Since January we have been working on a unit about disruption, based around the question: how has technology been a disruption throughout history. During this unit we focus on a couple main projects including a disruption podcast and a synthesis essay. However before starting this project and essay we started by learning and discussing the meaning of disruption.
At the start of this unit I just referenced disruption to negative things and never thought that it could have a positive effect on our lives. When having the class discussion I learned about the meaning of the dictionary definition of disruption which is a disruption or problem that interrupts an event, activity or process. We brainstormed worlds that we can be disrupted or relate to the word and came up with this:
innovation
Tradition
Human connection
Organization
Time
Labour
Wealth
Economics
Politics
Individuality
Human nature
Silicon Valley
We next look into Silicon Valley which is a region in California which is known as the capital of technology innovations and a place to pitch ideas without judgment. To better our understanding of the impact Silicon Valley has on the tech world as well as the unit we are learning, we watch a couple of films and documentaries. A couple of the videos we watched included Pirates of Silicon Valley, American Experiences: Silicon Valley and a Silicon Valley by Ympact. During these films we learned about some of the companies based in this region including start up companies as well as how some of the biggest technology companies in the world started in Silicon Valley. Throughout all these video we took notes that to write down our own understanding as well as write down important quotes. Here are a couple of my notes on Silicon Valley:
Disruption at Seycove Podcast
Seycove Seyhawks
Before the PLP cohort went on the California Trip (which I didn’t go on) we were introduced to our disruption project. This project was a little different for the people who went on the trip and didn’t go on the trip. For the people who didn’t go on the trip we had to create a podcast about sine sort of disruption at Seycove. I decided to do mine about PLP and it’s disruption to the normal curriculum and students at the school. At first when we started this project I didn’t really know how I was going to tackle this project or what approach I was going to take. I wanted to get my opinion across but not be super bias as I’m in the program.
I decided to take the approach of getting an interview from someone in PLP who has been in the program for four years and has also had the experience of the regular school. The grade 12 students is Gabi who I have interviewed before for a project. This interview went very well and helped strengthen the point of the program being a positive disruption to Seycove.
Once I finished recording the interview and writing a script for what I was going to say about PLP, I started creating my first draft of my podcast. To do this I used a recording app called Ferrite which allowed me to make a podcast that flowed nicely together with detailed edits from my voice to my interviewee.
I am pretty proud of my first draft I created which including information about the program and an argument on the positive impact it has on the school in a engaging way. The podcast ended up being around 6 mins which is long enough to have a good argument yet doesn’t make what your listening to boring. I also created my own music in GarageBand for the background which not only added to the podcast but made it super personified.
Here is my first draft:
After finishing my first draft I decided that I should get another interview from someone outside the program to get multiple opinions on the feet that PLP has on the school. I interviewed Chelsea who is a grade 11 student who has been in the regular stream and never been in the program. I think this definitely made my podcast a lot stronger having multiple opinions about topic. It also allows listeners to be able to relate to the podcast if they don’t understand the program.
here is my final draft:
I am overall very proud of this project as I improved upon my own work as well as created a podcast that has good sound quality. I also think I did a good job of integrating the interviews into the podcast instead of just having an overwhelming interview that doesn’t add to the story.
Disruption Synthesis Essay
Another big part of this unit was our synthesis essay about technology disruption throughout history. This was an in class essay that we had two blocks to write, edit, read over and revise our work. At first the idea of this was super stressful as sometimes I have a hard time getting my thoughts down in a limited amount of time. However the week before we had a lot of time to brainstorm and create a essay outline. As I didn’t go to California I was hard to find stuff to relate back to, but after thinking a little more in depth about what we had learned over this unit I came up with some ideas. I decided to write about Technology’s disruption to things we do in our everyday lives about how this has come to be throughout history. For my three key points I talked about communication, transportation and education. Since this was a synthesis essay we had to relate back to a minimum of 3 sources.
I decided to talk about Little Brother, Elon Musk and Pirates of Silicon Valley. Little Brother is the one source that everyone in the class had to use as it was a book we read in class. This book was a fictional novel written by Cory Doctorow.
I did an earlier blog post on the book and it’s relation to Treasure Island which you can read about down below. I used this source for my paragraph on education. I related it back to how technology is an advantage to better your learning but if it’s used in the wrong way it can have negative effects on our society.
Another source I used was Elon Musk’s book and I used this to talk about Tesla about the positive impact the technology of electric cars has on our world. This was my source for my transportation paragraph and really helped me talk about why electric cars such as Tesla are helping shape our world into a more eco friendly place with less CO2 admissions.
My other source was for my communication paragraph which was about Apple throughout history and it’s positive disruption to our society which has helped form the technologies of today. The source I related back to was a movie we watched called Pirates of Silicon Valley which explained some of the history behind Apple as well as Microsoft. In my essay I talked about their first even computer, then the Macintosh computer, then the modern day iPhone to show the progression in technology throughout time.
