Publish at August 05 2024 Updated August 05 2024
Modern technologies have forever changed our approach to communication, commerce, culture and more. But our uses have a cost, and not just a financial one. Their ecological footprint is undeniable, and ever-increasing demands are depleting the planet's resources and upsetting its equilibrium. What's more, the industry doesn't care, as it continues to market new models that are ever more efficient and extraordinary than their predecessors, in a race that has no end, other than that of the planet's limits.
As far back as the 1970s, when computers had not yet entered homes en masse, thinkers and researchers were pondering the technological question and its effects. How could we advance technologically without having to use too many resources, by recycling so-called obsolete components and finding techniques to do it ourselves, without the help of large-scale industry.
This philosophy was named "low-tech" in response to the computer world's constant talk of "high-tech". Low-tech is based on 3 key principles: utilitarian, sustainable and accessible.
For the past ten years, researchers have been looking into this approach, which could greatly reduce the ecological footprint while offering the same type of functionality. This means a major paradigm shift for the industry and those who make it. It means going to the source: the brains of budding engineers.
Although it will have taken time and is not yet necessarily everywhere, "low-tech" has become increasingly essential in engineering faculties. This philosophy has often been avoided in the past because it was perceived as too political an approach to engineering. Yet, as Low-tech Lab founder Quentin Mateus points out in this article, he came out of a top school with the baggage to find quick answers to various problems without thinking about the big picture. What are the effects of an engineer's decision on the local and international environment? Is it possible to do better while remaining realistic, even frugal, in one's project?
These questions are finally starting to find their way into the grandes écoles. Programs are being put in place to ensure that students are able to address these issues at least once in their academic careers. Courses are specifically designed to inculcate all the notions of this technological approach, and to teach them how to use it after graduation. All the more so as demand is growing.
Indeed, in a society that needs to reduce its carbon emissions, thousands of companies need to decarbonize and do it without it being too costly. Talents trained in the use of frugal technologies are therefore in demand throughout France and beyond.
Engineering schools are well aware that the environmental crisis is pushing them to adopt less polluting methods. But could the concept of low-tech be introduced as early as primary or secondary school? Faced with generations of cousins hunched over their phones, whose attention is more quickly captured by a notification than by a teacher's question, wouldn't "low-tech" be a possible solution to free them from their devices? Especially as some of them, during the COVID pandemic, had to learn solely via computers. Adopting a less technology-intensive approach seems to many to be a good way of regaining social contact, not just relying on interfaces.
This could run counter to the efforts of the previous decade, when substantial investments were made in information technology. Yet, for some years now, educational researchers have not seen any significant changes in results from the frequent use of computers or mobile devices.
Countries like Finland and South Korea are doing much better without having large computer labs in the classroom. Because this "all-digital" strategy has forgotten one essential aspect: learners live and will continue to live in social and natural environments. Distancing them excessively from this reality has only plunged them further into digital worlds in which they are already sufficiently immersed outside school. Adopting a "low-tech" approach would mean putting the machines away and concentrating on the present moment, on knowledge, on your team, on the environment around you, and so on.
That's not to say that we should do away with all technological devices in education. However, we do need to draw a clear line between when computers are necessary and when they are merely a didactic crutch.
Children don't have an absolute need for technology in the classroom. They want relevant activities, experimentation and reflection on knowledge. Even at a distance, it's possible for a teacher to plan pedagogical activities or assignments that require students to get out and about, and not have their noses constantly riveted to a screen. What's more, taking a "low-tech" route at school would also mean using techniques that are less energy-intensive, more sustainable and probably much cheaper than the solutions offered by industry.
References
Chalon, Nicolas. ""Ecodesign and low tech should be compulsory in engineering schools": students eagerly awaited by companies." Leparisien.fr. Last updated: May 17, 2024. https://www.leparisien.fr/etudiant/jobs-stages/dans-les-ecoles-dingenieurs-lecoconception-et-la-low-tech-devraient-etre-obligatoires-les-etudiants-attendus-de-pied-ferme-par-les-entreprises-AYG2MGNRTBETZPEKMFY7UOJUEA.php.
Cuban, Larry. "High performing teachers with low-tech classrooms." Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice. Last updated February 5, 2023. https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/high-performing-teachers-with-low-tech-classrooms/.
Garin, Sam. "A low-tech approach to remote learning." Fairplay. Last updated June 17, 2022. https://fairplayforkids.org/pf/low-tech-remote/.
"Low-tech finds its place in engineering school curricula." Low-tech Lab. Last updated February 2023. https://lowtechlab.org/fr/actualites-blog/la-low-tech-trouve-sa-place-dans-les-cursus-d-ecoles-d-ingenieurs.
"Low-tech gaining ground in French engineering schools." Energynews. Last updated June 14, 2024. https://energynews.pro/les-low-techs-gagnent-du-terrain-dans-les-ecoles-dingenieurs-francaises/.
"Low-tech Lab. Workshops with schoolchildren and a new tuto." We Explore. Last updated May 25, 2018. https://www.we-explore.org/exploremag/2018/05/low-tech-lab-diffuser-les-low-tech/.
Mateus, Quentin, and Martina Knoop. "What role will low-tech play in tomorrow's society?" Polytechnique Insights. Last updated: September 13, 2023. https://www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/columns/society/what-role-will-low-tech-play-in-tomorrows-society/.
"A new high-touch, low-tech approach to summer learning in West Philadelphia." Penn Today. Last updated August 28, 2023. https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-gse-new-high-touch-low-tech-approach-summer-learning-west-philadelphia.
Parker-Jones, Gareth. "British boarding schools have a low-tech solution for a very modern problem." Spear's. Last updated: May 20, 2024. https://spearswms.com/education/british-boarding-schools-solution-smartphones/.
Roussel, Marianne. "The low-tech approach, a professional way forward?" Jobs That Makesense. Last updated: December 9, 2023. https://jobs.makesense.org/fr/media/s-inspirer/la-low-tech-en-reponse-aux-dissonances/.
"A course on low-tech for future∙es ingénieur∙es." HES-SO. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://www.hes-so.ch/la-hes-so/developpement-durable/projets/detail-projet/un-cours-sur-la-low-tech-pour-les-futures-ingenieures.
"Where are the computers? Building healthy student relationships to tech." The Waldorf School of Philadelphia. Last updated April 14, 2022. https://phillywaldorf.com/blog/computers-waldorf-eschews-classroom-tech.
"Why children thrive without technology." Common Sense Classical. Last updated: May 10, 2024. https://www.commonsenseclassical.com/blog/why-children-thrive-without-technology.
The weight of electronic obsolescence in schools. Last updated: May 1, 2024. https://cursus.edu/fr/30790/decouvrez-le-poids-de-lobsolescence-electronique-dans-les-ecoles
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