Body and soul

I have been hearing about the necessity to transform education for a long long time. The discourse has always been the same: things are changing, so we need to adapt to these changes and proceed differently. As teachers, we have always had the compromise to move ahead, to keep up with the changes and the current necessities of our society. Nowadays, things are not different. We even have more challenges than ever as the machines seem to be "replacing" us.  Is this really happening? Are we going to let this happen?

One of the great advantages of technology is the interaction it makes possible, a principle that from the socio-cultural perspective is a necessary condition for the construction of knowledge. This interaction mediated by machines is also a strength to encourage respect for diversity; even more, when this interaction is possible with people from around the world. Therefore, our compromise as teachers is to open our minds and see the potential uses and advantages we can get from technology. Additionally, we should keep up with the speed of knowledge influenced by ICTs.

However, we should never forget that despite all the advantages that technology might have, it is just technology; machines are just machines. The education processes involve human beings with body and soul. A real transformation in education would imply not only the acquisition of physical skills to operate the machines, but a real awareness that we have a heart and soul to grow.