Innovative usage of technology some case studies

Assignment

topic:-INNOVATIVE USAGE OF TECHNOLOGY :SOME CASES STUDIES.

Introduction

subverting the relationship between individuals and institutions In the last 10 years one billion people have gleefully adopted the possibility to stay in continuous contact with the people they love. Their days are now dotted with small interactions with family, partners and friends. Research has repeatedly shown that up to 80% of the exchanges of any one person, regardless of the channel (mobile phone, social networking, instant messaging..) are with only 5 people. Obviously, the five closest ties. When the word “technology” is used today, it is most often used to refer to high technology – computers, cell phones, rockets – rather than technology in general. But when anthropologists use the word “technology,” they go all the way back to the controlled use of fire (from about 500,000 – 1 million years ago), the invention of the wheel (c. 4000 BCE), and beyond. The first technological tools were simple hand-axes made by our hominid ancestors millions of years ago.

Diffination of technology

... Technology is a broad term that refers both to artifacts created by humans, such as machines, and the methods used to create those artifacts. More broadly, technology can be used to refer to a way of doing something or a means of organization: for instance, democracy might be considered a social technology. Technology comes from the Greek technologia, which is a combination of “techne”, meaning “craft”, and logia, meaning “saying”. So technology might be considered the articulation of a craft. The word is also used to describe the extent to which a society can manipulate its environment.

When the word “technology” is used today, it is most often used to refer to high technology – computers, cell phones, rockets – rather than technology in general. But when anthropologists use the word “technology,” they go all the way back to the controlled use of fire (from about 500,000 – 1 million years ago), the invention of the wheel (c. 4000 BCE), and beyond. The first technological tools were simple hand-axes made by our hominid ancestors millions of years ago.

InnovativeTransforming the home

Last year at TED global I discussed of the effect that written digital communication is having on the workplace. I showed how the extensive amount of private exchanges by SMS, email, IM and more recently social networking, is allowing people to stay in touch with loved ones throughout the day. This is happening in settings where personal exchanges had been banned for the last 150 years. This irruption of intimate communication is challenging a deeply rooted belief about the ethics of work that people should

other - it really comforting is about Talking with M In the last few months my students from ENSAD and I have been doing interviews with people who have relatives and family abroad. I wanted to study how communication patterns of transnational families were changing thanks to services like Skype. The vagaries of recruiting people led us to have a mix of households, some with very significant and recent ties with people in distant countries and some who simply came from families who had migr...

The earliest technological divisions are from mankind’s early history, divided into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age depending on the primary tool and weapon-making material at the time. Each building material is superior to the one before it, but more difficult to develop requisite metallurgical techniques. The Iron Age began in about 1400 BCE.

Application of knowledge to the practical aims of human life or to changing and manipulating the human environment. Technology includes the use of materials, tools, techniques, and sources of power to make life easier or more pleasant and work more productive. Whereas science is concerned with how and why things happen, technology focuses on making things happen. Technology began to influence human endeavour as soon as people began using tools. It accelerated with the Industrial Revolution and the substitution of machines for animal and human labour. Accelerated technological development has also had costs, in terms of air and water pollution and other undesirable environmental effects.

Systematic knowledge and action, usually of industrial processes but applicable to any recurrent activity. Technology is closely related to science and to engineering. Science deals with humans' understanding of the real world about them—the inherent properties of space, matter, energy, and their interactions. Engineering is the application of objective knowledge to the creation of plans, designs, and means for achieving desired objectives. Technology deals with the tools and techniques for carrying out the plans.

There are two reasons to pursue scientific knowledge: for the sake of the knowledge itself, and for the practical uses of that knowledge. Because this second aspect of science affects the lives of most people, it is more familiar than the first. Knowledge must be gained, however, before it can be applied, and often the most important technological advances arise from research pursued for its own sake.

Traditionally, new technology has been concerned with the construction of machines, structures, and tools on a relatively large scale. The development of materials for building bridges or skyscrapers is an example of this, as is the development of the internal-combustion engine and the nuclear reactor. While such activities involve all the sciences, from chemistry to nuclear physics, the overriding goal has been the same: to improve the human condition by finding better ways to deal with the macroscopic world.

usages of AboutInformation about technology usage statistics

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What is Technology?

What Counts as Technology?

Throughout the twentieth century the uses of the term have increased to the point where it now encompasses a number of “classes” of technology:

1. Technology as Objects:

Tools, machines, instruments, weapons, appliances - the physical devices of technical performance

2. Technology as Knowledge:

The know-how behind technological innovation

3. Technology as Activities:

What people do - their skills, methods, procedures, routines

4. Technology as a Process:

Begins with a need and ends with a solution

5. Technology as a Sociotechnical System:

The manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination The Nature of Technology

Technology has a number of distinct characteristics:

1. It is Related to Science?

Although there is certainly a relationship between science and technology, there is, except in certain high technology industries, very little technology that could be classified as applied science. Technology is marked by different purposes, different processes a different relationship to established knowledge and a particular relationship to specific contexts of activity. Change in the material environment is the explicit purpose of technology, and not, as is the case with science, the understanding of nature; accordingly its solutions are not right or wrong, verifiable or falsifiable, but more or less effective from different points of view.

2. It Involves Design

At the centre of technology lies design. That “design is the very core of engineering” is affirmed by the requirement that all degree engineering courses should embody it. The design process in technology is a sequential process which begins with the perception of a need, continues with the formulation of a specification, the generation of ideas and a final solution, and ends with an evaluation of the solution.

