Tech & Us
Time N/A

Difficulty Module 1
Prerequisites Computer Science A
Departments Career & Technology Studies
Authors Sandra Kuipers
Groupings Individual
Pairs
Threes
Minimum Year Group None

Blurb

The world is a crazy place, and technology is changing all the time. This unit helps you to ask questions about technology, and what it means to us as a species.

License

This work is shared under the following license: Creative Commons BY-SA-NC

Outline

Learner Outcomes
Students will:
  • ...
Competency Focus
  • ...
Interdisciplinary Connections
  • ...
Reflection
What was successful? What needs changing? Alternative Assessments and Lesson Ideas? What other Differentiation Ideas/Plans could be used?
  • ...
Credits
Any CC attribution, thanks, credit, etc.

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Technowhat?
The Pitch

  • Technology is taking over the world: it is everywhere, and has made us who we are.
  • Want to really understand technology? Try some new points of view...

Human Technologies
Theory
  • Often we think of "technology" as things like computers and cars...but really, technology is much broader.
  • We can thinking of technology as anything that is made by humans.
  • Technology includes:
    • Material Technologies: computers, clothes, roads
    • Cognitive Technologies: language, maths
    • Social Technologies: language, manners
    • Spiritual Technologies: meditation, religion
  • Fire is an interesting example: it is not a technology...but the ability to control, manage and make it is a technology.
  • To really think broadly about technology, the Human Technologies Venn diagram shows us four overlapping categories of technology, contained within one over-arching category:

  • As you can see, technology is very broad and includes material "stuff" as well as many non-material technologies (such as spoken language).
  • The somatic category relates to those technologies that act in relation to our bodies (e.g. all technologies!)
  • This study of Human Technologies was developed at ICHK as part of their 5+1 model.
What Is Technology
Theory
  • By learning what technology is, and how it effects us, we can learn to be better at being human.
  • The two videos below give some insight into what technology is, and how it has affected us as a species:

Historical Perspectives
Socrates & Luddites
  • Technology, seen as tools (e.g. things that help us), can be very positive. It allows us to do more things with less effort.
  • However, technology can also be seen as a threat to who we are, and so sometimes people react against technologies.
    • For example, Socrates lamented writing as a technology, saying it would ruin our memories: “[Writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves.” – Socrates, as recorded by Plato
    • And then there were the Luddites:

  • If we are honest, we can see positives and negatives in any technology: whether we accept and embrace technologies should depend on this balance.
  • Our current technologies at school (laptops, smartphones, the Internet), are not immune from this: which the rest of this unit seeks to consider.
Humans Need Not Apply
Your Future
  • In the same way that the Luddites raised the alarm about jobs being lost to mechanical machines, people today are worried about computers and robots taking jobs.
  • Watch the video below (Humans Need Not Apply), and see where you stand on this issue:

Finishing Up
Evidence
  • Hopefully, in this unit, you have formulated some ideas and opinions on what technology means to humans as a species (rather than to you as an individual).
  • Present these ideas and opinions and then submit your work as evidence of your learning by adding more slides to your Computer Science A presentation.
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