Technology as Amplifier and Accelerator

Listening to a podcast at www.speedofcreativity.com just now, one of the guests referred to technology as an amplifier. Technology allows for amplification; for example, a letter (email) can now be sent to a thousand people as easily as just one. Technology in the classroom tends to amplify the teaching style, whether constructivist or directed. Students can dive deeply into project-based-learning, or get bored from poorly created or implemented "drill & kill" software.

I've also recently heard technology referred to as an "accelerator," as it speeds up the process of communication, publication, dissemination, etc. One example of this in my everyday work that I've noticed is the acceleration with which new ideas, "best practices," or cool websites get circulated among web-connected educational-technologists. If you regularly read a variety of ed-tech blogs, you see patterns emerge of the discussion of promising new trends in education. Maybe Will Richardson mentions some new thought or website, and then a few other bloggers pick up on it and these blogs get fed by RSS to hundreds of readers (like me); someone sends it out to a list-serv, and then someone else cross-posts it to another list-serv. The bottom line is that more people learn about it more quickly. The technology has accelerated the dissemination of ideas.

The alliterative allure of these two terms appeals, as does their conceptual schema.

Anytime, Anyplace, Any Path, Any Pace.