About the Author

John E. McEneaney is a faculty member in the Department of Reading and Language Arts at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, USA. John teaches courses in reading theory and instructional systems technology. He is a former elementary grades teacher whose interests in using computers to support teaching and learning date back to the middle 1970s. When not engaged in professional pursuits (that currently focus on reader navigation in online reading environments), John is known as husband to Cheri, and father to Kathleen (10) and Sarah (7). Contact him by e-mail at mceneane@oakland.edu

And an Author's Note on Ink to Link

One of the classes I teach at Oakland University introduces students to technology applications in education. Nearly all come expecting the kind of course they might get at a technology training seminar. When I tell them the course is not about technology but about teaching and learning, they get worried looks on their faces.

Some students wonder if I'm just pushing them to think about what they think the course is about. And I'll admit to using pedagogical devices specifically intended to surprise students or otherwise destabilize conventional patterns of thinking. I don't, however, describe the course in this way for shock value or pedagogical utility. I believe it quite literally and, in my view, it is the single most important thing I say during the term.

Technology certainly influences what we do, but it exerts a far more powerful and subtle influence on the way we think. It shapes the mental objects and operations we employ and alters the very “space” our minds work in. But the obvious physicality of technology artifacts (i.e., the box on the desktop) and the frequently obtuse and arbitrary nature of user interfaces (“Was that a ctrl-shift-4 or a ctrl-alt-F4?”) make it hard to see this forest for the trees.

Ink to Link is rather like my class: it's not about technology either.

I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'd like to hear what you think. Send me a note or join the discussion in Online Communities.

John Mc

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