0. Alan Evans • Kendall Martin
Technology in Action
Alan Evans • Kendall Martin
Mary Anne Poatsy
Tenth Edition
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

1. Chapter 1 Using Technology to Change the World
Technology in Action
Chapter 1
Using Technology to Change the World
This chapter provides an overview of the importance of learning about computers and technology.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

2. Chapter Topics How Will You Put Technology in Action?
Technology on the world stage
Technology and our society
How Will Technology Improve Your Life?
Technology at home
Technology and your career
Topics include the following:
How will you put technology in Action?
Technology on the world stage
Technology and our society
How will technology improve your life?
Technology at home
Technology and your career
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

3. How Will You Put Technology in Action?
Technology is not just:
A means for career advancement
A skill set needed to survive in society
Technology can be a way to make an impact beyond your own life
Technology today is not just a means for career advancement or a necessary skill set for survival in society. It can be a ticket to influence and participate in projects that will change the world.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

4. Technology on the World Stage
Technology is accelerating change around the world
It is galvanizing groups of people in new ways
Recent political and global issues are showing that technology is accelerating change around the world and galvanizing groups in new ways.
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5. Technology on the World Stage Political Issues
Social networking fueled social unrest
Crisis-mapping tool collects information and makes it instantly available
Social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter enable the gathering together of groups of people to connect and exchange ideas. They brought together people facing repression and censorship in many countries in the Arab and North African regions.
Crisis-mapping tool s helped to share messages describing violence occurring all over Kenya in 2007.
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6. Technology on the World Stage Other Global Issues
Health care
Technology could help develop and deliver vaccines in response to a flu pandemic
Retinal prosthetics could potentially restore quality vision to the blind
Environment: data collected with cell phones could alert scientists to new trends in the environment
Researchers say there is a nearly 100 percent chance of a flu pandemic in the next century. Technology could help us develop and deliver vaccines to save lives.
Retinal prosthetics are another example of global health concerns being addressed with technology.
Cell phones with built-in atmospheric sensors could help provide data to alert scientists to new trends in our environment.
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7. Technology on the World Stage The Digital Divide
Great gap between levels of Internet access in different regions of the world
Prevents use of all minds on planet to solve problems
Many projects address the problem of the digital divide
There is a great gap between the levels of Internet access and the availability of technical tools in different regions of the world. The term coined for that gap, for the difference in ease of access to technology, is the digital divide. One danger of a digital divide is that it prevents us from using all of the minds on the planet to solve the problems of the planet. But this challenge created by technology is also being answered by technology.
The Next Einstein Initiative (NEI) is a plan to focus resources on the young talented mathematical minds of Africa.
The Witness Project provides video cameras to document human rights abuses.
Johnny Lee’s blog procrastineering.blogspot.com enables users to create smartboards for $50.
The World Food Programme analyzes the location and need for food around the world to position the food where it will help the most.
printers enable users to fabricate 3-D objects such as electrical parts.
The Junkyard Jumbotron from the MIT Center for Future Civic Media is software that enables users to create one huge display device from a set of smaller units, thereby keeping monitors out of landfills.
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8. Technology and Our Society
Technology is allowing us to redefine fundamental parts of our social makeup
How we think
How we connect with others
How we purchase and consume products
Technology is allowing us to redefine very fundamental parts of our social makeup. How we think, how we connect with each other, how we purchase and consume products—all of these areas of our society are shifting rapidly because of technology.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

