Given we are immersed in technology, how do we "see" it in order to evalute its utility and impacts?

Like anything in life that cannot be explained, we, as human beings, assign qualities and images to the unexplainable so that we may evaluate it according to our own comprehensible standards and values. Furthermore, when we are so deeply immersed in "something" we have to step-out of it, get away from it, and remove ourselves from it, in order to truly see it.

Technology is no exception.

One way to evaluate technology's impact and utility is to create a metaphor for technology. My metaphor for technology is:

• Technology is a firestorm that engulfs the education classroom in flames. While we need it in order to birth new ideas and develop innovative thought, as fire releases seeds from pine cones, it also destroys the old foundations that humans have relied on for generations, just as fire does to the forty year old family home.

Another way to evaluate technology's impact and utility is to think of technology critically. If we understand why technology is important, what it can offer us (and what it cannot), and make informed decisions on the use of appropriate digital tools and resources, then we can better evaluate its impact and use — which is essential for us to be able to fully understand and appreciate technology's impact on human life.