who have grown up fearing conversation show up on the job wearing earphones.” This resonated with me a bit, particularly because if I'm ever passing someone in the halls that I wish to avoid, I always have my phone at the ready. As she says, "we clean up messy and demanding relationships with technology."

Turkle asserts that face-to-face interactions teach us how to be patient and that we are losing that skill. "We have confused conversation with connection and collectively seem to have embraced a new kind of delusion that accepts the simulation of compassion as sufficient unto the day.”

Overall, I believe that Both Wesch and Turkle’s points align at times, but they ultimately diverge. Turkle has grown a sense of disdain for technology as a whole. She believes that it is a killer of conversation and compassion. It is hurting the human connection. Wesch on the other hand is more concerned with society as a whole and how he can make connections in the classroom that may spread outside of the world he created. Wesch uses tech to enhance his work rather than try to eliminate it in order to make connections.