TheImpactofComputersonSociety

Introduction
Activity1GroupActivity
Groupsofstudentswillbeaskedtoidentifyasmanyexamplesastheycanoftheimpactthat
computershavehadonsociety.Thefollowinglistof"areasofimpact"willbeprovidedtothe
student(inahandout)andtheywillberequiredtocomeupwithanumberofexamplesin
eachdivision.

AREASOFIMPACTOFCOMPUTERSONSOCIETY
PersonalImpact:
CommunityImpact:
NationalImpact:
GlobalImpact:
FutureImpact:
PersonalImpact
privacyandpersonalrights
databanks,computerterminals,datasecurity
employment
jobopportunities,newcareers,theneedforretraining
businesstransactions
automatedbilling,creditcards,interac,consumerspending
thereplacementofpeoplethroughautomation
robots,wordprocessing
theimpactthatamachinehasonahumanergonomics
CommunityImpact
employment
trafficcontrol
urbanplanning
lawenforcement
NationalImpact
communicationsmedia
theuseofinformationforcontrol
votecounting
electronicfundstransfer
stockmarkettransactions
defense
surveillance
nationaldatabanks
employment
shiftingpatterns
telecommunications
satellitebroadcasting

thepossibilityoffraudortheftusingcomputerbasedsystems
standardsforcomputerhardwareandsoftware
GlobalImpact
reportingofcurrentevents
communicationsmedia
worldgovernment
internationalstandards
explorationofspaceandsea
worldwideaccesstodata
FutureImpact
computersinthehome
gaming
learning
electronicmail
shopping
businesstransactions
informationprocessing,storageandretrieval
thehomeasaworkcenter
effectonthefamilyunitandonfamiliarpatternsoflife
travel
computercommunicationasareplacementfortravel
thepossibledisappearanceofhardcopyasamediumofcommunication
thecashlesssociety
possibleeffectsontheformaleducationsystem
theuseofrobotsinindustryandinthehome
teleprocessingnetworks
communicationsnetworks

Activity2ClassDiscussion
Havecomputershavegonetoofarin"dehumanizing"individualpeople?
peoplebeingreducedtoaseriesofnumbersonplasticcardsthatareprocessedby
machineswithouthumanintervention(creditcards,bankcards,socialinsurancecards,
healthcards,etc.)
peoplehavingtodealwithcomputersinsteadofhumanbeingsifthereisaproblem
withacomputerpreparedbillorbankstatement.(Howcanweargue,object,persuade
ordoanyoftheotherthingsthatwedoashumanbeings,withamachine?)
whyarestudentnamesarenotconsideredtobesufficientforidentificationpurposes?
identifyspecificeducationalcomputerapplications.Startwiththeirschool,makingalist
oftheusestheschoolmakesofcomputersinitsadministration,inteacherpreparation
andstudentwork.Thefirstitemonyourlistshouldprobablybethetimetable.How
manymoreitemscantheyadd?

Activity3IndividualAssignment
Eachstudentwillberequiredtosubmitanindividualresearchpaperinessayformat,the
instructionsforwhichappearonthenextpages.

COMPUTERSINSOCIETYINDIVIDUALASSIGNMENT
Therearemanyaspectsoftheimpactofcomputersonsocietytobeinvestigated.Notallof
themcanbediscussedinclass.Researchoneofthefollowingtopicsandwriteareportonit.
Thereportshouldincludeageneralstatementsummarizingyouranswertothequestionthis
isyourthesisormainidea.Therestofyourreportshouldconsistoftheinformationor
evidencethatsupportsyouropinion.
1.Docomputersalienatetheuserfromsociety?
2.Whatcareerswillbeindemandinthefuture?Howcanwetrainforthesecareers?
3.Isitpossibletocreateartificialintelligence?
4.Willcomputerscreatejobsoreliminatethem?
5.WhataretheimplicationsofthenewtechnologyforCanadianIndustry?
6.Howrealisticisthepredictionofthe"paperlessoffice"?
7.Whatmightthe"electronicclassroom"belike?
8.Willcomputersintheofficeremovetheneedforskilledworkersordemandnewskills
andknowledgeofemployees?
9.Howcomputerliteratewillwehavetobetooperatethecomputersofthefuture?
10.Conductyourownsurveytodetermineifthereareanydifferencesbetweenmalesand
femalesintheiruseofcomputersintheschool,inplayingcomputergames,insurfing
theweb,orinchoosingcomputercareers.
11.Howhavecomputersaffectedtheentertainmentindustry?
12.Howmaycomputerschangethehome?
13.Willleisuretimeincreaseduetotheuseofcomputersinsociety?Howwillweuseitifit
does?
14.Arewegoingtohavea"cashlesssociety"?
15.Arecomputersthreateninguswith"invasionofprivacy"?
16.Howseriousiscomputercrime?Whatcanwedoaboutit?
17.Doesincreasingdependenceoncomputersmakethemattractiveasterroristtargets?
18.Isitimmoraltocopysoftware?
19.Istherearelationshipbetweenvideogamesandjuvenilecrime?
20.Howcancomputershelppeoplewithhandicaps?
21.Whataretheoccupationalhealthandsafetyhazardsofcomputers?
22.Chooseyourowntopic.Discussyourideawiththeteacherbeforeproceedingfurther.

