Influence of Technology on Social Change
Science and technology are essential innards of modern life. They exceed local boundaries and touch the lives of everyone. The evolution of mankind is often seen in terms of technological evolution as well. The invention of fire and the wheel changed the face of mankind. According to Marx even the formation of social relations, mental conceptions, and attitudes are dependent upon technology. Veblen has considered technology as the sole explanation of the social change. W.F Ogburn says technology changes society by changing our environments to which we successively adapt. This change is typically within the material environment and therefore the adjustment that we make with these changes often modifies customs and social institutions.
If we look at the past century, we see the massive leaps we have made in technological advancements and social change. The 20th century alone witnessed the first flight, the moon landing, and the mass use of the Internet. A social change like delivering women and civil rights. These significant changes of all which occurred worldwide make it easy to assume that technology and social change are linked in some way — but to what degrees are they related?
For the definition, Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in the industry whereas Social changes are the changes that occur in human relationships and which change cultural and social institutions. Both terms look synonymous with each other but looking back ahead actually makes one think about their relationship.
Technology Breaking Barriers To Social Change
Impact of computer
The computer is one of the impactful technologies to effect social change throughout the world in recent times. The mass adoption of computers and the internet led to the ability to telecommute, which allowed people to work from anywhere they wanted, including not just at home but also from different parts around the world.
The internet allowed computer systems from around the world to attach to one network. The Internet helped foster social change all over the world at a much faster rate due to how fast communication. Now if a social change occurs in one part of the world, the rest of the world will be immediately influenced by it.
Improve Education
Access to information from part of the world allows people to self-educate. People can learn about subjects that they may not have been familiar with using the Internet. Also, people who might not are ready to attend university can even take online courses to get an education.
Technology is promptly changing the way students learn and instructors teach. Chalk-Boards have been changed into smart boards or computer screens.
Also a recent change of medium from classroom to the virtual classroom due to pandemic.
Using social networking during the learning process can also have benefits. Introvert students may open up and connect more with faculty and classmates. It also offers the opportunity to collaborate and work together in a whole new way.
In remote areas where teachers may face daunting challenges related to the isolation of peers and a lack of resources like textbooks, chalkboards and other teaching materials, mobile phones are helping support teachers in small but meaningful ways by providing access to education content and regular prompts and tips on how to utilize this content. Students sent short quizzes and assignments to their mobile phones to help them test their learning.
Online content for offline use
Places where Internet connectivity is sporadic, innovative approaches to caching and distributing digital content can enable off-line access to vast numbers of online resources in ways that can simulate online environments. The emergence of e-readers also enabled groups to distribute vast amounts of off-line digital books to students who read them on small, purpose-built reading devices.
Raising fund for Good
Technology is now playing a hand both in creating capital markets for social good and in connecting beneficiaries with funding streams. A platform for organizations and individuals to create family and friends fundraising campaigns around causes that they care about or are involved in. Where people can raise money to provide communities in need.
Another impact of technology is through communication, how we talk, and communicate with one another worldwide. Technology has brought so many new methods of e-communication. For instance emails, social networking sites, you can facetime a person that lives on the other side of the world and also conduct meetings. Lastly, there are huge technological advancements made within the health industry that has helped keep people safe and healthy. There are many innovative apps on phones that allow people to watch their weight, how many calories intake, heart rate, and other health properties any time. There is the increased accessibility of treatment available, the change in healthcare that adds benefits for the hospitals using advanced technology within their surgical rooms.
Without technological advancements, our way of life would have been much more complex and different from today. Technological influences shape the way humans act today and it continues influencing social change as well in a positive way.
Contributed By- @ Abhishek Kumar, Content Writer @ Mitti Ke Rang
At Mitti Ke Rang, we started with a COVID-19 community support fundraising, as an emergency response to provide a safety net to families. This will help them survive in the lockdown period. We aim to directly support these families by providing a minimum wage, through transferring the same into their accounts or partner with local NGO, Organisation, Fellow, or a Volunteer and support them with groceries.
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