Module 6 SPECIFIC ISSUES IN SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY, and SOCIETY

Course topic Lesson 1: Information Technology
Time allotment: 3 Hours MW, TTH
Course objectives: Expected outputs:
At the end of the lesson, you should be
able to: Uncover: Personal views on Information
Technology
A. link learned concepts to the
development of the
information age and its impact
on society Brainstorm : Lecture

B. illustrate how the social media Instill: Lecture

and the information age have
impacted our lives
Apply: Research Article
C. trace the development of
Information Age
Nutshell: Unit Quiz
D. learn how technology
functions

E. appreciate its influence to

people’s lives

Getting Started!

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 This lesson will discuss technologies in almost every application field; be it energy,
mobility, health, work, living, learning or entertainment. But before that, answer the activity
below. This will guide you in studying the succeeding lesson.

Activity 1 Personal Viewpoint!

Note: Given the picture below, do you believe in the following statement?

➢ Is Information Age-Evolution or Revolution? Defend you answer.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Now, answer this….

II. ARE YOU ADDICTED TO TECHNOLOGY?

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 NOTE: Write YES if you agree on each statement, NO if not. Write your answer after
each question. Count the number of YES and NO
YES = _________ NO =_______

1. Do you eat most of your meals while at the computer or in front of the television?
2. Do you sometimes bring your laptop when you sit on the toilet?
3. Do you check your newsfeeds more than 1x per hour?
4. Do you make a nervous habit out of refreshing your inbox over and over, just in case someone
emailed you in the last 45 seconds?
5. Are there more than two portable electronic devices within reach right now?
6. If your house were on fire, would you run in to rescue your laptop?
7. Are you closer with some online-only friends than people you actually see in real life?
8. Are you pretty sure you'd have killed yourself if you lived in the days before Internet?
9. Do you buy things online that you could easily drive across town to get in person?
10. Do "electronics" have their own category in your monthly budget?
11. Do you bring your smart phone with you to church?
12. Do you spend more time on Facebook than you do in the presence of actual people?
13. Are you currently in a virtual relationship?
14. Do you have 3 or more active social media accounts?
15. Do you need multiple wall outlets to charge all your stuff at night?
16. Do you often skip meals because you've lost track of time in front of the computer?
17. Does your Internet usage cut into the time you should be spending on personal hygiene?
18. Can you type text messages faster than you can handwrite the same words?
19. Do you regularly have to put blocks of ice, portable fans, or frozen packages of hash browns
on or near your computer to keep it cool?
20. Are you up on the computer past 3am at least once a week?

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 Congratulations because you were able to share your information age concepts.
Now, you will explore more on what is Information Age, its history and understand the
factors that need to be considered in checking website sources.

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the relation between humans and technology is key to responsible

development and acceptance of future technologies in almost every application field, be
it energy, mobility, health, work, living, learning or entertainment. We need to
understand better how past technologies have fundamentally changed human existence,
and how future technologies may impact human beings and their society. This refection
will help to design technologies with maximal value and minimal friction in a responsible
way.
Computers, the Internet, and other information technologies are extraordinarily
powerful tools. As such they have great potential both to benefit and to harm societies
that embrace them. For example, the Internet has been used to make businesses more

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efficient, improve education, and create online meeting places for people separated by
great distances; it has also produced a new avenue for fraud, theft, invasion of privacy,
and the distribution of pornography and hate speech

A. INFORMATION AGE

It is a period starting in the last quarter of the 20th century information became
effortlessly accessible through publications and through the management of information
by computers and computer networks. It is also known as DIGITAL AGE or NEW MEDIA
AGE. The Information Age is a true new age based upon the interconnection of computers
via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a real-time and
as- needed basis. Furthermore, the primary factors driving this new age forward are
convenience and user-friendliness which, in turn, will create user dependence. (James
R. Messenger, Theory of Information Age, 1982)
His tory

Who is the founder of information technology?

