Dr. Linda Groff
POL 375/01: Spring 1996
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA 90747 USA
TECHNOLOGICAL POLICY
& THE FUTURE
- Brief History of the Future Studies Field
- Range of Futurist Views and Perspectives
- Characteristics of a Futurist Perspective
- Time Periods for Studying the Future
- Holistic/Systems View of Our Place in the Universe (as Systems within
Systems within Systems)
- Key Subjects Studied by Futurists
- Methodologies for Studying Change and the Future
- Key Organizations Involved with the Study of the Future and Change
Read: Handouts
Part II: Trends, Models, and Paradigms of Change:
- Global-Local Trends Restructuring Our World--Including Major Technological
Trends, and Trends in Many Other Diverse Areas
- Models of the Processes of Change Transforming Our World--with Examples
of Relevant Trends Associated with Each Different Model of Change
- New Paradigms for a Changing World (see elaboration below under Evolution
course)
Read: Handouts/Paper by Linda Groff & Paul Smoker, "Trends,
Models, and Paradigms of Change: Preparing for Life in the 21st Century."
Examination on Parts I & II (either separately or together)
Part III: Learning to Use the Internet (Net) and World Wide Web (WWW),
and Make Your Own Home Pages on the WWW
- Introduction & Overview on the Internet and World Wide Web: Its
Origins, History, Current Explosive Growth, and Future. NOTE: The World
Wide Web (WWW) is the format for delivering multimedia information on the
Internet.
- You will learn to make your own Home Page on the WWW using HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language), which you will use to present your research results to
the class, instead of a regular research paper.
- Open your own computer account, as a student, at the Computer Center.
- Meet in Mac Lab. Bring a Mac Computer Disk.
Read: Various Articles on the WWW and on How to Create Your Own
Home Page on the WWW, including:
- "All the HTML You Really Need," Part 5 in Web Explorer: Pocket
Companion, by Jeff Duntemann, Ron Pronx, and Patrick Vincent. Scottsdale,
AZ: Coriolis Group Books, 1995, pp. 183-198. (pb)
- "Appendix B: A Summary of HTML Commands," in Teach Yourself
Web Publishing with HTML in a Week, by Laura Lemay. Indianapolis, Indiana:
SAMS Publishing, 1995, pp. 369-389.
- "Build Your Own Home Page: What You Need to Know to Construct
Your Space on the Web," MacWorld (November 1995), pp. 104-109.
Assignment: Find sources on the Internet and WWW relating to
various topics in the course, and to your Research Project Topic. Keep
bookmarks for addresses (URL's) on the WWW for these topics you find. You
will then insert these sources into your Home Page for your Research Project.
Possible Quiz: to be sure you have learned key Web and HTML
concepts.
Part IV: Introduction to Science & Technology
- Definitions of terms "science" and "technology"
- Examples of New Scientific Paradigms (covered under Part II above)
- Examples of New Technological Breakthroughs:
- Information Age Technologies: computers, telecommunications, robotics;
- Communications Age Technologies (Stage Two of Information Revolution):
the Internet, World Wide Web, Multimedia, and Two-Way Interactivity;
- Recombinant DNA/Gene Splicing;
- Space: Exploration, Industrialization, and Settlement; Manned and Unmanned
Space Programs; and a Permanent Space Station; and
- Nanotechnology.
Read:
- "The Top Ten Technologies That Will Significantly Influence Our
Lives in the Next Decade," by Bennett Daviss, Omni Magazine
(Winter 1995), pp. 42-47, and 116-117.
Part V: The Information Revolution: Global and Societal Restructuring
Trends (For Different Countries Around the World)
- General Overview and Characteristics of Agricultural, Industrial, and
Information Age Technologies and Societies and Institutional Changes.
- How These Changes Are Also Impacting Different Countries Around the
World.
Read and See:
- Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave. (pb) Discusses characteristics
of Agricultural, Industrial, and Information Age technologies and societal
changes and institutions.
- Film, by Alvin and Heidi Toffler, The Third Wave.
- Linda Groff, "The Information Revolution: Global Restructuring
Trends," paper.
- Linda Groff, "Social and Political Evolution," Encyclopedia
of the Future. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
Part VI: The Communications Revolution (Based on the Multimedia, Interactive,
Internet, and World Wide Web Revolutions): Stage Two of the Information
Revolution --Focusing on Global Interdependence and Connectivity and Communication,
with the WWW Becoming the Global Brain or Nerves of the Planet.
Read:
- Various articles (to be provided) on the Internet and World Wide Web.
- Also note new journals being published on the same topics: Examples:
Internet World, Vol. 7 (1996); and Internet Life, Vol. 1, No. 1
(Winter 1995).
- Also note existing computer journals with numerous articles on the
Internet & Web.
- Students are encouraged to bring in and share different articles and
information they are each finding (both online and in traditional sources)
on the Internet and WWW and how they are impacting on our lives today.
Examination on Parts IV, V, & VI:
Part VII: Student Showcase of Individual Online Research Projects on
Different Countries and Oral Class Reports
- Individual Research Projects: each student will take a different country
in the world, researching that country (using a common framework and outline
provided to all students), and presenting their research findings via a
Home Page on the WWW for the class, along with an oral report sharing their
findings with other students. (It is also possible that we will create
a class conference, to share information we find on the WWW, with each
other.)
- NOTE: Countries will be selected that represent different parts of
the world, so the class as a whole can examine how countries in different
parts of the world--with different cultures, different types of economic
and political systems, and at different levels of development--are dealing
with the global transitions from agricultural to industrial to information
and now communication age societies.
Student Showcase: Spring 1996 Class:
How Selected, Representative Countries Are Dealing with the Transition
From Agricultural to Industrial to Information Age Technologies, Economies,
and Societies:
CONTACT LINDA GROFF VIA E-MAIL FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Also contact Co-Directors, Global Options, if you have important
information that you think should be added to this Home Page, or other
related Home Pages. Thank you.
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