Reflective statement SMART CITY
During this unit I have certainly expanded my knowledge of tech and the huge industry that surrounds it. I have also learnt how much of our lives revolve around tech and how more or less all of us, use tech at some point everyday.
“Computer technology is so built into our lives that its part of the surround of every artist” - Steven Levy
Tech is developing at such a fast rate, it is almost hard to keep up with it. During this topic we debated about the useful progression of tech, for example connecting people from across the world. making news available to people in certain countries and how this is a much needed development for todays society. We also spoke about the use of tech for people with learning disabilities be that in transport which I have already written a lot about, but also within textiles. How companies are using tech to making clothing easier. making fabrics more durable, easier to put on and wear as well as being able to display your emotions through what you are wearing. Some companies are using specialist machines to separate synthetic and natural fibres, making clothing easier to recycle, reducing the wast and amount of reusable items going into landfill, a great example of how tech is saving the planet in unconventional ways. Tech and textiles have a strong link and I hadn’t really put much thought into that before, now I am much more aware of other business ideas and progression that can be made and explored in the industry.
I learnt a lot about the bad side of tech, most of which was based around Hackers and the ‘Dark/deep Web’ this I found extremely interesting because of the huge scale of crime committed online be that fraud, security breaches in banking involving personal details or the online purchases of drugs and weapons. This is something I hope gets dealt with as it progresses although I am excited to see how far tech develops over my life span, I am not looking forward to the criminal activity that will more than likely progress with it.
After what I have learnt in this unit I think it will be beneficial to encourage young people to use tech more often, what I have learnt in this unit should be made available to people at a younger educational level. These young people will be the ones who progress and develop hugely important ideas and theories. They are our future. I don’t think it should overtake our core values though. the tech presence in school is growing, in the early 2000′s there wasn’t an interactive whiteboard insight yet I can assure you that every school in the UK will have one in the school, if not in every class room. There is certainly no way of having a tech free life, this is evident because even before we are put in a classroom we are handed phones to play games on, ipads to draw on and TV’s to watch... Tech is a huge part of the 21st century and I hadn’t realised, or should I say thought about it to this extent, until studying this unit.
“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
-Bill Gates. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017