Atkinson - As founder and president of the Information Technology and

Innovation Foundation (ITIF), recognized as the world's top think tank for science and
technology policy, Robert D.

B. What Are The Five Information Ages?

1. Stone age
2. Iron age
3. The middle ages
4. The industrial age
5. Electronic age

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C. TRUTHS OF THE INFORMATION AGE

1. Information must compete

A need exists for information to stand out and be recognized in the increasing
clutter, the data smog, that surrounds us.

2. Newer is equated with truer

We have lost the sense that any fact or value can endure.

3. Selection is a viewpoint
If you want to receive a more-balanced view of reality, choose multiple
sources for your information.

4. The media sells what the culture buys

In other words, information is shaped by cultural priorities.
5. The early word gets the perm
The first media outlet to cover an issue often defines the terms, context, and
attitudes surrounding it.

5. You are what you eat and so is your brain

If certain ideas are never presented to you, you cannot draw adequate
conclusions.

6. Anything in great demand will be counterfeited

-The demand for amazing knowledge, secrets, and scandals is ever present, and
hence many events are fabricated by the tabloids, publicists, or other agents of
information fraud.

8. Ideas are seen as controversial

It is probably impossible to make any assertion that will not find some
supporters and some detractors.

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 9. Undead information walks ever on
-Lies, hoaxes, misinformation, rumors, disinformation, and garbled truth never really
pass away. They continue to circulate.

10.Media presence creates the story

-The information industry is built on a certain quantity of information flow. Whatever
the medium - newspapers, TV news, book publishing, websites - the space must still be filled
with whatever is available.

11. The medium selects the message

12.The whole truth is a pursuit

-Many people believe that no accusation would be made without any basis, so that if
an accusation is made, it must be true, at least in part.

“The Information Age is rife with cheating and plagiarism.”

“There is a distinction to be made between inventions that are merely

sophisticated . . . and those that fundamentally alter the human condition.”
“The gap between rich and poor countries worsens as the technological
divide widens.”

Information Technology + Political Will = Digital Opportunity Information

Technology - Political Will = Digital Divide
D. Computer
It is an electronic device that stores and processes data (information) • Runs on a
program that contains the exact, step-by-step directions to solve a problem.

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Types of Computer
1. Personal Computer -Single-user instrument • Known as microcomputers since they
were a computer but built on a smaller scale
2. Desktop Computer -PC that is not designed for portability • Workstation: desktop
computer that has a more powerful processor, additional memory, and enhanced
capabilities for performing special groups of tasks.
3. Laptops - Portable computers that integrate the essentials of a desktop computer
in a battery- operated package
4. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) - Tightly integrated computers that usually have
no keyboards but rely on a touch screen for user input. • Typically smaller than a
paperback, lightweight, and battery-powered
5. Server Computer that has been improved to provide network services to other
computers. • Usually boast powerful processors, tons of memory, and large hard drives.
6. Mainframes- Huge computer systems that can fill an entire room. • Used by large
firms that process millions of transactions every day
7. Wearable computers - Materials that are usually integrated into cell phones,
watches, and other small objects or places. • Perform common computer applications
such as databases, emails, multimedia, and schedules

E. The World Wide Web (Internet)

(The Danger of Being “Always On”)

1. What does it mean to be online all the time?

2. How will that change the way we live?

It is founded by Claude E. Shannon – “Father of Information Theory” • Internet – world

wide system of interconnected networks that facilitate data transmission among
innumerable computers.
“Internet access is helping people join all kinds of communities, including those that
are not exclusively virtual communities.
“The Internet is an ever-growing part of our lives and there is no turning back.”
“One of the Internet’s truly great features is that anybody can be a player who has an
idea for a Web site and a few dollars to get it up and running.”

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 “Glocalization” Sociologist Barry Wellman argues that many new social arrangements
are being formed through “glocalization”—the capacity of the Internet to expand users’
social worlds to faraway people and simultaneously to bind them more deeply to the place
where they live.
“The online world is a vibrant social universe where many Internet users enjoy serious
and satisfying contact with online communities.”

