Summary: The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy

Go back to a time when learning in a classroom was “simpler” as some may put it. Can you visualize it? A green chalkboard with faint hints of dust all over it, orderly pupils facing the front of the room, text books open with blank looks on their faces, taking verbatim monotonous notes of whatever information their teacher told them to write down. All the while there is no tangible way of knowing if said students have an understanding of the topic until tests are graded. These are methods of the past, and frankly, that’s wonderful! While lectures are at times mandatory and useful, and chalk or white boards can assist in visual breakdowns, there are numerous other ways that the digital age has gifted us to assist in classroom learning. In Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”, he speaks …show more content…
In turn, The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy, saw huge success not only nationally, but internationally and similar applications are being improved on to this day. Concurrently, there are individuals who argue these methods and dependence on technology. In Morgen Witzel’s “A New Era for Digital Learning” (2005) the author states “Preoccupation with technology is one of the criticisms levelled at online learning programmes, but there are others. Early online learning programmes were often surprisingly inflexible, and encouraged a linear approach to learning through techniques such as reading a succession of case studies and providing written answers online, precisely at a time when classroom learning was moving away from this model towards more interactive and participative learning. Surveys of students showed high levels of dissatisfaction with some programmes, particularly over the lack of learning support and feedback from instructors.” (3) Thankfully, since 2005 digital learning platforms have made great strides. They are far less rigid, or “linear” than originally