01 Oct What contemporary technologies are interesting or important to you?
Over the next 8 weeks, you will complete a Course Project comprised of eight weekly assignments. Each assignment is designed to help you deeply explore and critically analyze a specific technology. You will choose your technology from one of the following areas: environmental technology, medical technology, social technology, or economic/financial technology. In your exploration of your chosen technology, you will address ethical considerations, establish historical context, and consider cultural, social, and economic implications. Therefore, it is imperative that your technology be appropriate in scope and able to be researched.
To get started this week, study the Course Project Overview page in the Introduction & Resources Module. Then begin to consider ideas for your project. What contemporary technologies are interesting or important to you? What technologies are foundational to your professional industry or community?
After generating ideas and exploring a few topics, select the technology you will use for your Course Project and conduct some exploratory research. Once you have a sense of your topic, address the following in your initial post.
What is your chosen technology? Remember to choose a specific technology (e.g., surgical robotics) rather than just reflect an area of technology (e.g., technology in medicine).
What is your purpose in writing about this technology? What do you want to learn?
What impressions and assumptions do you have about your topic? What are the benefits and risks associated with the technology? What potential impacts can you identify?
What is your research plan? Where will you go to find sources on your topic, and how will you determine the credibility of those sources?
Finally, what are some of the most significant issues associated with your technology (e.g., the potential harm to wildlife from wind farms)?
In your follow-up posts, please provide feedback to your peers that is specific and substantive – critique topic, plan, and issues associated and ask questions. Help each other think through the topic.
LAS432 Professor Information
Week 2 Discussion
Evaluating Ethics
The reading for this week highlights the centrality of social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, to the success of political activism movements. Citing the case of the 2011 Arab Spring, many scholars and cultural critics have suggested that the spreading of information across social media platforms created the conditions for a political movement by exposing people to new ideas, providing a forum to communicate about social injustice, and create an interest in human rights (Quinn, 2020).
Although the Arab Spring movement demonstrates the importance of social media in advocating for social change, it can also have adverse effects. As we have seen in recent years, social media platforms are often used to spread false information that can have serious consequences for democratic structures.
Consider the use of social media in the political arena. For example, social media has been an important way for social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter to help organize and facilitate conversations around the importance of systemic racialized violence and police brutality. Or the case of the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021, where rioters willingly shared images and video of their crimes, often resulting in social and legal consequences. Although these are two examples of how social media is used to spread information, they are also powerful reminders of how collective consciousness can operate constantly connected world.
To think about this further, select a social media platform and analyze the ethical impacts. What are the strengths of the technology and how does it benefit the population? What are the weaknesses of the technology and its potential limitations? What are external factors that may contribute to the success of the technology? Finally, what external factors may pose a threat to the success or adoption of the technology? What social, political, and cultural trends may influence reception?
Your initial post should include concrete examples. Be sure to provide APA citations for any outside references used.
Note: if you have Netflix an excellent video that discusses some of the the challenges faced because of social media is Social Dilemma. If you watch it please share your thoughts.
LAS432 Professor Information
Week 3 Discussion
Context in the Information Age
We live in the Information Age, an era where computers and automation have transformed our daily lives. Emerging technologies are being developed at an increased rate, leading to new behaviors and perceptions of these technologies. The rapid development of these new advancements makes it difficult for society to assess their effect. To better understand these new technologies, it is helpful to frame them within an historical context (Quinn, 2020).
The readings this week explored the development of technology in relation to history. From early technological advances, such as counters and the alphabet, to the recent development of broadband internet and cloud storage, we are continuously developing new technologies to solve problems in our lives. At its core, technology is meant to make life better; however, emerging technologies can often generate new (unforeseen) problems. Although we cannot stop the creation of new technologies, we can control their adoption and make informed decisions about their use (Quinn, 2020).
The goal this week is to analyze your technology from an historical context to better understand why it developed and its influence on society. Through this historical analysis, you will gain a more complete understanding of your technology that will help you generate appropriate ethical questions that will be crucial to your analysis in this course.
In your initial post, address the following to help you begin to understand the historical context of your technology as you progress with your assignment this week.
Why was your technology originally developed? What problem was it trying to solve?
Historically, what has the impact of your technology been on society? Can you identify how different people and demographics have been affected by your technology? Has the impact been proportional?
Develop an ethical question based on your historical analysis of your technology.
LAS432 Professor Information
Week 4 Discussion
Evaluating Sources Strategically
For this week’s assignment, you will complete a Literature Review. The goal of a Literature Review is to gain an understanding of the existing research and debates relevant to a particular topic or area of study and to synthesize that information though critical analysis.
To help you to succeed, this week’s discussion will provide you the opportunity to share your strongest source with your fellow classmates. Here is what you need to do for your initial post.
First, provide the full source reference in APA style.
Next, summarize the source in your own words in a well-developed paragraph.
Finally, assess the source. Explain what qualities make it especially valuable.
In your follow-up posts, respond to the posts of your fellow students and build upon their ideas.
