NOTE: A great number of the
assignments and exercises outlined in the Middle School
section of this site can be applied in High School or
College courses as well. Be sure to check that section
for additional ideas of use in many disciplines. - Database
Exercise:To
practice using databases effectively, have students
access the "Early '90s" internet
predictions database - http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/early90s/search.xhtml
- on the Imagining the Internet site and use the
advanced-search function. First, ask students to
experiment in finding things and familiarize
themselves with this area of the site by entering
different dates, media and names. Next, send them on
a "scavenger hunt" to find particular items
included in the database by using specific search
terms and the pull-down menu. Some
examples:
- How many predictions in the
Early '90s database include the word
"dog"? List a favorite. How many
predictions include the word "god"?
List a favorite.
- In which year did John Perry
Barlow say: "The economy of the future will
be based on relationship rather than possession.
It will be continuous rather than sequential. And
finally, in the years to come, most human
exchange will be virtual rather than physical,
consisting not of stuff but the stuff of which
dreams are made."
- How many predictions from
the New York Times are included in the Early
'90s database? List a favorite.
- Find the subtopic
"newspapers" and search to see how many
predictions deal with their future. What are most
people saying will happen with this form of
media?
- Predictions Survey
assignment:One
section of the Imagining the Internet site –
The Predictions Survey http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/expertsurveys/2004survey.xhtml
– includes information gathered by the Pew
Internet & American Life Project in post-2003
surveys to ascertain what leading technology people,
researchers and futurists think will happen in the
next 10 to 20 years. The information in this
"Predictions Survey" section of the site
can be used in many ways.
- Assign separate groups of
students to each look at just one of the many
pages dedicated to explaining the answer to each
of the survey questions and report to the class
and then lead a class discussion of the issue.
For instance a group assigned to present the
information included on the page with the
response to a 2004 survey question on the future
of social networks - http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/expertsurveys/2004_socialnetworks.xhtml
- should read the lead explanation on this
web page and then go through and find 10 favorite
quotes that most accurately reflect the
statistical results of the survey on this
question. The group of students should compile
and present a report to share with the class on
this question, explaining the statistical result,
supporting the report with the direct quotations
and leading a class discussion about how students
in the entire class feel about the issue.
- Cut and paste the annual
survey questions into a document and have your
students take the survey and answer the questions
themselves before looking at the site. Next have
the students look at the site and compare their
answers with those given by the internet experts.
How are they similar and different? After reading
what the experts have to say, would students want
to alter their original opinions?
Typical survey questions include:
- In the next decade, among the following
– media, education, government/politics,
the workplace, education, medicine,
entertainment, families, communities, religion,
military, international relations - which
institutions and human endeavors will change the
most because of the internet? Tell us how you see
the future unfolding.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement and why: At least one devastating
attack will occur in the next 10 years on the
networked information infrastructure or the
country's power grid.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement and why: In 2014, it will still be the
case that the vast majority of internet users
will easily be able to copy and distribute
digital products freely through anonymous
peer-to-peer networks.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement and why: As computing devices become
embedded in everything from clothes to appliances
to cars to phones, these networked devices will
allow greater surveillance by governments and
businesses. By 2014, there will be increasing
numbers of arrests based on this kind of
surveillance by democratic governments as well as
by authoritarian regimes.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement and why: By 2014, as telework and
homeschooling expand, the boundaries between work
and leisure will diminish significantly. This
will sharply alter everyday family
dynamics.
- SAT
preparation:To
help students prepare for the writing portion of the
SAT as well as to encourage thinking about the
future, assign your students to study portions of the
Imagining the Internet site that present information
about future issues (for instance, the Early '90s
section - http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/early90s/search.xhtml
- of the site has a list of topic categories that
lead to predictions about such controversial topics
as copyright, anonymity, censorship, crime, privacy,
information overload, e-commerce, virtual reality and
many others, and they can be found in the pull-down
menus.) Next assign students to answer essay
questions in a timed format similar to that of the
SAT. Some issues to consider include:
- What are the positive and
negative moral and ethical implications of
Internet use as it becomes faster, more
enveloping and ubiquitous?
- How can we come up with a
fair and equitable plan for the future of
copyright and fair use that can be implemented
worldwide?
- What are the dangers ahead
when the world becomes so dependent on technology
that computers are making most of our major
decisions without our input?
- How does the internet create
new controversy over the conflict between law
enforcement and our right to privacy and free
speech; are the Patriot Act or other similar
government controls necessary?
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