9. Technology and Our Society Technology Impacts How We Think
Web 2.0 allows international collaboration
Civic-minded projects appear online
Autonomy, mastery, and purpose
In the late twentieth century, a common trend was to think about what to buy next, or perhaps what to watch or listen to next. Information and products were being served at an amazing rate and a pattern of consumption became habit. As more and more web applications began to appear that allowed each individual to become the “creator” of the web, a new kind of Internet came into being. It was nicknamed Web 2.0, and now everyone could collaborate internationally at the click of a mouse.
Civic-minded projects appear online. Modern theories of motivation show that what pushes people to apply their free time to projects, for no money, is the excitement of autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Autonomy is the freedom to work without constant direction and control.
Mastery is the feeling of confidence and excitement from seeing your own skills progress. So many people complete a full week of work and then play a musical instrument for hours at home, not to make money, but to feel their mastery of the instrument grow.
Purpose is simply the understanding that you are working for something larger than yourself.
Together, these three play into how we are fundamentally wired and produce incredibly motivated behavior. As we learn more about the “technology” of motivation, electronic technology offers motivated people the means to connect and to work easily with video and media. Their creative surplus becomes a powerful resource to change the world.
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10. Technology and Our Society Technology Impacts How We Connect
Connecting through music
Virtual Choir
Connecting through business
Kickstarter
Crowdfunding
In most societies, people connect intimately in gatherings and local celebrations through shared experiences. Technology has added breadth to that aspect of our lives as well. Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir is one example. Whitacre began the idea of a virtual choir by posting a video of himself to YouTube. The idea was that listeners would follow his lead and, as they heard the piano track, each would record their part of the piece. The submitted videos were then edited together. The first piece from the Virtual Choir was released with 50 recorded voices. A blog connects the members and builds a real sense of community between them.
Kickstarter helps us connect to help support other people’s dreams by allowing people to post their ideas for community projects, games, and inventions and ask for funding directly. Donors are given rewards for different levels of pledges.
This style of generating capital to start a business is known as crowdfunding.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

11. Technology and Society Technology Impacts How We Consume
Technology is changing all aspects of how we purchase and consume goods
Marketing strategies count on many people having cell phones
QR (quick response) codes link to online information
Price comparison
Mobile coupons (mobicoupons)
Crowdsourcing
Technology is changing all aspects of how we purchase and consume goods—from strategies for convincing you to purchase a certain product to the mechanics of how you buy and own things.
New strategies in marketing and communications are counting on the fact that so many people have a cell phone with a camera and Internet access.
A technology named QR (quick response) codes lets any piece of print host a link to online information and video content. From your smartphone, simply run your QR app and hold the phone near the QR image anywhere you see it. Your phone scans the QR image and takes you to a website, video, schedule, or Facebook page for more information. Studies show 82 percent of shoppers go to the Internet on their phone before a purchase.
Apps like ShopSavvy and RedLaser scan the bar code of an item and then compare prices with those of nearby stores and the best prices available online.
Tech-savvy shoppers can get mobile coupons delivered to their cell phones thanks to sites like Zavers and Cellfire.
Marketers also have to be aware of the phenomenon of crowdsourcing, checking in with the voice of the crowd. Consumers use apps like MobileVoice to check people’s verdicts on the quality of items.
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12. Technology and Society Technology Impacts How We Consume (cont.)
Access versus Ownership
ZipCar
Call a Bike
Collaborative consumption
Access vs. ownership: Even the idea of ownership is evolving thanks to new technologies. Items like bicycles and cars can become “subscriptions” instead of large one-time purchases.
ZipCar allows hundreds of thousands of people to use shared cars, and Call a Bike is a popular bike-renting program in Germany.
Collaborative consumption implies that we are joining together as a group to use a specific product more efficiently.
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13. How Will Technology Improve Your Life?
Being computer literate means:
Understanding capabilities and limitations of computers
Knowing how to use computers safely and efficiently
Technology is creating huge changes in the world scene as well as how we behave socially, but it is also important to you on a more personal level. Being computer literate means being familiar enough with computers that you understand their capabilities and limitations and that you know how to use them safely and efficiently.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

14. Technology at Home Avoiding hackers and viruses
Protecting your privacy
Understanding the real risks
Using the web wisely
Avoiding online annoyance
Being able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer
Avoiding hackers and viruses: Being aware of how hackers and viruses operate and knowing the damage they can do to your computer can help you avoid falling prey to them.
Protecting your privacy: You’ve probably heard of identity theft—but do you know how to protect yourself from identity theft when you’re online?
Understanding the real risks: Part of being computer literate means being able to separate the real privacy and security risks from things you don’t have to worry about.
Using the web wisely: Anyone who has ever searched the web can attest that finding information and finding good information are two different things. People who are computer literate make the Internet a powerful tool and know how to find the information they want effectively.
Avoiding online annoyances: If you have an account, are you sure you know all the tricks you need to use appropriately? Do you know what software programs you should install on your computer to avoid online annoyances?
Being able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer: Learning how to care for and maintain your computer and knowing how to diagnose and fix certain problems can save you a lot of time and hassle.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

