Technology and Inclusivity in the Classroom

So today I pointed out that someone (a friend of a friend) used the phrase “that’s so gay” on facebook.  I do this on occasion in person (the usage of gay and retarded are the most frequent) and have never really had an issue.  Most apologize, correct what they said and the conversation moves on.  However in this case, the girl blew up on me.  I won’t post what was exactly said, but lets just say we wont be facebook friends anytime soon.  It struck me as odd since I’ve never had this reaction before, and it actually got me thinking: would this have happened if I told her in person. 

And this is what scares me, cause I don’t think so.  The first step to discrimination is to dehumanize the individual.  However in a world where we are all connected, not face to face, but wireless signal to wireless signal, the “human” touch is all too much lost.  A person is just wittled down to a screen name and tiny picture.  That’s pretty much as far away from a human as I can think of.  It’s no wonder there is so much hate on the internet these days, its just so easy to think of the people you are interacting with as not human.

So in the classroom how can we combat the fact that so many students are living in a world where its so easy to discriminate and dehumanize others 75% of the time?  I’ve heard so much about bringing technology into the classroom, and not to fight it, but there’s got to be something said for good ol’ face to face interaction.  So I want to pose a question: Do you think inclusivity in the classroom is at all affected by the increase use of technology?  Do students bring with them how they act online to the classroom?  Do teachers have to work harder today to create an inclusive, personal environment these days compared to years pervious? Is there a connection at all?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, but its just something I’ve been pondering today.