Tech Revolution: Not a threat.
Technology has posed threats to job opportunities. Over the years people have lost their jobs to machines. Automated processes have reduced the number of people required to do a job from 10 to almost 0. Sizes of machines that needed 50 people to push, today, the more advanced machine with a smaller size only requires one person who even operates it remotely. Distance has even been simplified by the introduction of faster-moving automobiles. This great 21st industrial revolution has brought so much negativity to humanity. So, we were led to believe.
Technological Revolution
A Technological Revolution is a period in which another replaces one or more technologies. It is an era of accelerated technological progress defined by new innovations whose rapid application and diffusion typically cause an instantaneous change in society. The tech revolution has brought both negative and positive impacts.
Its Impact
Education has been positively impacted by the use of video and audio tutorials, interactive boards, and even games for practice purposes. Thanks to the use of virtual reality, Artificial Intelligence, neuroscience, and learning sciences tech makes learning a more immersive and holistic experience in class.
On the other hand, health and wellness have been improved by the application of science and technology. e-Health systems/applications have reduced human errors, improving clinical outcomes, facilitated care coordination, improving practice efficiencies, and tracked data over time.
But, we cannot ignore the negative impact technology has brought us. Most of us are scared of what the future holds for us when technology has actually reached its climax. Looking at how every day, new things are being invented. There is always a new update that if you don’t install, your gadget will not function properly. Job vacancies are requiring new emerging skills and knowledge that if we don’t get, we don’t stand a chance of getting the job. Even for those that are already working, new technology is threatening their ability to deliver their duties and responsibilities to the extent that their job is on the verge of being lost.
Let’s also come to education systems. Nowadays, the availability of educational resources is also threatened by the emergence of new technology. Most modern schools are opting for electronic resources, leaving those who are not computer literate behind. Even business transactions are being reduced to no physical involvement, posing a threat to those that are not conversant with the electronic transactions.
Another threat is security. I’m not going to go as far as talking about hacking and other cyber security issues, but the insecurity that threatens the traditional culture. Parents are no longer in control of the content their children get to see on the internet or TV. This has led to tremendous change in cultural behavior causing so much negative influence on our communities.
What future do we have?
Progress is impossible without change. And those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything.
The late George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and co-founder of the London School of Economics
Change is not always a good thing. It may force us out of tired habits and impose better ones upon us, but it can also be stressful, costly, and even destructive. What’s important about change is how we anticipate it and react to it. Change can teach us to adapt and help us develop resilience, but only if we understand our own capacity for growth and learning. When change makes us better, it’s because we have learned how to turn a challenging situation to our own advantage, not merely because change happens.
For example, a new system has been brought into the organization. The only way to make it work for you is if you learn the system. Otherwise, the job is going to be tough for you and you will be replaced by another person who is not necessarily qualified but is more willing to learn on the job.
So the key here is to adapt. How? By learning the new skills that come with change. That is why we have short courses and training. Resources are readily available for us to learn new skills. The Tech Revolution itself has brought us so close to what we need in order to sail through without any problems.
Traditionally, technology should not be seen as a threat that could kill culture but rather as a tool that helps to modify methods of production or industrialization. Thus, technology allows the preservation of tradition and culture. Cloud storage has offered us a better way of keeping memories, the camera has, for a long time helped us to capture memorable events and so many technologies have been used to our advantage.
The question of technology disturbing culture comes as a result of our failure to preserve it in the first place. It was like we never prepared for the revolution and when technology came, it found no culture at all but if we can be clever enough, we can use the same technology to bring back the cultures we lost a long time ago. And again the key is to learn how.
Conclusion
Our openness to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge is the key to unlocking the gifts that technology has for us. That is why my friends and I decided to be part of making history in the Tech Revolution by providing ICT basic skills and knowledge to those that are struggling with it. We know and understand how it feels to work on a system that makes our job tough simply because we have no knowledge of it. So not only do we stand and speak about Tech Revolution and its benefit, but we are also among those that bring solutions to the problems that come with it.
Through Tech-it-Up Project, we are sharing our knowledge and skills with others. And also platforms like TechMalawi, are opening more and more opportunities for us to learn and share our knowledge and skills. Therefore, I urge all who have the knowledge and skills: to teach those who don’t.
To teach is to learn twice
Joseph Joubert
