Teaching Impacts of Technology: Global Society

Welcome! Are you interested in teaching about the impacts of the technology you use everyday? To learn more about the computation and computing concepts that underlie those technologies? We'll be using a problem-based approach to explore interesting ways to teach concepts of networks and the internet, data and analysis, and even algorithms and data representation. Finally, we'll evaluate, critique and improve a TedED activity around the ethical choices facing designers of self-driving cars.

Have you ever thoughts of technology as a support or amplification of free speech? No need to get a news program or journalist to "get your story out there" when you can tweet! But not everyone on the planet has equal access to the internet or apps that enable people to share their viewpoints. We'll look at a range of technologies related (in some way!) to this including: VPN, cell phone batteries, and internet connectivity at the global scale.

How has technology made your life easier? One thing I love is that travel, including traveling outside of my home country has gotten a LOT easier -- just because I can use my smartphone to find information and directions when I am abroad! But there's other ways global, ubiquitous access to the internet and cheap computational devices is changing our lives. Super hot things right now are "the Internet of Things" -- and specifically self-driving cars. Let's learn more about them!

As our individual data generation and collection grows, so does the collective amount of data stored in the world. Controlling access and maintaining the privacy of our data -- especially as we use our myriad of devices in places far outside our own homes over wireless connections -- is critical. We'll also toss in here the concept of having a secure form of money -- bitcoin!