For Your Head: Ideas for Exploration, Discussion Topics & Resources (Cell Phones)
Strive to focus students on responsible and self-regulated use of technology, with a more complete understanding of its impact on individuals and on society. Included here are several paths you could consider for integrating the discussion into your content area.
Health Impact: ; blue light impact; vehicle accidents; brain development; mental health concerns; ; sleep impact; dopamine rush.
Social Impact: how has the pervasiveness of cell phones & social media impacted families, relationships, politics, sense of self, education, activism, healthcare, jobs, behaviors, habits, personal interactions, sense of reality, understanding of world events, ability to identify truth and to separate fact from fiction or opinion, communication.
Big Data: what information is being collected, by whom, for what purpose; how is our information used, what are real or potential benefits to collection, storage & use of this data, what are its consequences, how is personal tech (cell phones, computers, social media) involved; look into "life stage clusters". There's a company called Acxiom that uses software to collect data that is used to predict how people in certain life stage clusters will behave - where they'll go, what they'll buy, what ad appeals will be most effective on them, etc. Most of their info is blocked by our firewall. that will give you a sense of these clusters and how they're used to predict spending patterns and so on.
Business & Marketing: how do tech & social media companies make money, how are apps like Instagram and YouTube monetized, who are "influencers" / how are they identified & compensated, what techniques have been developed to keep users hooked, what are "they" trying to sell us, how do they use our data to accomplish this, how much money is generated by sales driven by social media (in-app ads / feeds), how has the use of commercials & advertising in media changed since social media & cell phones came on the scene, what businesses have struggled or failed due to the new digital world we live in, what new industries have emerged, what economic impacts have we seen; explore visuals that attempt to inform the public of the impact (ie ) or present data about it in visually-impactful ways ().
