you are not in kansas anymore: educational technology in films

YOU ARE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN FILMS Rohit Mehta ([email protected]) Danah Henriksen ([email protected]) Punya Mishra ([email protected]) Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education Michigan State University United States

Abstract: Educational researchers have rarely, if ever, focused attention on the public perception of educational technology, even though these popular/societal perceptions may drive investment and implementation at broader levels. In this paper we seek to provide an understanding of this phenomena through a thematic analysis of how educational technology is represented in popular cinema. Our analysis revealed some key themes based on the filmmakers’ contextual perspective towards educational technology. These themes include: an utopian/dystopian perspective towards educational technology; use as a tool for learning and unlearning; and integration of theories of mind (reflecting an historical perspective towards theories of learning). In conclusion, educational technology in films is seen as a medium to enhance learning, provide convenience, and control the factor and consumption of time.

Why Films, Jim? The role of technology in teaching and learning has received a great deal of attention in recent years (Ertmer, 2005; Frank, Zhao, & Boreman, 2004; Gulbahar, 2007; Keengwe, Onchwari, & Wachira, 2008). The educational technology industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that through its advertising and advocacy seeks to influence public perception of the role of technology in teaching and learning (Cattagni & Farris, 2001; Zhao & Frank, 2003). While research studies such as those collected at What Works Clearinghouse often do not show the effects advertised there is a gap between the research and actual decisions made by schools and school districts. For instance, the New York Times noted in an article by Gabriel & Richtel (2011) on a “classroom software book but mixed results despite the hype,” that: Amid a classroom-based software boom estimated at $2.2 billion a year, debate continues to rage over the effectiveness of technology on learning and how to best measure it… School officials, confronted with a morass of complicated and, sometimes, conflicting research often buy products based on personal impressions, marketing hype or faith in technology for its own sake. Educational technology researchers have not focused their attention on this aspect of public perception of the role of technology in teaching and learning—even though these perceptions may play great role in the use of technology in classrooms than the results of careful research. We argue that it is important for us to develop a better understanding of how the public at large thinks about educational technology, through a lens of popular culture. As a core aspect of popular culture, films are inherently tied to public perceptions of important issues (Gans, 2008). Gans suggests that popular culture has value when and where it comments on relevant societal issues. So it ought to be looked at or studied to see what it has to say about such topics, including "how people use and respond to what it tells them, whether this feeds into public opinion" (Gans, 2008, p.3). Thereby, popular media and films can provide us with a sense of what the common conceptions of educational technology are. As Clinton et al. (2006) suggest, “children and adults are acquiring the skills to operate within knowledge communities by interacting with popular culture.” In this paper we take the first step at examining this level of popular culture through a close analysis of the how educational technology is described, represented and framed in film and television. In this we take inspiration from

previous work that has focused on popular media portrayals of issues such as gender, sexuality, and race (Nederhouser, 2000; Mulvey, 2004; Steinke, 2005). The argument is that our thinking about these issues is both determined and reflected by how popular media seeks to portray them. We do not see this as a linear connection between media portrayals and our perceptions but rather as a bi-directional link where popular representations both reflect and determine the manner in which we think and frame the issues under consideration in a cyclic / transactional manner.

From Educational Technology and Beyond A generation that grows up with a proclivity towards watching television (in comparison to reading a book) is more likely to make connections with visual media than with literature (New Media Consortium, 2005). Through increased interaction with visual media comes an opportunity to learn about different aspects of society, aspects that an individual may not interact directly within a lifespan (Prensky, 2005). For example, we develop an image of the climatic conditions in Antarctica and the richness of the life in the depths of the Pacific from the visual imagery we come across in films and television (Flood, 2004). Similarly, how certain aspects of our society are reflected in films is crucial because it both reflects and creates a stance towards this aspect, especially those people who have comparatively little prior knowledge pertaining to this topic. Let us assume that people who have never been to America learn about this country primarily through films. But if a certain individual only comes across sexuality in American films, he/she might create a flawed promiscuous image of the American population. Along these same lines, it is important to assess the portrayal of educational technology in films. How filmmakers depict the role of technology in education, and use their fictional characters, plot twists and imaginative devices as a medium to create an image of educational technology, is of primary concern to us. As a key component of the popular culture, such portrayals define what is being presented as a source of reference and influence to people (Mukerji & Schudson, 1991). In turn, public perceptions of the role of technology in learning and teaching also define further courses of this area of education. Unless we examine and identify such sources of public influence, we miss the opportunity to gain an understanding of these common and popular perceptions of educational technology. A rationale for the value of understanding “everyday” arts and informal learning comes from a foundational figure in educational psychology, John Dewey (1934), who stated that “the arts which today have most vitality for the average person are the things he does not take to be arts; for instance, the movie, jazzed music, the comic strip…The task is to restore confidence between the refined and intensified forms of experience that are works of art and the everyday events, doings, and sufferings that are universally recognized to constitute experience.” (Dewey, pp.5, 1934). The first step, therefore, is evaluating the portrayal of educational technology in films by identifying some key themes that recur. We have limited our article to this key step, with further scope for future research.

