Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ANDREW CONNELL AND ANTHONY EDWARDS
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we will examine:
• The history of Computing
• Computers and contemporary society
• Computing and the future
• Why context is important
• Whether Computing is a force for good or bad.
By the end of this chapter you should be able to identify:
• Suitable contexts for studying Computing and society
• The interconnecting themes between these contexts and teach accordingly
• An appropriate framework for analysing the future of Computing that can be
applied in a classroom context.
Whilst the teaching of 'what' and 'how' is a primary concern of those training to
teach Computing, it is equally crucial to ask about the implications of the use of
this technology. Computers can be used in care of the premature baby as equally
as for managing weapons of mass destruction. Your responsibility will be to help
pupils to become informed and able to engage meaningfully in legitimate debate
about 'why'. This chapter helps to prepare you to do that.
VIEW FROM THE PAST
Pupils in school today may have little understanding of how the ubiquity of
processing technology in one form or another is a relatively new phenomenon. It is
important to help them understand how the rate of pace of change is increasing
exponentially. To do this effectively, some exposure to the history of Computing is
necessary. There is much debate about the true origins of the computer, but two
individuals are linked directly to its evolution: Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-
century French mathematician, is purported to have invented the first digital
calculator; and Charles Babbage, the nineteenth-century English gentleman
scientist and irascible genius, who wrestled with creating a machine that could not
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