Implications for Education

I am writing this blog for a class on educational technology and I am supposed to link my reading to education. This is a bit of a stretch, since The Soul of a New Machine is an early history of computer technologies, which focuses on the engineers, who are the "soul of the machine." There is little explicit reference to how this history impacts society, children or education. However, I have made some connections.
One valuable understanding I have gleaned from the book is what characterizes and drives an engineer. I feel that as a teacher I will now be able to recognize future engineers in my own classroom and I will definitely be more prepared to empathize with and support their excitement and affinity for technology. This is an especially important lesson for me, since I myself am not particularly inclined toward the technological. I think this reading has made me more resolved to provide students with access to technology and to incorporate technology into my teaching in order to best reach those students who respond to it so strongly. Over and over again in Kidder's narrative he interviews young engineers who relate their common fascination as children (and as adults!): taking things apart and putting them back together again. These kinds of thinkers are logical, bright, focused and inventive; they want to know how things work and they want to make things work. I can now easily identify this as a "learning type." Just as some of us are visual or auditory learners, there are those who are drawn to and have a natural understanding of the mechanical and technological.
Another thing that strikes me about these engineers is their singular and tireless drive. They seem obsessively compelled to invent, tinker, and perfect. Most of them sleep very little, neglect their social lives, and they are quite competitive, both internally within their teams and of course with other companies. When asked what drives them they often mention prestige, competitiveness, a desire to control and mastermind the machine, and the sheer fun and mental challenge of it all. Interestingly, they often add that they do not do it for the money or to make the world a better place.
Most of the engineers are men, and I think this remains true even now, almost 30 years later. This point brings up many questions for me. Are men really more inclined to the technological or is it simply a case of historical precedence and women being excluded from "the boy's club?" The fact remains that men have and still do dominate this field and I imagine this has a real impact on its products, namely computers. I suspect that computers are gender biased and more "male friendly." It will be important to encourage more women to enter this field so that they can create computers that better reflect the way women think. Of course, this same point could be made for minority races and non-western cultures, who are also underrepresented in this field. Those who control and create technology have a great deal of power and so it is imperative to make this a more diverse group. As a teacher, I feel I will have some influence in this respect.