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Summaries

Page history last edited by Amy Scarpone 12 years, 9 months ago

 

 



 

5. Summaries, April 16 - April 29 2012

 

Week 8 - 9
Each class summarizes the answers received from the   Learning Circle partners. The summaries are posted in the Wiki.

 

 

 


Summary et1     Aga Khan Academy Mombasa, Kenya,

 

We asked the questions:

Evaluate the impact of internet technologies with regards to web 2.0 tools like social networks and internet technologies like cloud computing.

How does reliance on technology affect businesses in your society? Discuss the impacts with real examples wherever possible or case studies drawn from your country.

 

We asked these questions because we felt these related most to what we were covering in class and they covered the major issues we are faced with. This term in Information Technology, our topic was Business Quest which involved exploring online businesses, and the effects they have on the community at large. Also, another topic that we drifted into later on during the project is e-Waste. Due to this, we had researched into emerging technologies during our lessons, and the impact it had on the world at large.The question on businesses and societies was particularly relevant to us as in our lessons we had discussed its effects in Kenya and we were curious to know how it affected other countries and cultures.

 

We expected from the responses to learn about the opinions of students from different parts of the world about social networks and how these affected these students lives. We also expected to learn about how reliance on technology affects businesses in your country. We expected you to discuss some real life examples and how business tools impact your family business or the business of members belonging to your community/society.

 

From the responses, we learnt that the general opinion is that internet technologies can be beneficial and harmful depending on how it is being used. Internet technology such as social networks make it easy for people to communicate however they can also be used to access people’s personal information, cyber bully and misuse/steal other important and confidential data. Many people use internet technology such as social networks and it is a common form of socializing, communicating and sharing ideas.

 

We also learnt a lot about how reliance on technology affects businesses in society. The general view was that technology is necessary and has a positive impact in business. We learnt about data exchange in transactions and how it can be used to secure a transaction. We also learnt about different firms relying on technology and a good example was a security firm which relied on providing surveillance technology to others. The business depended on the provision of this technology to others and relied on technology in this manner. We also learnt how the internet was considered a powerful weapon in business as it enabled business people to keep up to date, monitor their competitors and monitor the market. We also learnt about the role of technology in jobs such as engineering. We learnt that technology plays an important role in marketing businesses and using networks to control cash systems.

 

The answers were almost all similar and the only differences were that the answers were contextualized to their country/community/society. These differences exist because we live in different societies and countries which have different economic states. This also affects the accessibility of technology, in turn affecting how we see technology being implemented in our surroundings. Because of this, the answers may have been different.

 

Finally, this experience has been enriching as I have been able to understand the perspective different students have in terms of emerging technologies, and the manner in which the development of their country has influenced the same. We thank all those who responded to our question aand we would love to do this project again, perhaps with a different theme next year.  

 

 

 


Summary et2     Mohamed Zahran Experimental Languages School, Egypt

 

 

 

 


Summary et3     Tuskegee International School, Ghana

 

Hello our friends, how are you all, here were our questions:

1. What do you understand by emerging technologies, what are some of the emerging technologies in your country?

 

2. Does the use of technology improve in your educational systems, please give examples.

 

3.How keen are the youth in your country about the use of new technologies as they are introduced.

 

From your answers we know each and one of you have a fair understanding about emerging technologies because all of you gave us a well researched answer to our first question.

 

We were happy about this answer:

 

Technology improves education systems because it increases the speed at which information is accessed, allowing for more effective communication. Effective communication promotes proper learning opportunities in which instructions are modified to suit the student’s specific needs, interests and learning styles too. Technology such as simulations and models help visual learners as they are able to “see” how something is done. In our chemistry class, we watched a simulation of a reaction and it helped me better understand how molecules are transferred in a reaction. Multimedia such as videos can also help students understand certain concepts better. Other resources which may not be available in schools can be made available through the use of technology. An example of this is the use of E-Books which allow students access to a greater variety of books and does not limit them to whatever is available in the school library. Technology also allows students to access a wide variety of information and contact other students and experts around the world and share ideas. An example of this is the Global Teenage Project which uses the internet and a wiki to enable students from around the world to discuss and exchange ideas on specific topics. In my school, I take Computer Technology and my aim is to solve a real life problem through the use of an IT product. Before I generate this product, I conduct a meaningful research on the problem being addressed along with the kinds of products I can create to solve the problem and how I will create that product. This example shows that technology plays a major role in education because I am able to learn about different products and how to create them and I can compare my product to existing products which are of good quality. This helps me improve the quality of my product and eventually I am able to improve the quality of life of the end-user as well.

In all we are happy you all made an effort to answer our questions.

