With terms like 'Russian hacking', 'bitcoin', 'net neutrality', and 'fake news' dominating the news cycle, what can we as developers do to help aid in understanding what these buzzwords actually mean.
Students will be able to respond to questions concerning technology topics in the media. Students will lead what we can do as developers to help bridge the understanding for people who lack technical literacy. Do we as technical experts have a responsibility to guide others in their interactions with tech and media? What is the future of the internet? How will it affect us as professionals and as consumers? How has tech influenced the ways in which we engage with media?
Have students introduce themselves, brainstorm technological topics in the news that they do not know much about. Each student will mention a buzzword or trending top in tech in the media. The next student will describe what that word means to them. (The first student will share how they feel about the last person's word choice.) As students mention these words, we'll write them on the board to discuss later.
We'll present two different resources on the same topic. One will be legitimate, and one will be regarded as 'fake news'. Students will discuss which is which and why they think so. We can discuss thinking critically when consuming media and the ways in which tech has made 'fake news' more prevalent. How have media presenters changed with the advent of organizations like WikiLeaks and Snopes and the prevalence of bots? How can we discern what's real?
Students will read articles/watch videos/listen to podcasts and then journal for 5 minutes. (insert journalling prompt questions relevant to resources here)
Get in pairs and discuss resources/journalling
Explain how we feel about some of these buzzword issues, and share our thoughts on how to explain the concepts to a 5 year old.
- Sam - Do we have a responsibility as tech experts to educate and empower the general public? If so, what is our level of responsibility? What good is our industry knowledge if we don't share it? Can we make tech 'less scary,' and more approachable to the layperson?
- Jen - How has tech changed our media consumption? How frequently do we access media? What platforms do we use? What platforms don't exist any more? What about the rise of blogs/vlogs, podcasts, sponsored content, podcasts, etc?
- Nick - The FCC just voted to dismantle net neutrality rules. How does that affect the future of tech, especially the internet? How will the ways in which we consume media change? Will we return to more physical media? How does this affect us professionally?
Return to question of our responsibility as devs. Revisit buzzwords from beginning and topics from the start. How do we engage with others and be leaders in the community?
Names of group members: Nick Teets JM Bourdreaux Sam Snider Jen Woodson