This journal is to present my thought on the globalization of technology. I observed that there is a parallel between the hegemony of technology and the fast-food culture specifically in terms of the deskilling and the dehumanization of workers. In this journal, the concept of McDonaldization will be introduced first, followed by the discussion of McDonaldization in this technology era.
Sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society pointed out that the fast-food culture had started to dominate every layer of people’s lives. In this society, there was a tendency to rationalize the thinking of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, homogeneity, standards, and scientific management. The bureaucratic system, with certain advantages though, served to dehumanize those work within. The division of labor rendered the laborers cheap and readily replaceable.
It is difficult to imagine that the same kind of oppressive phenomenon will manifest itself in the education filed, often associated with such humanizing terms as love, compassion, and caring. The rise of online learning, especially virtual schools is the exemplar of how McDonaldization has been rationalized in teaching profession. Now, learning can be bought at cheaper price through the commercialization and technologization of teaching. The public zeal for online learning coerced teachers to cooperate with the digitization and commercialization of the physical instruction such that teaching is turned into an online commodity that can sold and bought again and again. Therefore, the long-term need for teachers will dwindle and be replaced with temporary and cheap labor because now teaching becomes a one-time service thanks to the power of technology.