We Know Kung Fu: Our Methodology We divided the demanding task of evaluating the portrayal of educational technology in films into a systematic subsequence. These steps were (a) defining educational technology from cinematic perspective, (b) preparing a list of films to analyze, (c) watching the films, and (d) categorizing them based on recurring themes. Definition First, we defined the meaning of educational technology and what we expected to see in films that would succumb to this definition. It was decided that any representation of a form of technology that will be depicted as being used for teaching, learning, or a form of learning theory, would be considered as an example of educational technology in films. It must be noted here that any use of a tool, machine, equipment, or technique that can be used for solving a problem or to imply learning or unlearning of new knowledge or behavior was to be considered as educational technology.

Preparing a List of Films The second step was preparing a list of films that satisfied the decided criterion. We shortlisted films based on our prior knowledge of cinema, and also created a pool on Facebook and Twitter for people to post their recommendations. Every one of us created a post on Facebook asking for recommendations and to share our posts for them to spread and bring in more recommendations. On Twitter, we created a ‘hashtag’ for film recommendations. People posted several film titles and scene references, and also suggested the related elements in these clips to educational technology. Besides these, we also used the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to search for movies with technology and education, and shortlisted the ones that satisfied the educational technology criterion. Watching the Films Third step in the procedure was to watch the films that we had not already seen or just for the sake of assurance. Scenes that matched the definition of educational technology were marked and cut out of the film for further categorization using a pre-installed movie editing software in Mac OS. Thematic Categorization of the Clips We decided on a definition of educational technology for short-listing films. This criterion was used to sort and collect clips. These clips were then further categorized based on popular themes of education that they strongly reflected. The categorization was purely done for further systematization and sorting purposes that were based on common recurring elements in these films. Our thematic analysis method was based on the Braun and Clarke (2006) data analysis method. Most of the themes started to evolve during our discussions while watching the films. We made notes of recurring themes and marked them as tags with the clips for later reference. Most clips satisfied more than one thematic criterion and were therefore tagged multiple times. After we had finished watching the films, we revisited the theme tags to discuss and define if they were recurring themes in other films besides the ones that we had seen; films that we were aware of or could think of. We discussed and questioned several themes primarily on their generalizability. Our primary concern was to create a thematic structure that could fit any released, unreleased or yet-to-be-made film that matched our educational technology criterion. The themes that emerged from these discussions and tagging exercise were condensed down to (a) utopian and dystopian perspectives of technology, that dealt primarily with the context, (b) technology as a tool, that emphasized how to use educational technology, (c) the implications of learning and unlearning, that covered the psychological aspect behind it, and finally (d) a theory of mind. The last theme turned out to be a parent theme of vital importance in all films. Depending on the historical references of these films, filmmakers seemed to have decided on a certain theory to portray educational technology that they felt more comfortable with. Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives Neo, the protagonist, is plugged into a control system, literally. He is now into a virtual world that he thinks is real. A set of skills is downloaded to his brain in a short span of a couple of minutes. He now knows kung fu, jiu jitsu, and a bunch of other martial arts. His training is complete. (The Matrix, 1999) Wall-E has entered the human habitat. Floating chairs seated with obese and lazy people surround him. These people use digital video conferencing software to talk to the person sitting right next to them. One of the obese men falls off his chair because of Wall-E. He cannot stand up. No one can get off his or her chair to help him either. He needs assistance from robots to get it done for him. A basic daily activity such as standing needs technological assistance. (Wall-E, 2008) These scenes are two unique examples of the utopian and dystopian perspective in films, respectively. This theme was the most frequently occurring sub motif in science-fiction films that matched our criterion of educational technology. This recurring theme was pertaining to the filmmaker’s perspective of the role of educational

