Prior to the first lesson of Technology
and World Change, my general understanding of what the module is about was that
Technology is about innovation and invention, and is constantly advancing at an
exponential rate, be it revolutionary or evolutionary.
Like others, I used to have the notion
that technology was all about electronics and gadgets mainly. However, it
really opened up my mind when Prof. Shahi broadened the scope of what Technology
encompasses. He defined that "Technology is the knowledge of understanding,
knowing what and how to do it”. He went on further to cite examples that were
right smack next to us – lightings, Wi-Fi, etc. Technology, is essentially the product
of Science and creativity.
Prof. Shahi then introduced the course
via a video titled, “Globalization, Information Age. Did you know – Shift
happens”. One point presented in the video which I found mind-blowing was: “The
top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. We are
preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist and using technologies that
haven’t yet been invented to solve problems we don’t even know are problems
yet”. I found this particularly relevant to me as a university student. This
clearly shows that there is a constant need to upgrade ourselves, to keep in
touch with the rapid information flow and to maintain a competitive edge so as
to not be left behind. What was more surprising was that the video was uploaded
in 2007 and most, if not all, of the information presented were outdated in the
year 2013 today. This video reminded me of another video, titled “The Social
Media Revolution 2012”, another notable shift. In 2007, if MySpace were a
country, it would be the 11th largest country. Today, the then
popular MySpace was replaced ever since the birth of Facebook. Comparatively,
studies had shown that if Facebook was a country, it would the 3rd
largest country after China and India. We are indeed, living in exponential
times.
This then led me to ponder, is
technology evolving too fast? How can we keep pace with the advancements of
technology? Are we evolving technology or is technology evolving us? I look
forward to the subsequent lessons and hope to find out the answers to my
questions!
Personally, I would give a rating for my
first lesson a 5.5/10. I felt that Prof. Shahi made a good introduction of the
module to us. I am more of a visual learner, and am glad when Prof. Shahi’s
lessons are centred more on videos and visual presentations. However, there are
times where I felt that the pace of the lesson went too fast and I was unable
to effectively grasp some points and technical jargon put forward.