Activity5GroupAssignment
Theteacherwilldecidewhetherstudentswillbepermittedtochoosetheirowngroup
membersorifthegroupswillbepreselectedbasedupontheteacher'sobservationsof
studentworkhabitsandabilities.Examplesof4possiblegroupassignmentsappearonthe
followingpages.Theteacherwillgiveeachgroupadifferentassignment,thefinalproducts
ofwhichwillbepresentedtotherestoftheclass.Thisapproachshouldgivethestudentsa
greaterunderstandingoftheimpactofcomputersonsocietyfromavarietyofsources.

COMPUTERSINSOCIETYGROUPASSIGNMENT
Thenewspapersarefullofarticlesaboutnewtechnology.Youcanusuallyfindmajorarticles
aboutnewdevelopmentsinthefirstsection.Therearearticlesabouttheimpactof
computersonpeople'slivesinthePeopleorLifestylesection.Thereareevencartoons
aboutcomputersintheComics.Magazinesarealsogoodsourcesforarticlesabout
computertechnology.
1.Makeacollectionofarticlesaboutcomputersfromnewspapersandmagazines.
2.Ifyoufindtoomanyarticles,restrictyourselftoonetopic,e.g.ComputerCrime.Share

yourextraarticleswithyourclassmates.
3.Organizeyourarticlesinsomeformofvisualdisplay,eg.onBristolboardorona
classroombulletinboardandprepareanexplanationforeacharticle.
4.Bepreparedtopresentyourworktotheclass.

COMPUTERSINSOCIETYGROUPASSIGNMENT
1.Interviewsomeworkerswhousecomputersregularlyintheirjobs.Youprobablyhavea
friendorrelativeinthissituation.Eveninyourschooltherearemanypeoplewhouse
computers.
2.Inyourinterview,includethefollowingquestions:
a.Howdoyouusethecomputerinyourjob?Whatproportionofyourtimeisspentusing
thecomputer?
b.Howcomputerliteratedoyouhavetobetousethecomputerforyourjob?
c.Howdidyoulearntousethecomputer?Werethereanyproblemsswitchingfrom
manualtocomputermethods?
d.Whataretheadvantagesofthecomputer?
e.Arethereanydisadvantages?Whatarethey?
f.Howhasthecomputerchangedyourjob?
3.Afteryouhavedonetheinterview,writeupyourfindingsintheformofareport.Be
preparedtopresentthereporttotheclass.
4.Basedonyourresearch,whatdoyouthinkistheimpactofthecomputerinthe
workplace?Putthisconclusioninyourreport.
5.Ifyoufoundtheresourcepersonthatyouinterviewedwasinterestingandinformative,ask
yourteacherifthisexpertcouldbeinvitedtocomeintotheclassasaguestspeaker.

COMPUTERSINSOCIETYGROUPASSIGNMENT
Therearemanyjobsintheworkplacetodaythatdealwithcomputers.
1.LookintheClassifiedAdssectionofyourlocalnewspaperandcutouttenadvertisements
showingtendifferentjobsthatinvolveworkingwithcomputers.
2.Foreachjob,statethefollowing:
a.thejobtitle
b.thejobdescription
c.thequalificationsneeded
d.thesalary
e.thedegreeofcomputerliteracythatappearstobenecessary
f.anyotherpertinentinformation.
3.Whatconclusionscanyoumakeaboutcomputercareersafterexaminingthese
advertisements?
4.Putyouranswerstogetherintheformofareport,placingeachclippingnexttothe
summaryoftherelevantjob.
5.Bepreparedtopresentyourreporttotheclassandaddressthefollowingpoints:

a.Whichjobismostattractivetoyou?Why?
b.Whatstepsmustyoutaketoprepareyourselfforthisjob?

COMPUTERSINSOCIETYGROUPASSIGNMENT
Considerthefollowingitemsasyouprepareareporttodiscussthefutureofoursociety.Be
preparedtopresentyourreporttotheclass.
1.Whatwillcommunicationsbelikeinthefuture?
2.Discusstheimpactthateachofthefollowingwouldhaveonyouandonsociety:
a.Visuallinktelephones
b.Doingallyourshoppingandbankingfromyourpersonalcomputerwithouthavingto
leavehome.Howwouldthisaffectsocialrelationships?
c.Jobopportunities.Ithasbeenestimatedthatasmanyasonemillionworkerswillbe
displacedbycomputersinthenextfewyears.Willyouneedtouseacomputerinthe
jobyouhopetoget?Whatkindofjobsdoyouthinkwillbecreatedbythecomputer?
Whatjobwillbemadeobsoletebythecomputer?
lastupdated12Apr2004