15. Technology and Your Career
Computers are used in wide range of careers including:
Retail
The arts
Education
Law enforcement
Medicine
Science
Psychology
Information technology (IT) is a field of study focused on the management and processing of information and the automatic retrieval of information. IT careers include working with computers, telecommunications, and software deployment. Career opportunities in IT are on the rise, but no matter what career you choose, new technology in the workplace is creating a demand for new skill levels in technology from employees.
Whether you plan on a career in one of these fields or will just be a user of their products and services, your life will be affected by the use of computers in areas including retail, the arts, education, law enforcement, medicine, science, and psychology.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

16. Technology and Your Career Retail: Working in a Data Mine
Businesses use data mining to search huge amounts of data hoping to find a pattern
Data mining opens the door to more detail
Allows retailers to respond to consumer buying patterns
Businesses accumulate a lot of data, but how do they manage to make sense of all of it? They use a technique known as data mining, the process of searching huge amounts of data with the hope of finding a pattern. For example, large retailers often study the data gathered from register terminals to determine which products are selling on a given day and in a specific location. In addition to inventory control systems helping managers figure out how much merchandise they need to order to replace stock that is sold, data mining opens the door to more detail. Managers can use mined data to determine that if a certain product is to sell well, they must lower its price—especially if they cut the price at one store and see sales increase, for example. Data mining thus allows retailers to respond to consumer buying patterns.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

17. Technology and Your Career Arts: Ink, Paints, and a Laptop?
Many artists work exclusively with computers
Artists display and sell work using web galleries
Dance and music programs use computers to create new performances
Museums use technology to enhance visitors’ experiences
Not all artwork is created using traditional materials such as paint and canvas. Many artists today work exclusively with computers. Mastery of software programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Corel Painter is essential to creating digital art.
Artists display and sell their creations by using custom web galleries.
Dance and music programs like the ones at the Atlanta Ballet and the Juilliard School of Music use computers to create new performances for audiences. A live dancer can be wired with sensors that are connected to a computer that captures the dancer’s movements. Based on the data it collects, the computer generates a virtual dancer on a screen. The computer operator can easily manipulate this virtual dance.
Today, museums are using technology to enhance visitors’ experiences. New York’s Museum of Modern Art offers a full range of options for tech-savvy visitors: old-fashioned museum audio guides, podcasts that visitors can listen to with their smartphones, and multimedia tours that visitors download through MoMa WiFi to their own MP3 device.
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18. Technology and Your Career Education: Teaching and Learning
Course management such as Blackboard or Moodle
Research tool for students
Simulations and instructional software on the web are learning tools
Virtual tours of many museums on websites
Computerized education could increase classroom success
The education industry uses computer technology in numerous ways. Courses are designed around course management software such as Blackboard or Moodle so that students can communicate outside of class, take quizzes online, and find their class materials easily.
The Internet has obvious advantages in the classroom as a research tool for students, and effective use of the Internet allows teachers to expose students to places they otherwise couldn’t access.
There are simulations and instructional software programs teachers can use to give students a taste of running a global business or the experience of the Interactive Body.
Many museums offer virtual tours on their websites that allow students the examine the museum collections.
Computerized education in the classroom could prove to be the tool that helps teachers reach greater success, despite increasing class sizes and tightening financial constraints. The Khan Academy is a terrific example of a technological tool for education. Salman Khan was an investment analyst who began posting videos on YouTube to teach algebra to his cousins in New Orleans. Today, his non-profit Khan Academy contains over 3,000 videos, and several million students a month use the site. Teachers can follow what is happening in the classroom using the dashboard.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

