Introduction to Engineering and Technology Concepts

Unit Nine

Chapter One – Technology Today

Instructions for Success:

• Each chapter of every unit will begin with a “Mindjog.” This is a warm up question that you should answer in your workbook in the proper chapter.

• Please take notes as you move through the presentations in the notebook that has been provided.

• Sections will come up in each presentation with an assignment notice. Turn to the section detailed on the slide in your workbook and complete the assignment before proceeding.

• Good luck!

Objective

• Students will compare lifestyle, employment, control, and major concerns in regards to today’s technology (Wright, 2004).

Mindjog!

• On your worksheet, please respond to the following question: 

• “How do you think your day would differ if you still lived in colonial times instead of present day? What would you do for fun? What sort of routines might you have?”

Change

• This course has discussed much of technology and how it has developed and how it plays a part in your everyday life.

• In the past 50 years, housing, transportation, shopping, and communication has changed very drastically.

• This chapter will look at how technology affects lifestyle, employment, individual control, major concerns, and new horizons (Wright, 2004) .

Lifestyle

• A lifestyle is what a person does with business and family life – their work, social, and recreational activities.

• Consider that during colonial times, families worked six days a week with long hours to grow a small amount of food. These people did not take vacations and instead worked on perfecting their craft or trade, such as being a blacksmith.

• Housing was modest and simple, as were other technologies available to meet basic human needs and wants (Wright, 2004).

Lifestyle (continued)

• However, with the exception of slaves, most people were their own bosses. They owned their farms and stores, or practiced their crafts as independent workers.

• However, the Industrial Revolution changed all that when more advanced technology was developed for the farm and land West of the Appalachians allowed for larger and more efficient farms.

• During this time, the work force on farms dropped radically – from 90 to three percent (Wright, 2004) .

Lifestyle (continued)

• During this time, new immigrants to the United States and the farmers, who were no longer needed to till the soil, provided a vast labor supply.

• This supply was the basic resource for the factory system that was being developed as the demand for goods could no longer be met by the local trades people working their shops.

• In fact, their functions were being replaced by operations that included:

• Professional Management• Division of Labor• Continuous Manufacturing Techniques• Material Handling Devices

• And Interchangeable Parts (Wright, 2004).

Lifestyle (continued)

• At this point, men and women of all ages worked long hours in factories for low pay.

• Low wages and poor working conditions, of which the workers had no say, caused unrest.

• Labor unions were formed to give the workers a voice in determining pay and conditions.

• Improvements were made as the government began changing its attitudes by creating new laws and different management stances, including the 40 hour, five day work week with paid vacation time (Wright, 2004).

Lifestyle (continued)

• The information age and the computer changed the idea that whatever factory could produce the most was the most successful.

• In fact, the computer allowed for flexible manufacturing, where manufacturing can quickly and inexpensively respond to change.

• The management group became less distant from the workers and seen as team members (Wright, 2004).

Employment

• Lifestyle and employment are closely linked- you need the money to afford the type of life you want.

• Besides high school graduation, college degree, and technical training, workers in the information age must be willing to:

• Pursue additional education and training throughout their lives.

• Accept job and career changes several times during their work lives.

• Work in teams, and place team goals above personal ambitions.

• Exercise leadership, and accept responsibility for their work

(Wright, 2004).

Employment (continued)

• Someone seeking employment in a technical job might look into one of these positions:

• Production Worker – people that process materials and make products.

• Technician – these individuals work closely with production workers but do more specialized jobs.

• Technologist – form the bridge between the engineers who design systems and the workers who implement them.

• Engineer – designs products and structures, conducts research, and develops production processes and systems.

• Managers – set goals, plot courses of action, and motivate

people to work together (Wright, 2004).

Employment (continued)

• A variety of job requirements affect each employee. When selecting employment, a person should consider job requirements from three points:

• Authority and Responsibility – The level of accountability that goes with the job.

• Data, Machines, and People – the balance of how much each of these factors weighs into the position’s duties.

• Education – People should select jobs that have educational requirements matched with their ability to

learn (Wright, 2004).

Individual Control

• Individuals control technology in a number of ways:• As a consumer, people must select proper products,

structures, and services. They must also use, maintain, and dispose of them correctly and as needed.

• Individuals also have political power. Companies are all operating under government regulations. Few laws are passed solely because an elected official thinks they are important. Most of them come from people asking their elected representative to deal with a concern.

• Finally, individuals can be activists, who use public

opinion to shape practices and societal values (Wright, 2004).

Major Concerns

• In previous Units, the chapters have stated some issues that arise when developing and using technology. At the forefront of our attention are:

• Nuclear power and waste disposal – Is nuclear power safe and how can we harness and maintain it in a safe manner?

• Technological Unemployment – we saw earlier in this chapter that technology can put people out of a job, just like the farmers. Should technology that causes unemployment be applied? Should companies provide training and benefits to workers who become unemployed due to these technologies? Should foreign products that cause technological unemployment be barred from domestic markets? What are the individual’s responsibilities regarding changing job

requirements? (Wright, 2004).

Major Concerns (continued)

• Genetic Engineering – Is it right to change the genetic structure of living organisms and whose right is it? Is it permissible to alter the DNA of a human? How are religious and technological conflicts going to be dealt with?

• Energy Use – How can we reduce our dependence on petroleum and the private automobile? What other alternative energy sources exist? How do we control environmental damage caused by our actions? Should mass transit be financed with tax money? Should we pay higher taxes on gasoline?

• Land Use – What are the rights of landowners? Should the desire of the majority overrule these rights? How do you balance environmental protection issues with economic issues? What responsibilities do government officials have for public lands (Wright, 2004)?

Major Concerns (continued)

• Pollution – Should products that pollute the environment be banned from manufacture and use? How much, and what type of evidence is needed before a product can be banned? How do you handle the economic and social impact of banning products? Should strict pollution controls apply equally to individuals and companies? Should there be a pollution tax on things that damage the environment?

• As you can see, technological problems must be researched before they can be solved.

• Unfortunately, technology cannot possibly solve ALL of our issues (Wright, 2004).

New Horizons

• Technology continues to be developed at a very rapid pace. In the 1800’s, Jules Verne wrote about traveling under the ocean in a submarine…impossible for the time. In the 1940s and 50s, comics brought about the ridiculous idea that rocket ships could travel into space. What is fiction today may become an everyday part of your life.

• What about mining the resources of the oceans or space? Perhaps moving manufacturing into space to avoid further adverse affects on Earth. Commercial space travel is something that’s being considered, as to date it is government-financed.

• Of course all of these ideas have their own trade offs (positive and negative aspects).

• What could be next (Wright, 2004)?

Assignment #1

• Please turn to the section in your workbook entitled, “Unit Nine, Chapter One – Technology Today.”

• Complete the extension questions under the “Assignment #1” header before moving onto the next section of slides.

BEFORE MOVING ON:

• Did you complete the “Assignment #1” Section under the “Unit Nine, Chapter One – Technology Today” section of your workbook?

• If you have, please proceed to the next slide.

Chapter One Completed!

• Please close this presentation and launch the file entitled, “Chapter 2 – Technology and Society.”

References

• Wright, R. (2004) “Technology” The Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc.