Perspective on Technology and Religious Education

"Unfortunately, while society may indeed be surfing upon the waves of a technological tsunami it is, nonetheless, in danger of drowning in a sea of information. Mankind's inner thirst for absolutes can only be quenched by Divine Truth and not by diffuse data-bits!" Frank Marangos wrote this in an article in 2003 entitled, "The Internet and Distance Learning: Plumbing the Well of Cyberspace for Religious Education." At the time of publication, he pointed out that over 2 million people daily were accessing the internet seeking spiritual or religious information. I would guess that number to be higher 6 years later just because more and more people have internet access.



Isn't that hopeful? That of all the information available on the Internet, many people are seeking out spiritual in addition to material or intellectual pursuits. All of the advantages of distance education suddenly seemed so valuable to me: that with great flexibility and independence, and at relatively low cost, "Divine Truth" as Marangos called it, is becoming more and more accessible. The new features on Mormon.org are one example of this. People who want to know about the LDS church can search the Internet and find a myriad of information. Some is true and some is misleading. But now, technology has enabled people all over the world to access the full-time missionaries and ask whatever questions they'd like to. Missionaries are not physically allowed in some places, but ANYONE with Internet access can ask questions they have to official church representatives instead of having to guess about the accuracy of whatever site they find.



It also made me think about the implied responsibility of all who use the Internet to say something: there is little good in producing just a bunch of "diffuse data-bits" that clog up our sea of information. (Many of you are probably thinking this blog sounds like a lot of diffuse data-bits right now). It seems as though in the cultural arts and in the sports world, people are willing to pay a premium to see the best talent, production, competition, etc. In the internet, where access is usually free, perhaps the only price we pay is our limited time given to reading whatever we choose. Hopefully I can 1) make meaningful contributions and 2) choose wisely what I give my time to while "surfing" our "sea of information" as Marangos said.