DESCRIPTION
Technological Issues and Impacts
Intended Audience
Grades 10-12 (no prerequisite, Foundations of Technology Recommended)
Course Overview
In Technological Issues and Impacts, students learn that technology
allows us to extend our ability to modify or change the natural
world to meet our wants and needs. However, the resulting
changes can be complicated and unpredictable. Solutions to
a particular problem may cause other types of problems. Each
potential technological solution creates certain issues, such
as benefits, costs, risks, and limitations. Not all impacts
of technology are predictable or show up right away. However,
the key issues of a technology should be studied and debated
prior to the technology being introduced or eliminated. Alternatives
should be explored (scientific and mathematical dimensions
should be integrated into the decision).
Technological issues are not solely technical
in nature. Attitudes towards technology can be influenced
by social, cultural, economic, political, and ecological concerns.
The decision to introduce or eliminate a technology will affect
different people and vary depending on the timing. Issues
can create some heated debates, which require that both sides
of the debate acquire detailed information and ask the right
questions. Students learn that technology is a neutral topic
that can have good or bad impacts on society. Technology assessment
is a structured evaluation of the application of technology
in an effort to avoid inappropriate or unwanted effects. Applying
design and student imagination without considering the possible
effects of new products or processes can lead to technological
disasters, superfund sites, and unsafe products that could
have been avoided in the initial design stages. Whether a
new product, system, or process has an overall positive, neutral,
or negative impact depends on the proper understanding of
technology assessment. By studying technological issues and
their impacts, students learn that there may not be a solution
that everyone agrees upon, nor will everyone benefit or receive
the cost in the same way. The study of technological issues
will not give students the correct answers but allows them
to develop skills in asking critical questions, understanding
alternative viewpoints and their origins, and gives them the
confidence to be involved in deciding which technologies to
develop, which to use, and how to use them.
This course will focus on the three dimensions
of technological literacy: knowledge, ways of thinking and
acting, and capabilities with the goal of students developing
the characteristics of a technologically literate citizen.
It will employ teaching/learning strategies that enable students
to build their own understanding of new ideas. It is designed
to engage students in exploring and deepening their understanding
of “big ideas” regarding technology and makes
use of a variety assessment instruments to reveal the extent
of understanding.
Course Length
36 weeks recommended
Connections
Technological Issues contributes to the development of each
high school student’s capacity to make responsible judgments
about technology’s development, control, and use. Critiquing
appropriate technology and sustainable development are important.
The structure of the course brings discussions of technological
values so that students can reflect and develop their own
ethical standards. Students are actively involved in the organized
and integrated application of technological resources, engineering
concepts, and scientific procedures. Students address the
complexities of technology and issues that stem from designing,
developing, using, and assessing technological systems. In
developing a functional understanding of technology, students
comprehend how human conditions, current affairs, and personal
preferences drive technological design and problem solving.
Actively engaged in making and developing, using, and managing
technological systems, students better understand the role
of systems in meeting specific purposes.
