In humanities instead of focusing on war or a particular movement, we focused on one word that includes that and more…DISRUPTION!
It might seem that disruption is a scary thing that causes problems but disruption can actually be a great thing and change our world for the better.
The word Disruption can be complicated because it has multiple definitions
- disturbance or problems that interrupt an event, activity, or process.
- to change the traditional way that an industry operates, especially in a new and effective way
This term we discovered disruption innovation and other types of disruption fit in to our (California trip) and how it effects our lives.
Our assignment for California was to choose one of the places we were going to go to and find examples of disruption.
This project could be a video, podcast, board game, photo essay, or the all time favourite puppet show.
My partner Willa and I chose to do a podcast on High Tech High.
After lots of research on the school we decided to focused on how HTH gives all students a chance to experience there great school by accepting them through a lottery system.
Thesis: High Tech High gives a variety of students, with different capabilities, an opportunity to learn and become educated innovators and critical thinkers.
I was really happy with the thesis Willa and I created so this project was on to a good start.
To further prepare for this project before we left for California we created a list of questions we could ask people at HTH
Next step once we were in California we got interviews from two teachers and a few students on HTH and the lottery systems impact.
Because willa and I split up to get the interviews it was hard to put them together at the end while staying on topic. I enjoyed learning about High Tech High and love how unique this charter school is. This school cares or every student and focuses on teaching them in away that is engaging and meaningful to them. No matter who you are or what your skill level is this is a place where you can succeed.
Reflection
This podcast had some amazing interviews and was strong. I thought we could have done more with the interviews by splitting them up into topics instead of having the questions all over the place. I think if we were to do another draft it would be stronger but I still think this podcast is good.
Once we came home our last assignment on disruption was a synthesis essays that was based on the topic question: How has technology acted as a disruption throughout history? This essay included a interesting novel we read over winter break, Little Brother by Correy Doctorow, which you can read more about here.
We also had to choose 2 or more other sources to include in the essay as well as some other requirements.
This was a in class essay that was done in the two humanitie classes that were given. Before writing the essay we did a lot of preparation and research.
My final thesis statement turned out to be: Technology is an amazing tool that can put your ideas into action to create a positive change.
Throughout the year we have been working on thesis statements and making them more specific
For my sources I used:
Little brother: how the main character used his knowledge of technology to create a change when no one else would
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak: there creation Macintosh was the most successful useful personal computer that made a huge disruption.
Welcome to Silicon Valley: young entrepreneurs using the reasources provided at Silicon Valley to make their ideas reality.
Going into this essay I felt very prepared and had a sheet of paper with quotes from my sources. In the first class we had time to write I finnished half of my essay. Then during the second class I had just enough time to finish my conclusion and read over.
Disruption in Technology final essay
I thought my essay proved my thesis statements and followed the requirements. I really enjoyed writing this essay because disruption in technology is such a interesting topic that could be taken in many different ways. What I could have done better on is referencing my quotes. I should have looked back on the work we did referencing quotes earlier this year because I think a few times I made mistakes.