“Aren’t we all just a little tired of hearing about the Internet?”

“Whether we like it or not, the Internet will continue to find its way into our daily routines.”

F. Applications of Computer in Science and Research

1. Bioinformatics
2. Application of information technology to store, organize, and analyze vast
amount of biological data.
3. SWISS-PROT protein sequence database
4. Rational drug discovery
5. Plant biotechnology

G. How to Check the Reliability of Web Sources

1. Who is the author of the article/site?

2. Who published the site?
3. What is the main purpose of the site?
4. Why did the author write it and why did the publisher post it?
5. Who is the intended audience?
6. What is the quality of information provided on the website?

What is the impact of information technology in our society?

These technological advancements made learning more fun and convenient.

Another way technology has impacted society is through communication, how we talk
and communicate with one another worldwide. Technology brought many new methods
of electronic communication

THE DIGITAL DOCTRINE

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 We seem to be expected to believe the following tenets:
1. Technology is a thing unto itself, an all-pervasive agent that governs our
lives—as opposed to something that people choose to do with gadgets.
2. If a thing can be done, then it will be done and, indeed, must be done—
for example, connecting your refrigerator to the Internet.
3. The Wired World is our destiny. You must learn to love (or at least live
with) the Big Brother aspect. Otherwise, you will certainly be left Out (of
something) and left behind (somebody).
4. Some of us get it, and the ones who don’t must either be helped to get it
or be driven like sheep to their ultimate destiny to love it in the end.

“E-commerce will be the big failure story of the decade.”

SUMMARY

What Is the Future of the Information Age?

Today, there’s scarcely an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the torrent
of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to
mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. But
technology can create a society and economy in which we are all interdependent, where
“virtuous circles” speed beneficial change, and, most important, where individuals are
valued and empowered, really does change everything—for the better.

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 DISCUSSION QUESTION

Answer:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

FIND THE LINK

Now that you are done reading the links above, you can answer the following questions:
FIND THE LINK

Click the links below on Information Age

https://historyoftechnologyif.weebly.com/information-age.html
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a461496.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLpK5Jz5l7Q
vhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhTRoanrO-8

Now that you are done reading the links above, you can answer the following questions:

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Activity 2–“Activity Report: A Day Without Technology”

➢ In 2-3 sentences, state your answer if in a day, there is no technology.

Answer:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Now, perform the next activity.

ACTIVITY 3.
Watch the TEDTalk: Julian Assange on “Why the World Needs Wikileaks”
https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_assange_why_the_world_needs_wikileaks/transcript?language=en

➢ Write your 3 insights here:

5. ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION! (QUIZ 5)

1. Social media is a technology which facilitates the sharing of information,

ideas, and other content in different parts of the globe. If social media was

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 deactivated for a month in a country, what would possibly happen?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

2. Social media also poses risks especially in the dissemination of false

information. As a student, how will you use social media to ensure that you
do not propagate inaccurate information?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

3. Read the selection entitled “The Effects of Using the Facebook” by Anne
Gelene Tobias Dimasalang. You may refer to your reference STS textbook
pp. 60-62. Then present the positive and negative effects of using
“Facebook” in a tabular form.

Uses of Facebook

Positive Effects Negative Effects

1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

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ASSESSMENT

Prepare for a unit quiz

References:
http://www.dikseo.teimes.gr/spoudastirio/E-
NOTES/I/Information_Age_Viewpoints.pdf
http://www.dikseo.teimes.gr/spoudastirio/E-
NOTES/I/Information_Age_Viewpoints.pdf
https://www.slideshare.net/annaestardo/bspsts-pt8
Nelia G. Prieto, LPT, PhD, et al (2019) Science, Technology and Society, Lorimar
Publishing Inc.
Mc Nacamara, Daniel Joseph, SJ, et al (2018) Science, Technology and Society,
C&E Publishing Company

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