Section Seven - Additional Materials
Videos, exercises, books, games, papers and so on (updated regularly)
Last update: 28-9-23
We will update this section regularly. If you have any suggestions, just let us know on info@tict.io
To start: Here is a SuperCool PowerPoint that you can use for a introductory live session. Just use it and shine!
Additional materials for section one - what is technology?
In the ‘envisioned’ phase of the Pyramid of Technology we talked about technology often being invented by science fiction writers. A great example is the movie Back to the Future from 1989. In the video (6 minutes) below you see nine predictions from that movie that came true.
By the way: we have no idea why Trump is on the YouTube-still.
On the Pyramid of Technology we have a lot of further suggestions. For starters, we have a TEDx Talk by Koert van Mensvoort in which he explains the concept in 15 minutes. He also talks about technology becoming nature.
Further, there is paper by Koert van Mensvoort (2013) with a detailled description of the pyramid. There is a website with a game and a poster on the Pyramid of Technology. Next, there is a book, Next Nature, that discusses the relation between technology and nature. In this book the question is posed if a chicken is nature or technology?
And there is https://www.mensvoort.com/ with all kinds of provocative ideas on this subject.
Also, the Pyramid offers a lot of possibilities for workshops and exercises. You can ask students or other participants to think about different technologies in different stages. This is fun. You can ask them to envision technologies, to think of envisioned technologies or operational ones, and so on. Also you can use this PowerPoint Template to fill out technologies in the pyramid on the topic of music. The PowerPoint explains the excrcise.
Finally, we recommend a website on Our World in Data with all kinds of really interesting information on technology adoption.
And yes, of course there is Louis CK on pyramids and the relation between slavery and commenting onYouTube.
Additional materials for section two- how does technology change people?
In section two we talked about how technology changes people. Some further suggestions are, the website on The Mediation Theory by Peter-Paul Verbeek. Do you want to know more about Heidegger in 5 minutes, check this animated video:
If you want to know more about the work of Don Ihde, we recommended this article.
Finally, we recommend that you to think about how your smartphone has changed you! Write down some catchwords and then watch this short video (5 minutes) on how your smartphone changes you, just as an extra example.
Additional materials for section three - technology & ethics?
In the crash course you watched a short video on self-driving cars and their moral dilemmas. But what would you do? How do you think an autonomous car should be programmed? Play the Moral Machine and find out for yourself. Remember it becomes harder if you pretend that it is YOU that is in the car.
Or you can play this fun game in which you have to decide when to pull the lever.
Or, to get some more perspective, you can watch the TED Talk of Iyad Rahwan (13 minutes).
At Fontys University, Dr. Bart Wernaert, researches Moral Programming. His paper is under review and he created a Moral Lab for the Dutch Design Week. The aftermovie of that event, can be found here:
Some other interesting links:
- We further recommend doing an online course (free) on the philosophy of technology by Peter-Paul Verbeek and check his website with all kinds of publications and books on philosophy and technology;
- Also very interesting is the website 95 theses from John Naughton with some contemporary ethical questions about digital technology (as a start for discussion!);
- Or, the articles, frameworks, papers and so on from the website of the Markulla Center for Applied Ethics;
- Or, this article on technology ethics and education by John O'Brien on Educause Review;
Framework/Toolkit: The TU Delft (Jet Gispen) offers a toolkit that help designers integrate ethics in their design. And there is ethical.net, a website with all kinds of ethical alternatives for browsing, filesharing, videoconferencing, emailing, and so on.
And, of course, a game. Yeah, we always need a game. This time it is a game in Dutch by STT. Download and play!
Additional materials for section four - does technology make the world better?
It is always nice to read books from people that make you feel good. The late Hans Rosling wrote Factfulness: a hopeful book about progress when we work off facts. He also published an article in The Guardian on the subject. Another feelgood book is Enlightenment NOW by professor Steven Pinker; You can also watch the famous TED Talk by Hans Rosling (20 minutes).
An optional assignment, which is fun to do is the Factfulness – quiz. Here you can find out how well you understand the things that are happening in the world. Can you score better than a chimp? Here is a 19 minute TED Talk by Steven Pinker on wether the world is getting better or worse (spoiler: better!)
A great and fun framework to think about the impact of technology are the Tarot Cards of Tech. A product from the artefact group or read the book by Peter Diamandis & Steven Kottler, The Future is Faster Than You Think.
And, of course, thinking about technology and how technology can make the world a better place should always be combined with reading the classics by Ira Levin and Aldous Huxley.
- This Perfect Day (Ira Levin);
- Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Additional materials for section five - what is solutionism?
First, we have some tips considering our personal hero, Evgeny Morozov.
- You can buy the brilliant book: To Save Everything, Click Here;
- Or read his opinion on solutionism and corona in The Guardian (essay in PDF);
- You can also follow his new project The Syllabus, a kind of alternative internet.
More links:
- Also, we advise you to Play Freeman (10 minutes). You will not like it. Maybe you will even hate it.
- And you can read Geek Heresy by Kentaro Toyama in which he explains that technology does not solve problems. People solve problems !
- Finally, there is the book by Nolen Gertz, who researches nihilism and technology and asks the fundamental question: what is exactly better? If you do not like reading, you can watch this 12 minute talk:
Additional materials for section six- technology bites back
Friedman (e.a.) created Envisioning Cards. These are cards you can buy, that help you think about the long term and indirect consequences of technology.
This is an article in The Independent on Trolltunga.
If you are feeling brave, you can read the book Why Things Bite Back, by Edward Tenner. A student once did a book review, so you can also watch that video.
Or you can watch the TED Talk.
A final disclaimer
We realize that there are a lot of TED Talks in the crash courses and yes we do know that TED Talks are kind of 'learn porn'. However they are great for selling stuff, and we really like to sell you the idea that thinking about the impact of technology is important. However as an antidote, we present you this TEdx Talk from Daan Windhorst.