Technology in Schools Article

• A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute
• 1. Synopsis of the article - This article is about the Waldorf School, a private school in California's Silicon Valley that does not use any technology in the classroom. Instead of learning with tools such as iPads and SmartBoards, the students learn the old-fashioned way, with pens and paper. The school believes that people can teach children better than computers can, so technology is banned in the school. Only when students reach the eighth grade can they start learning with technology.  Many of the parents of the students work with technology and they agree with this style of education. 
  2. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders in this situation are the students, the parents of the students and the education system. 
  3. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - One social and ethical issue related to this article is people and machines because the Waldorf School believes that children can learn better from people than computers. They agree with limiting computer use.
  4. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The related area of impact is education and training because the situation is about whether technology is good or not for young students.  
  5. What is your opinion of the issue? i.e. How does it affect you? How do you feel about that? I believe that technology is beneficial for education because it is a growing field and students will need to use it in college and in the workforce. This issue relates to me because I am able to type quickly because I took a mandatory multimedia class in 6th grade where I had to learn how to type. Knowing how to type is essential for a job because it means that you can get more work done in less time. Because I started typing early, I have an advantage over somebody who does not know how to type. 
  6. Do you agree with the Waldorf School? I agree with the Waldorf School to an extent. I believe that people do get sucked into technology so children should limit their usage and learn how to interact with their peers. At the same time, though, I believe that technology is essential and children should learn how to use it at a young age so they can have an advantage over their peers. I am also interested in seeing the effects of this style of education as the children grow older and enter the workforce. The results would affect my support of technology in elementary schools. 
  7. What positive and negative impacts have resulted with the introduction of technology into elementary education? Some positive impacts of the introduction of technology in elementary education are increased typing skills and faster work. One major negative impact is decreased social skills. Instead of playing and interacting with their friends, children are instead playing with their phones or other gadgets.

New York Times Article

1. Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal
2. Synopsis of the article - Amazon is now publishing books for authors, so authors do not have to publish their books with the traditional publishing houses such as Penguin and Melville House. Many authors have gotten in trouble with their publishers because they publish other books with Amazon. The publishing houses are afraid of what Amazon will do to their business.
3. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders are Amazon, the other publishing houses, the authors who want to publish their books, and the consumers who buy the books. 
4. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - The social and ethical issue related to this article is intellectual property because the publishing houses believe that they own their published books while the authors believe the books are their own. 
5. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The area of impact is Arts, Home, and Leisure because the issue deals with books, which is a form of entertainment. 
6. What is your opinion of the issue? i.e. How does it affect you? How do you feel about that? I believe that Amazon could turn into a monopoly if they continue to create services that knock out competition. This will affect me because I am a consumer and I will buy books at some point. If Amazon is the only publisher and seller of books, I will have to buy the products from them. 
7. What future impacts/changes do you think will occur? I think that Amazon will become a monopoly in the book world. They are quickly becoming a monopoly in the field of internet book sales and may become a monopoly in the publishing field. 

Voting Machines Article

• Summary: This article describes how Diebold voting machines can be hacked. The hacking process is easy for people to do, which puts the voting process in danger. The hackers are able to manipulate the machines by sneaking into polling places before election day and placing alien electronics in the voting machines which then intercept and change individuals' votes. This is problematic because many states will use the Diebold voting machines in the 2012 election.
• Stakeholders: The stakeholders are the voters, the hackers, and the presidential candidates. 
• Area of Impact: The area of impact is politics and government because the hackers can influence how many votes a candidate will receive. 
• Social/Ethical Issues: The social and ethical issue is security. The voting machines are not secure because they can easily be hacked. 
• Original intent of IT scenario: We have voting machines because it makes the voting process easier and faster for the voters. Also, the machines expedite the process of counting the votes because they are faster than humans. 
• Disadvantages of the scenario: A disadvantage of using voting machines is that it is easy to hack the machines and manipulate the votes. Hackers can change individual votes by placing alien electronics in the voting machines. 
• Solution: A solution to this problem is to design a more secure voting machine. To do this, designers can make the seals better and not use a standard blank key for every machine. Also, locks can prevent people from entering the polling places before election day. 

Open Source Software Alternatives to Office

• Openoffice.org - Openoffice is a suite that contains applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. It is currently maintained by Apache Software Foundation and has been downloaded 300 million times (recorded in Feb. 2010).
• LibreOffice - LibreOffice is an opensource productivity suite for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Its applications include Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base. It is maintained by The Document Foundation. 
• KOffice - KOffice is an opensource office suite. Its applications are KWord, KCells, KOffice Showcase, and KOffice Artwork. It is  maintained by KDE.