technology in future. We believe this perception to stem from their present outlook of the involvement of technology in education. We found that most filmmakers decided to take an either-or stance when it came to indulgence with technology, especially learning. The two disparate perspectives that emerged out of our tagging process were Utopian and Dystopian perspectives of educational technology. On one hand, we found film clips that showed skepticism towards the use of technology in learning or unlearning and its interference with the workings of the mind. On the other hand, some films showed the use of technology as a tool to enhance a learning environment and as a medium to experience difficult tasks with surprising ease. These films showed a utopian insight into educational technology by reflecting it as a mediating tool to enhance efficiency, reduce the amount of time consumed in learning to an insignificant value, and provide convenience. Technology as a Tool Tony Stark AKA Iron Man is in his highly equipped laboratory. He is wearing artificial robotic legs. He is communicating with a computer that is monitoring these robotic legs based on his commands. Another computer device has a fire extinguisher ready, in case of a fire hazard. Tony is uncomfortable with this computer’s vigilant intrusion and commands it to stay out of the way and not to be extra-cautious about the process. He is learning to fly. (Iron Man, 2008) Educational technology as a tool to increase efficiency and convenience was also a recurring sub motif in films. It was a theme frequent enough to be marked as an independent category in our thematic analysis. We refined this category by noticing the subtleties in the portrayal of these tools. We found educational technology either being depicted as a direct tool to implement learning/unlearning or as a mediated tool to facilitate learning/unlearning. However, in most films, we found a propensity towards mediated tools rather than direct tools. Direct tools were found to be more ingrained in the process, and hence, easily overlooked. Because direct tools weren’t used as overtly as mediated tools to portray an educational technology, our study also primarily revolved around technology as a mediated tool. We believe that this was a subtheme that was highlighted in these examples and is more likely to travel to the public. Implications of Learning and Unlearning The only way for Trinity to escape through the traffic is on a bike. But she does not know how to ride one. People are chasing her and intend to kill her. There is no time for her to learn to ride a bike at this sensitive time. She calls the control station to learn this skill of riding a sports bike. Within seconds, they download this skill to her brain. She now knows, and off she goes. (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003) Joel wants to erase his ex-girlfriend Clementine from his memory. He is at the clinic that will start this procedure. They map his brain on to a computer and ask him to recall his memory of Clementine by looking at objects that remind of her. As he thinks of her, technicians mark spots in his brain where respective memory is stored. All these memories will be set for deletion. Technically, portions of his brain will be intentionally damaged. (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004) Film clips that manifested a form of learning of new knowledge using technology as a tool, based on our criterion, were tagged as Learning. Here, learning could be of new skills, content knowledge, information, ideas, memories, etc., irrespective of the aforementioned theories of mind. In this process, most technologies that we encountered in films were either fictional or some advanced derivative of existing technology that were being used as a tool to mediate learning. Similarly, if a film clip displayed a form of unlearning of some information, prior knowledge, experience, ideas, memories, etc., using technology as a direct or mediated tool was categorized as Unlearning, irrespective of the theories of mind. In almost all the clips that we encountered, the phenomenon of unlearning was not imagined without the use of an advanced technology. Noticing the primary similarity in the implication of these two categories, we clustered them together into one, ‘Implications of Learning and Unlearning.’ This category always overlapped with the theories of mind in one form