3. It Involves Making

The motivating factor behind all technological activity is the desire to fulfil a need. For this reason all designs should be made or realised - whether that be through prototype, batch- or mass- production or some form of three-dimensional or computer model - if the need is to be truly fulfilled, the design is to be legitimately evaluated, and the design activity is to have been purposeful and worthwhile.

4. It is Multi-Dimensional

Not only may design and production involve co-operation between different specialisms (between, for example, designer, production engineer and materials scientist), but may involve “technologists” in performing a multitude of functions, such as working with others, operating within budgets, persuading decision makers, communicating to clients and working to deadlines.

5. It Is Concerned With Values

Technology is informed by values at every point. Value decisions may be called for not only in relation to the specific design criteria (i.e. aesthetic, ergonomic and economic judgements, suitability for purpose and ease of manufacture) but also in relation to the rightness or wrongness of a particular solution in ethical terms. 6. It is Socially Shaped/Shaping

Technological enterprises are determined not by advances in knowledge nor simply by the identification of needs, but by social interests. Of the potential new technologies available at any one time only a few are developed and become widely implemented. In this way technology is shaped by society, by consumer choice. yet it could also be argued that technology shapes society - the technology of the motor car, for example, has shaped our environment and our whole way of life.

What is Technology?

•	Teachers have an especially important role to play in technological advancements, as incorporating technology in the classroom can be both a learning tool for students and a teaching tool for the instructor. •	Technology education as its own field outside of general scientific inquiry is a fairly recent field of study, but it has become increasingly important in developing regions of the world. The proper implementation of technology in the classroom is often an important part of technology education, though it is not always essential. Technology In The Math Classroom on wiseGEEK:

•	Teachers have an especially important role to play in technological advancements, as incorporating technology in the classroom can be both a learning tool for students and a teaching tool for the instructor.

•	With the appropriate training, a person can become an engineering technician at a manufacturing plant or research and development firm. An individual interested in electrical engineering technology can prepare for a career in the field as early as high school. A student can benefit greatly from advanced courses in math, physics, and chemistry Technology In The Social Studies Classroom on wiseGEEK:

•	Graduates may become teachers of teachers and train educators in curriculum usage or help them to incorporate new practices or technologies in the classroom. There are also career opportunities in the corporate world and with non-profit organizations.

•	Lesson study can also use modern technology, such as the Internet, to allow teachers to compare ideas and develop lessons together in virtual settings. Although used increasingly in higher education in the US, lesson study practices were initially developed for use in primary and secondary education in Japan.

6 Questions, 10 Unique Perspectives

The University of Victoria, as with many other post-secondary institutions in BC and beyond, has a strong mandate to support high quality learning experiences for its students. To this end, administrators and instructors, who are becoming increasingly accountable to the public, are aiming to meet the needs of diverse students by improving the student experience, and increasing student engagement, flexibility and innovation in learning. Since educational technologies used in blended and distance-learning contexts are a means of addressing these emerging student needs, The University of Victoria is committed to highlighting examples and best practices of innovative educational technology use amongst faculty as a way of encouraging a culture of teaching and learning excellence.

One strategy UVic used to build community around best practices and examples in educational technology use was to create an Online Teaching and Learning Showcase event inviting faculty to share their best practices in the use of educational technologies through interactive panels and poster sessions. Launched in the spring of 2008, this event was very successful in creating ‘buzz’ around educational innovation, and so a second annual event, “Online Teaching and Learning Showcase 2009: Foundations for Innovation” was launched, profiling a unique discussion panel on “Online Peer Review Practices”, as well as 19 case studies of faculty members from UVic and Simon Fraser University who used educational technologies to promote student-centered learning strategies, flexible learning models, collaborative practices and online learning communities. Over 115 educators from UVic, Camosun College, Royal Roads University, Simon Fraser University, and the BC Ministry of Education attended the event. The professional conversations around innovation and student learning were very fruitful, and three umbrella themes were identified via Showcase survey results, informal feedback and taped interviews conducted during the Showcase:

•	Knowledge-sharing. The opportunity and venue for instructors of different disciplines to discuss teaching and learning strategies and outcomes rated highly on the reasons to attend the Showcase. Participants noted that so much discussion takes place at the discipline level, but rarely do members of different faculties at multiple institutions have the opportunity to connect and share knowledge around innovative teaching practices. Instructors referenced terms such as “professional learning opportunities” and professional learning communities”.

•	Advocacy. Instructors explained advocacy as being provided with the opportunity and support (technical, instructional, and administrative) to become more involved with piloting and implementing educational technology initiatives. Direct involvement is essential, we heard, to building motivation, exposure and ongoing participation with students, colleagues, Chairs and Deans.

•	Best Practices. Instructors, especially the new adopters, indicated that they prefer concrete examples/discussion of best practices shared by other instructors. Most indicated that technology training alone isn’t sufficient, and that even though technology and pedagogy need greater coordination, instructors learn best from other instructors, rather than from faculty developers or instructional designers alone. Instructors wanted access to ‘tried and true’ teaching with technology frameworks, guidelines for curriculum design, and simple tips on how to build, teach and manage technology supported activities, especially in blended learning contexts, as understood from other faculty/instructors.

Conclusion:-

Conventionally, technology education is split into sections of theory and practice. The theory part is delivered in lectures, and the practical aspect of technology is delivered to the student in the laboratories. A different approach, corresponding to the natural learning process, has been introduced in the Technologies Department of the College of Staten Island within the City University of New York. The authors show how the adaptation of the principles of a natural learning environment to technology education puts both the student and the instructor in full control of the pace of learning. The instructor holds the upper hand of directing the course of study as well as the manipulation of course content to ensure smooth and continuous knowledge dissemination and assimilation. An attempt is also made to improve students' metacognitive skills.