We live in a world that is in flux and ever-changing. This is a bit of a problem if you are attempting to define the “essence” of something. The difficulty lies in establishing a fixed point of reference because things just do not last and no two things can really be said to be exactly the same. Plato’s answer to this problem was to postulate the existence of a metaphysical instance of a thing or “Form”. For Plato, it is the “idea” of a thing that is absolute and enduring—enduring not in the temporal and transitory world of our existence, but enduring because it is situated in a fixed and timeless metaphysical space.
Heidegger argues that the essence of a thing or its “being” does not necessarily need to be something permanent, that the world around us is filed with instances of things existent in there “essencesness”; moreover, humans can initiate and participate in the process of “bring forth” things and that this “bringing forth” or “enframing” has a number of important implications, not only for humans, but, perhaps, for all things.
Technology affects the process of “enframing” and the “bringing forth” of things. It affects the manner, scale, and rate of “enframing” and, consequently, it affects those elements that make-up or participate in the “enframing” process. For example, steel is produced to be used in such things as the production of automobiles, and, although steel is not the 
automobile, it is, nevertheless, affected by the “coming into being” of the automobile. Therefore, since humans can also be subsumed into the process of “enframing” as a unit of labour, technology not only has the potential to affect the human condition, but, perhaps, the essence of what it means to be human.
With this in mind we want to pose two questions to be discussed in the Vista discussion forum:
- Why should educators be mindful of “enframing” when incorporating technology into learning environments?
- Can educational technologies alter the essence of what it means to be human?
Further Links:
Heidegger, M. (1953/1977). The question concerning technology. In M. Heidegger, The question concerning technology and other essays (trans. W. Lovitt) (Pp.3-35). New York: Harper & Row.