Monday, July 8
COURSE SYLLABUS Alcorn, Paul A., Social Issues in Technology: A Format for Investigation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
This book explores three major areas:
1. The underlying principles of technology and their relationships to culture.
2. A systems approach to studying social issues in technology.
3. A checklist of social factors and their relationship to technology.
The book is somewhat uneven. There are some very good specific examples of technologies and their impacts -- but there aren't enough of them. The book has the advantage of being relatively easy to read. Issues such as social resistance to change are well presented, but the depth of exploration could be more substantial. The section on a systems approach provides a well-designed structural format for students to investigate social issues on their own. The checklist of social factors is just that -- a checklist.
This book explores three major areas:
1. The underlying principles of technology and their relationships to culture.
2. A systems approach to studying social issues in technology.
3. A checklist of social factors and their relationship to technology.
The book is somewhat uneven. There are some very good specific examples of technologies and their impacts -- but there aren't enough of them. The book has the advantage of being relatively easy to read. Issues such as social resistance to change are well presented, but the depth of exploration could be more substantial. The section on a systems approach provides a well-designed structural format for students to investigate social issues on their own. The checklist of social factors is just that -- a checklist.