While right this in class I felt a lot more calm and collected when writing then I usually do when doing in class work. I think one reason for this was because of the preparation I had before time and my in class time management. I had time to read over my work a couple times as well as time to revise it. Overall I felt really good about the work that I completed in a limited amount.
This is my essay:
Technology is the bases of our society, with over half of the world using smartphone products and having access to the internet. These percentages have grown exponentially over the last decade not just in the use of smartphones but other devices such as tablets and computers. Now technology in used in so many aspects of our lives from the way we communicate, to our education system, to transportation and the way we get around. However there are many people who dispute whether these technologies are positively or negatively affect how we live and the affect it will have on our future generations.
Apple is one of the biggest technology companies in the world with new products coming out every year with bigger and better ideas. This major company didn’t always start our this way, with Apple being started by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a garage in Silicon Valley. The first product created by them was called the Apple 1 computer and was nothing like the Apple products known today by so many people. The computer was text based and was at the time a crazy idea that critiques didn’t think would ever take off. The Macintosh computer was a huge chance for Apple into the unknown, this was the first computer to have visual interface and a mouse. During the Movie the Pirates of Silicon Valley, Apple goes to Xerox the company who invented the visual interface and mouse and use their idea. The reason for this is because Xerox head quarters never thought that these ideas of visual interface and the mouse would ever take off. “Good artist copy, great artist steal” Steve Jobs said in the movie. Apple made millions upon millions of dollars and disrupted the way technology was used during this time period. The iPhone came out in 2007 and now eleven years later has changed the world. The first iPhone didn’t have a camera, or any apps from other companies or ISO software updates. This phone was a touch screen which was a crazy step to make for Apple as before this many phones were flip phones or had buttons for all the numbers and letters. Since then technology has taken a drastic step forward with the Touch ID being introduced in the iPhone 5s, now face recognition with the newest iPhone X. All of these devices have taken the next step in technology pushing the limits of what the human race knows is possible, disrupting the previous generation to create the newest and greatest technologies.
Many schools are now using some of these new technologies in their learning and teaching. From making projects that are more appealing to students to using more technology to educate students. However the education system wasn’t always like this and many school and classrooms still teach with the test based studies where you memorize information and then write it on a test. This isn’t the most effective way to teach students as many people agree that the information obtained is just forgotten right after the test, quiz or exam. PLP is a program that is based around being one to one with iPads, project based learning and has field studies. These more modern way of learning allow students to reflect on their work, learn time management skills and relate their studies back to real world experiences. Instead of a test at the end this program allows students to show their learning with a project that they will work on throughout a unit. PLP uses technology to an advantage to advance and expand the learning of the students, many people worry about these powerful sources that give students the world at their finger tips distracts children from getting the best education possible. Little Brother is a fictional novel that shows the use of technology at the extreme. The school in this book doesn’t use technology to better the knowledge of their students but instead uses it for overprotective crazy security measures and technology matters that aren’t relevant to a school. Not necessary the security measures but many people believe that these technology programs don’t use these technologies as a learning tool. However our education system in Canada is changing to embrace these ways of learning that can better prepare students for the next steps in life. Canada is also embracing the change of technology in other areas such as transportation.
Vancouver’s goal by 2020 is to be one of the greenest cities in the world. One of the steps to do this is to improve the transportation system by making it more eco friendly. Tesla is one of the companies taking these next steps to not only make our city green but also make it more high tech in the electric car industry. Elon Musk the co founder of Tesla has been a huge influence to push our society further towards the technology of the future. Tesla didn’t start off as a huge company and now is one of the biggest electric car companies. In Vancouver alone there are so many electric car charging stations to indorse and motivate car companies to create more electric cars to help the environment and reduce CO2 admissions. Many companies are also entering the electric car industry such as BMW with the i3. The technology for these electric cars are becoming more and more advanced with kilometres on the cars increasing their distance by 100s of kilometres every year. Many companies such as Tesla are now releasing new electric vehicles that are more affordable to everyday people. Allowing the opportunity for anyone to own these technologically advanced cars that are taking the next step to further our world along the right path to an eco friendly environment. With the advancement in the technology of electric cars where is our future going to take us next?
Our society is advancing quickly and over the last decade our technology taking a drastic step into the future. The first step to these advancement in technology is someone taking a risk into the unknown. From Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak creating Apple one of the biggest technology companies in the world to the PLP program taking the next step in learning and Elon Musk co founding Tesla. All these have impacted and positively disrupted our world and the way we live our daily lives. The future is in our technology and how we decide to use it whether that is in a positive way or negative way, it’s for us the generations of today to decide tomorrow.
During this past unit I have seen my improvements as well as the learning I’ve done of technology and the positive and negative disruptions it has to modern day. Also the effect disruption has had on our advancement of technology through history. I’m excited to see where our next unit takes us!