or the other. For instance, while some films reflected learning from a cognitive perspective, others displayed unlearning from a behaviorist or distributed knowledge perspective, or vice versa. In any of these cases, film clips fell under one of the theories of mind and one of the implications of learning or unlearning. In sum, it should be acknowledged that these themes were not mutually exclusive and often overlapped one another. Theory of Mind Alex, a degenerate criminal-minded young man is sent to a rehabilitation center in lieu of 14 years of imprisonment for his propensity towards violence and sex. As an alternative, he is promised a cure for of this violent inclination in two weeks using the aversion therapy. He is forced to sit and watch violent images, with his eyelids propped open, which develops his aversion towards violence. (A Clockwork Orange, 1971) Another commonly recurring theme in films was found to be pertaining to some kind of theory of mind. Several different filmmakers reflected different perspectives towards their definitions of how a human brain works. Most filmmakers used the cognitivist approach towards defining the workings of a brain and the process of learning, often using the brain as a computer analogy. This relationship was frequent and commonly accepted in most science fiction films that we encountered. Some filmmakers chose to approach the process of learning from the behaviorist perspective (see example above). Their theory of mind either centered around behaviorism or plain response to stimuli relationship. We noted that a film’s stand on the theory of mind was primarily influenced by the era in which it was made. Films of Stanley Kubrick that were filmed during the late 1960s or early 1970s reflected the behaviorist approach. On the other hand, films that released in the mid 1980s or later primarily went with the cognitivist approach. Besides these two, another approach that was highlighted in some films was of distributed knowledge. Some films portrayed knowledge as distributed but embodied in objects around us that are linked to our mind through memories. In these cases, Educational technology mediated the learning or unlearning process. It must be noted that more theories can be found out in different films, but they will still be categorized as a ‘Theory of Mind.’ The structure of our study restricts us to talk about all the kinds of learning theories in detail. Therefore, we kept our categories as general as possible to allow scope for further addition of new films.

Conclusion From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Inception, may it be the time lapse in learning, human capacity of memory storage, unlearning of harsh memories, modification of unwanted behavior, learning of new habits, or changing the perception of reality, the constantly recurring motif in all films was their perspective of the educational technology. We found out that all films had their independent approach towards educational technology in their fictional settings and a conclusive utopian or dystopian perspective towards it. This perspective defined the context of technology in a film’s settings. Having defined the context of usage, the educational technology depicted in these films was then set to use. The only way of using educational technology in films was as a tool. This tool could be a direct or a mediating tool. In both the instances, however, this tool worked towards learning or unlearning activities. All films had implications of learning or unlearning with the use of educational technology as a tool. This activity intersected with the factor of time in different forms. Learning and unlearning was sometimes of new knowledge and skills, and sometimes of new behavior. However, it all eventually came down to the approach and a theory of mind. All films depicted the human mind in seemingly unique fashion, but still with surprising similarities. Most sciencefiction films depicted the human mind like a computer, while others, especially films during or before the 1970s, took the behaviorist approach. Some films approached these existing theories with a twist of distributive or social perspective of knowledge. We found the Theory of Mind to be an umbrella theme for all the other themes,

immediately circumscribing utopian and dystopian perspective in it. This perspective encircled the implications of learning and unlearning that parented the concept of using technology as a tool. We believe that this thematic structure would satisfy all films that depict educational technology in one form or the other. For the sake of generalizability and acceptance of new films, we have kept our themes broad yet unique enough to cover different facets of the portrayal of educational technology in cinema. Popular media is both an object and a reflection of the public opinion. We expect the dominating utopian depiction of educational technology to stem from a positive attitude of filmmakers towards it. Considering predominantly a subtle portrayal of educational technology in films, people who watch these films might not be able to put a label on the educational factor of technology right away. But we find that they are more likely to notice the educational aspects of technology in the positive light. Based on this assumption, we also feel the need to expand this research to a wider film database. With a detailed database of film clips and more wide ranging views of technology, we will be better able to analyze the picture of this portrayal. A research that summarizes and assesses more samples of film clips that deal primarily on educational technology would be able to present a more lucid result. Based on a detailed research, we can take this study to the next step of a quantitative study of public perspective of educational technology.

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Appendix List of Films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) Apollo 13 (1995) Avatar (2009) Avengers, The (2012) Blade Runner (1982) Clockwork Orange, A (1971) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Ghost in the Shell (1995) Matrix, The (1999) Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) Men in Black (1997) Men in Black II (2002) Men in Black III (2012) Minority Report (2002) Inception (2010) Iron Man (2008) Iron Man 3 (2013) Paprika (2006) RoboCop (1987) Star Wars (1977) Twelve Monkeys (1995) Wall-E (2008) X Men: First Class (2011)