8. Responsibilities and Technologies for Good
From WikiEducator
In this topic Responsibilities & Technologies for Good, we will look at some of the uses of technologies where they have very direct personal implications for society and for our health and safety. Who is responsible for the use of these relationships and interactions?
Computers themselves are not capable of original thought but they can act as through they "think". Computers have capabilities to "remember" vast amounts of information and apply the information according to millions of rules that have been defined by hundreds of programmers over decades. How does this all come together?
Learning outcomes
- recognize the benefits associated with computers
- select web sites that provide additional insight into the issues
- examine issues raised in discussions
- write thoughtful responses to questions asked
Keywords
- prototype, reliability, safety, dependency, professionalism, responsibilities, consequences, communities of interest, change leadership
Study notes
- We are becoming more dependent on technology. What safeguards should there be to ensure that we are safe from this technology?
- Who should be responsible in the case of technology doing damage or causing injury?
- What computer errors are just annoying? What are some examples of serious computer errors?
- What is the difference between a "design flaw" and a "bug"? Is one more serious than the other?
- What legal remedies should be available in cases of computer hardware and software problems?
- Are we too dependent on technology?
- Computer "models" of situations are created and used to test "what if..." How reliable and accurate are computer models? Are there computer models that are "better" than real life testing?
- Which people or organizations have helped make systems safer or reduced the negative consequences of errors?
Contents
Assignments
- Before you start the reading and the assignments, take a few minutes to think about what you already know about the topic - Responsibilities & Technologies for Good. What don't you know? What questions do you have? Write a sentence or two about this in the I have questions... discussion.
- Read the Study notes for an overview for the topics that will be covered.
- Read, view, listen to several selections in the Media list.
- Choose 2 words from the Keywords list. For each of the words, find a resource that provides information about its relationship to the course. Include specific information about how technology is involved. Post the words, links to your resources, and a brief description about your selection for each, to the discussion Responsibilities & Technologies for Good keywords . Review 3 others.
- Search the web for resources that talk about wellness and computers. Find one that you think is particularly interesting and dated within the last year. Things to think about - Why is this important to society? Can computer use improve your health and well-being? What are some positive technologies? Find one or more resources that discuss positive health and wellness issues associated with computer use. Post a link to the resource and brief description of the finding along with your personal observations to the Health Impact of Computer Use discussion. Review several other responses.
- Start-Ups. Millions of new businesses are created every year, especially since Covid in 2020. Technologies and internet resources have been important for new products and services, delivery, marketing as well as resources for entrepreneurs and new businesses. Legal, government and financial support are readily available to everyone. What are some new business trends? How have technology and the internet influenced the availability of products and services? How might this continue and expand in the future? Find a resource that provides more information and post the link and a brief outline of your own observations to Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses discussions.
AND Follow up on the posts of 2 others with suggestions to expand on the issues brought up in the original post.
- Transportation. As transportation is one of the major uses of energy, there is a lot of interest in technology associated with this sector of the economy. Are there other technologies that you think should be considered? What are some of the barriers to implementing these technologies? Review 2-3 articles and post a note with a link to articles you reference describing some of the most promising technology development in the Transportation discussion.
- Technology philanthropist - one who believes technology should be implemented and advanced for the betterment of all of humanity. Find some examples of Technology philanthropy. What is the problem being solved? How is technology contributing to the solution? Are there other non-technical approaches now or in the past? More than just money. What technology solutions are being developed or provided and what impact are they having on the affected society? Post a link to your selected resources describing the technology philanthropy and a brief comment about the importance of this contribution to the Technology philanthropy discussion. Review 2-3 others.
- Internet of Things (IoT) - The articles listed in the Media section provide an overview of interesting examples in a broad range of IoT categories. What do you think? What is a surprise? What would you like to see in the future? Post the name and ONE sentence about your selection to the Internet of Things discussion. Conclude your post with a question. Reply to 2 others and conclude your replies with questions.
- Authority and responsibility - Government and its agencies - police, military, tax collectors, ... all have significant powers that have been expanded through the use of technology. How advanced are these technologies? What are some examples of advanced technology adoption? Do they use this authority responsibly? In the Government authority and responsibility discussion, provide a link to a resource and brief description of the government use of technology and that impact it has on society.
- Global impact - Find a resource that discusses a technology that is having a significant impact beyond users in developed countries. Why is this important? Post the link and a summary of the technology and what it will mean to those who will use it to the Global Technologies discussion. Review the post of 2 others.
- Ethics & Responsibilities. Who is responsible for what is published on the internet? Complete the Ethics & Responsibilities quiz. There are no right answers so you must explain your reasons for your choices.
- Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/ is an online open-source reference that hosts millions of articles contributed by thousands of volunteers and managed by highly-trained editors. Wikipedia receives billions of page views per month. Find a Wikipedia article for a topic that interests you. Look at the History and Talk (links in the page header - these are separate pages) for the Wikipedia page you select. In the History page for the article you select, find a contributor and read their profile. In the Talk page, is there any discussion or controversy? In the Wikipedia and Trust discussion provide the link to page you reviewed and a brief summary of the story behind the story including information from the History and Talk pages.
- Interactive information Discovery is a combination of intelligent search engine and interactive visual interface. Visualize the search results so that the user can really understand what drives the list of hits. The search can be refined by manipulating the visualized keywords, thus creating a discovery process instead of the traditional trial-and-error type searches. Find 1-2 examples of interactive information discovery and search visualization. Is the visual display helpful? What did you learn about user interaction? Post a link and your comments to the Interactive information discovery discussion.
- Web Literacy - WRITE / Building - Writing on the web enables one to build and create content to make meaning. Review the Web Literacy skills in the Building group. What is one thing that you aren't sure you understand? Look it up. In the Web Literacy - WRITE discussion, post a link to a resource where you found the answer.
- Learn to code - There is a big push on to have all kids in K-12 learn to code and write programs for computer applications. There are many articles discussing including coding into education. There are sites that provide lessons and coding tools, apps and games. Hour of Code, Code Academy, Scratch, coding apps are just a few of the resources. Check out one of the coding for kids sites. Try the coding lessons yourself. What do you think? Does the resource you selected support kids, teachers learning to code? Post a link to the resource and a brief description along with your thoughts about the importance of learning to code to Learn to Code discussion.
- Project Groups Discussions - What do you wish you had known about group work online that you have discovered through these discussions? What would you share with the group next time? Post your reply to your Project Groups Discussions.
- Reflection - What are some questions that you still have about the topic? How could YOU find answers to these questions? Your response should be 2-3 sentences. Submit to I wonder... assignment.
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