19. Technology and Your Career Law Enforcement: Put Down That Mouse – You’re Under Arrest!
Computers are used to solve an increasing number of crimes
Search databases on the Internet
Computer forensics analyzes computer systems to gather potential legal evidence
Computers are being used in police cars and crime labs to solve an increasing number of crimes.
One technique used by modern detectives to solve crimes uses computers to search the vast number of databases on the Internet.
As detective work goes more high tech, so, too, does crime. To fight modern crime, a law enforcement specialty called computer forensics is growing. Computer forensics analyzes computer systems with specific techniques to gather potential legal evidence.
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20. Technology and Your Career Medicine: The Chip Within
Goals of modern biomedical chip research
Provide technological solutions to physical problems and a means for identifying people
Personal ID chip (VeriMed) verifies identity
Help keep Alzheimer’s patients safe
Provide tamperproof security measures
The goals of modern biomedical chip research are to provide technological solutions to physical problems and a means for identifying individuals.
One type of chip is already being implanted in humans as a means of verifying a person’s identity. Produced by Positive ID and called VeriMed, this “personal ID chip” is about the size of a grain of rice and is implanted under the skin. When exposed to radio waves from a scanning device, the chip emits a signal that transmits its unique serial number to the scanner. The scanner then connects to a database that contains the name, address, and medical conditions of the person in whom the chip has been implanted.
The creators of VeriMed envision it helping keep Alzheimer’s patients safe and being used with other devices (such as electronic ID cards) to provide tamperproof security measures.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

21. Technology and Your Career Science: Simulating Reality
Simulations are used in:
Weather forecasting
Archeology
Simulations also can model the structure of solar magnetic flares, which can interfere with broadcasts on Earth. By studying the data produced by these simulations, forecasters hope to improve their predictions about weather phenomena.
Scientists are using three-dimensional scanners and imaging software to capture a detailed record of the current condition of the ruins. The virtual re-creation of the ruins is so lifelike that archaeologists can study the ruins on screen instead of at the actual site. Using the scans as well as satellite imagery, aerial photography, and other data, scientists will eventually be able to re-create missing portions of the ruins in a virtual model.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

22. Technology and Your Career Psychology: You Should Smile Now
Affective computing relates to emotion or trying to influence emotions
Emotional-social prosthesis (ESP) devices help people who have autism
Psychologists and computer scientists are working to evolve systems with more human appearance
Affective computing is computing that relates to emotion or deliberately tries to influence emotion.
The emotional-social prosthesis (ESP) device was developed by a group at the MIT Media Lab. The ESP system is targeted at helping people who have autism. Autistic individuals can have extremely high intelligence, but do not easily sense nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and tone of voice. ESP is a wearable system that isolates the movements and facial expressions of people, interprets what their mood and intention probably are, and communicates this information back to the user.
As engineers work to create computers that can understand us emotionally, psychologists and computer scientists are also working to evolve systems toward a more human appearance.
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23. Chapter 1 Summary Questions
1. How can becoming proficient with technology help you understand and participate in important issues in the world at large?
How can becoming proficient with technology help you understand and participate in important issues in the world at large?
Whether it is political issues, environmental issues, or questions addressing the global digital divide, it’s important that you become proficient with technology to be able to participate. Technology can be the means by which you find your voice in the world and impact others in meaningful ways.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

24. Chapter 1 Summary Questions
2. How can knowledge of technology help you influence the direction our society takes?
2. How can knowledge of technology help you influence the direction our society takes?
Technology is changing how we think, how we connect with each other, and how we purchase and consume products and services. By using current technology, you can become a creator of new pieces of music, connect with people form around the world, and collaborate to create or consume.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

25. Chapter 1 Summary Questions
3. What does it mean to be computer literate?
3. What does it mean to be computer literate?
Computer literacy goes beyond knowing how to use a mouse and send . If you’re computer literate, you understand the capabilities and limitations of computers and know how to use them wisely. Being computer literate also enables you to make informed purchasing decisions; use computers in your career; and understand the many ethical, legal, and societal implications of technology today. Anyone can become computer literate.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

26. Chapter 1 Summary Questions
4. How does being computer literate make you a savvy computer user and consumer?
4. How does being computer literate make you a savvy computer user and consumer?
By understanding how a computer is constructed and how its various parts function, you’ll be able to get the most out of your computer. Among other things, you’ll be able to avoid hackers, viruses, and Internet headaches; protect your privacy; and separate the real risks of privacy and security from those you don’t have to worry about. You’ll also be better able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer; make good purchasing decisions; and incorporate the latest technologies into your existing equipment.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

27. Chapter 1 Summary Questions
5. How can becoming computer literate help you in a career?
5. How can becoming computer literate help you in a career?
As computers become more a part of our daily lives, it is difficult to imagine any career that does not use computers in some fashion. Understanding how to use computers effectively will help you be a more productive and valuable employee, no matter which profession you choose.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

28. Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.  
Publishing as Prentice Hall