Thank you very much indeed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Summary et4    Friends School Kigama, Kenya

 

 

 

 


Summary et5     COLEGIUL ECONOMIC BUZAU, Romania

 

Our team decided to use as a cursory response of theET 1,aswas the complex and explicit,and included the answer to our question.Thank you andother teams for answers,learned many new things and saw how other people perceive the problem.

 

 ne of the most common harmful effects of new technologies on people is that it avoids face to face social interactions between people. As there are new technologies such as Skype, which enable e-conversations, face to face interactions between people have decreased. The rapid evolution of such technology has lead to the people becoming more indolent as their preference is to stay at home and converse with people online, rather than attend social gatherings. Also, such technology results in people being timid when at public places. Many people are easily obsessed with the new technology meaning that people who own newspapers, local agencies and music stores are forced to shut down their stores as most of these services are provided online as well. Additionally, the internet is a network which enables people to connect using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes, this may lead to deaths and other unavoidable circumstances due to the fact that personal information such as addresses and phone numbers are advertised online.

Environment: One of the most common harmful effects of new technologies on the environment is as more technology is innovated; the use of resources such as metal is increased. Practically, most of the people own a cell phone which has a life span of three to four years and most of them are replaced, they are thrown into a big pile and their batteries are left to leak harmful agents in the environments. Additionally, considering that resources used to create such technologies are not bio degradable, there is a rapid increase in e - waste. Indirectly, advancement in technology requires fossil fuels for the creation of certain technology, which abates the amount of fuels we have. As these fossil fuels are burned, it emits Carbon Dioxide in the air which promotes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Technologies such as the inventions of vehicles, air conditioning and other advanced gadgets have caused air pollution.

 

 

P.S. Thank you for pictures.

 

 

 

 


Summary et6     Kraslava State Gymnasium, Latvia

 

The fist thing I understood after reading all the answers was that the  situation is the same in the all world because there were no very unexpected or surprising answers. I think it is so because technologies are the same everywhere and the relationship between them and the environment just cannot be very different.

 

Surely, all participants think that modern technologies do harm to nature. There are two biggest problems - cars and all kind of devices. Cars consume a lot of oil  (which is a fossil fuel) and emit carbon dioxide. It increases air pollution which destroys the ozone layer and causes global warming. Another problem is producing a lot of electronic gadgets. When they break, people usually just throw them away, so there is a lot of garbage around. If people do not recycle them, water, air and the ground become polluted. So, we should use fewer technologies or try to use them smarter because although they are developing, harm done to nature still persists. However, our Canadian friends told us an important thing. They said that corporations use recycled materials to make their products.” I think it is really positive and all companies should learn from them.

 

Our Romanian partners said that “the relationship between the environment and new technologies is not very close” and I think it describes the situation best. People all over the world still learn to make and use nature-friendly technologies and we will have problems till we learn how to do it. There are a lot of different ways to solve them. There are solar panels, LED lamps and nature-friendly cars (some of them can work using just water), but they are not as far popular as simpler machines and devices which create pollution and environmental problems.

 

An interesting idea is about helping nature by informing people about the green lifestyle and nature. In that situation we can really say that technologies help people to understand nature because we do not have to travel to different places to see how technologies affect nature there and how we can avoid it. 

 

In the end I can say that it was interesting to read about other countries although our problems are very similar. So, I think it will be another possibility for me to think about my own life and about relationships between nature and technologies in it.

 

On behalf of class et6 Evelina

 

 


Summary et7     COLEGIUL ECONOMIC BUZAU, Romania, (teacher CERCEL CARMEN),

 

 

 

     Most household can save and eventually afford solar panels to provide lighting for the homes. This helps most people to avoid using kerosene for lighting and improves security in the rural areas as well as allowing children to study/complete homework at night without straining over candles or kerosene lamps. But this is not a reality for majority of people who still are too poor to afford solar panels. Since we are students we feel that another most efficient emerging technology is the laptop as they greatly impacted how things work in the 21st century. The laptop has the main feature of portability as the they are compact and light and the battery last up to eight hours. The laptop normally is pleasant with the feature of wireless internet thus enabling people to know the current issues in the world, to find out thing or how to do them from anywhere and anytime. The laptop also helps students or others to socialize in places like coffee shops helps people to watch movies together thus helping to build the bonds between the  different cultures. The laptop is now a tool spread around the world according to recent surveys everyone is educated about thus it is proven to moderate different cultural traditions this can be an advantage in way as the world is becoming one but a disadvantage on other side as the world will not have the beautiful colors of cultures. In conclusion one can work, surf the internet, and carry out various other tasks almost any place you go. There are many advantages to having a laptop; however everything has its disadvantages as well.  The advantages include its portability and convenience. Its disadvantages are that some of its features are not as strong as a desktop’s such as processor speed and memory. There has been great progress made in the computer industry which has led to the laptops of today and it continuing to be made.

