Big Idea 5.1 Beneficial and Harmful Effects

Benefits: The ability of computing to perform numerous simple calculations in a split second is a significant advantage. The calculative nature of computers enables us to decompose complicated processes into easy-to-understand, standalone instructions. These answers are then combined to produce an answer to a more complex issue. Additionally, the instantaneity provided by the internet enables the typical individual to do a search and rapidly get answers to a specific query. Finally, computers provides us with incredibly quick ways to communicate via video calling and online SMS spaces. In the end, these advantages help to connect the world’s infrastructure and speed up collaboration.

Harms: The use of technology, particularly in the digital realm, poses significant moral and ethical dilemmas. For example, the internet is largely powered by vast amounts of data that provide users with the information they seek. All functioning programs and services store user data or input that can be saved online indefinitely. Posting personal or undesirable content online can make it challenging or nearly impossible to remove. Additionally, privacy concerns extend to the unauthorized collection of data, such as the use of private searches and online history to personalize recommendations on social media, which can result in the sale of personal information. Finally, technology has a significant impact on the environment, including pollution from the production of chips, which require vast amounts of minerals and metals.

Big Idea 5.2 Digital Divide

How does someone empower themself in a digital world?:

By sharing their accomplishments and inventions online, someone may empower oneself in the digital world. This is often a nice method to demonstrate one’s abilities to others, but it may also be destructive because there is a small but vocal minority online who will try to degrade others for their own enjoyment.

How does someone that is empowered help someone that is not empowered? Describe something you could do at Del Norte HS.?:

People who are empowered often assist people who are not empowered by giving them some kind of physical or mental assistance. For instance, by sharing the information we acquire in class and on our own time, my friends and I are able to empower one another in our demanding academic life. Through this, we would still have a safety net that might aid us at our lowest and assure a positive academic end or result, even if we struggle in school and might feel disheartened.

Is paper or red tape blocking digital empowerment? Are there such barriers at Del Norte? Elsewhere?:

Requiring paper forms or bureaucratic procedures hinders rather than empowers individuals. Forcing students to use a specific medium can create additional challenges if they don’t have the necessary materials, leading to missed deadlines. Similarly, a rigid process decreases efficiency in both educational and workplace settings by disregarding alternative, more effective and efficient methods for completing tasks.