Here are some things that you may remember from the science fiction movie classic, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial:
- At the beginning, E.T. is a little bit mysterious and spooky
- Most of the adults are fearful of E.T.
- The children generally react to E.T. matter-of-factly or with a sense of joy and play
Those who become comfortable with E.T. discover that it can augment their personal abilities (mental bonding) and make other amazing things happen (telekinesis, revival of a dying plant)- E.T. often has no clue - or doesn’t seem to care - about fitting into the surrounding environment; it just does its own thing
- E.T. is easily (and sometimes disastrously) attracted to new things (pizza, Reese’s Pieces, television, beer)
- Sometimes E.T. wreaks havoc (frogs!)
- E.T. touches people’s emotions: it’s vexing, wondrous, and exhilarating; it makes people laugh and cry
- Those who really understand E.T. are impacted quite powerfully by it
- In many ways our world is both hostile and toxic to E.T.
- The government reacts with a heavy hand and tries to lock everything down and keep everyone safe from E.T.
- Ultimately, E.T. has to live in its own special world in order to thrive
Go back and read this list again. Kind of sounds like Educational Technology (E.T.), doesn’t it?
Image credit: E.T.
appropriate analogy
E.T. always wanted to make a connection, too (E.T. phone home!).
It maps pretty well to a description of a small child, actually.