         We think all the technology are efficient but however we prioritize electricity because with electricity we can produce whatever we can, but we still need raw materials too so all technologies are very important. The emergence of cars, computers, mobile phone, home appliances, solar systems and several others are all making life easy and comfortable for us to live, formally we use to ride on camels, donkeys and horses to travel miles and miles, but today the airplanes, cars, motor bikes, trains have made it possible to travel safe and faster, we are also able to move goods from one country to another across the globe on the ship, so if you ask us we will say all kinds of technology is good, but it becomes harmful when we abuse its use.  

         The concept of non-conventional sources of energy is becoming a major subject of research as our planet is running out of its resources of non-renewable energy such as coal, petroleum, etc. It's time to switch over to greener energy resources. Among these non-conventional energy sources, solar energy comes in the top of the list. Though scientists have made immense research and development in the field of inexpensive utilization of solar energy, still there is scope for improvement as far as efficiency is concerned. A low cost energy production is also important to make it usable at every level.

          Following are five highly efficient solar panel technologies which are most likely to become the next generation's main power sources:

1. Nanotechnology powered DSSCs;

2. World's most efficient solar cell by Australian developer;

3. Spherical Solar Cells;

4. Day4 Energy Panels;

5. Sanyo's Silicon Solar Cells.

 

 

 

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Summary et8     Wesselenyi Reformed High School, Romania

 

 

 

 


Summary et9      Bruce Trail Public School, Canada

Technology is designed to reduce human effort. Because of this, many jobs are lost since the technology is now performing actions at a higher level than workers could. On the other hand, technology is an entire industry of jobs. 

a. How have emerging technologies affected jobs in your country?

b. Overall, are the number of jobs increasing or decreasing because of technology? 

c. Has your country progressed in any way because of the jobs created in technological industries?

d. Is the economy of your country developing due to the economical influences of technology in the workplace?

 

                  Above is the question we posed to the various schools in our learning circle. Four schools properly responded to the question(s) and one school posted a sentence or two. The rest of the schools neglected to respond at all. However, we were able to summarize the findings of the other schools.

                  With prior knowledge, we knew that technology is having a significant impact on the workforce. Many manual jobs are disappearing as computers and machines take their places. while the technology itself is creating many jobs. The latter was a recurring theme throughout all the answers posted; all schools felt that technology was both positively and negatively impacting the workforce.

 

a. As et1 said, "Most of these people [the illiterate] depend on manual work as there are few of them who do professional jobs." (ET1) The school from Kenya mentioned that those who are illiterate, or uneducated, could still make a living through manual labour. They later mention how the introduction of various technologies has made some of these jobs disappear, as the new inventions are made to make manual labour easier. This was a recurring theme, as et3 had the same opinion; they said that computers are now taking the jobs of about 300 people per major company, and only creating one job- which is the person who manages the computers. Additionally, et5 said that many jobs are being lost due to "...automatization..." (ET5) In conclusion, many schools felt that technology is taking away more jobs than it is creating.

 

b. "Emerging technologies replace a lot of employees, but the number of new workplaces which are created because of emerging technologies is bigger." (ET6) Et6 is of a divided opinion. As shown through the quote, they felt that while technology is decreasing the amount of jobs in some manual areas, it is also creating more jobs because the field of emerging technologies is bigger than that of manual jobs. This opinion was shared by all the groups in the learning circle- et5, for example, said that in some areas jobs are increasing while in others they are decreasing. They gave the example of the robotics field, one that relies heavily upon technology. So, a main theme amongst all the schools in the learning circle was that technology has both increased and decreased jobs in their countries.

 

c. "Kenya has progressed because of the jobs created in the technology. New technology brings with it financial development for the country." (ET1) This school from Kenya is of the opinion that new technology is largely benefitting them- it is creating financial development and prosperity. This is only a small portion of the population that is getting rewarded with technology. The Kenyans discuss how because Kenya is a third world country, it has limited access to new technologies. Et6 agrees to some extent- they take it a step further and talk about which industries have progressed the most thanks to emerging technologies. According to their information, the medicinal field is most affected- the new technologies create more cures and methods of treatment for people. Discovering cures is one way a country can progress; therefore, et6 thinks their country has progressed due to the influence of technology. Most other schools in the circle agree.

 

d. Et7 said that, "The economical influences of technology had positive effects on the workplace." (ET7) Although that statement is quite vague, we understood that they are basically saying that technology has a positive impact on their economy in many ways. This sentiment is echoed by ET5, who state that: "Yes, the economy in our country is developing due to the technology, but [it is] not [the] only [factor]...there are a lot of factors which helps our country's development." (ET5) Once again, there was a repeating theme throughout all the answers from the different schools in the learning circles. To conclude, most schools had the same answers for this part of our question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

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