problem solving with technology

14 Major Tech Issues — and the Innovations That Will Resolve Them

The past year has seen unprecedented challenges to public-health systems and the global economy. Many facets of daily life and work have moved into the digital realm, and the shift has highlighted some underlying business technology issues that are getting in the way of productivity, communication and security.

As successful business leaders, the members of the  Young Entrepreneur Council understand how important it is to have functional, up-to-date technology. That ’ s why we asked a panel of them to share what they view as the biggest business tech problem of the past year. Here are the issues they ’ re concerned about and the innovations they believe will help solve them.

Current Major Technology Issues

• Need For Strong Digital Conference Platforms
• Remote Internet Speed and Connections
• Phishing and Data Privacy Issues
• Deepfake Content
• Too Much Focus on Automation
• Data Mixups Due to AI Implementation
• Poor User Experience

1. Employee Productivity Measurement

As most companies switched to 100 percent remote almost overnight, many realized that they lacked an efficient way to measure employee productivity. Technology with “ user productivity reports ”  has become invaluable. Without being able to “ see ”  an employee in the workplace, companies must find technology that helps them to track and report how productive employees are at home. — Bill Mulholland , ARC Relocation

2. Digital Industry Conference Platforms

Nothing beats in-person communication when it comes to business development. In the past, industry conferences were king. Today, though, the move to remote conferences really leaves a lot to be desired and transforms the largely intangible value derived from attending into something that is purely informational. A new form or platform for industry conferences is sorely needed. — Nick Reese , Elder Guide

3. Remote Internet Speed and Equipment

With a sudden shift to most employees working remotely, corporations need to boost at-home internet speed and capacity for employees that didn ’ t previously have the requirements to produce work adequately. Companies need to invest in new technologies like 5G and ensure they are supported at home. — Matthew Podolsky , Florida Law Advisers, P.A.

4. Too Much Focus on Automation

Yes, automation and multi-platform management might be ideal for big-name brands and companies, but for small site owners and businesses, it ’ s just overkill. Way too many people are overcomplicating things. Stick to your business model and what works without trying to overload the process. — Zac Johnson , Blogger

5. Phishing Sites

There are many examples of phishing site victims. Last year, I realized the importance of good pop-up blockers for your laptop and mobile devices. It is so scary to be directed to a website that you don ’ t know or to even pay to get to sites that actually don ’t  exist. Come up with better pop-up blockers if possible. — Daisy Jing , Banish

6. Data Privacy

I think data privacy is still one of the biggest business tech issues around. Blockchain technology can solve this problem. We need more and more businesses to understand that blockchains don’t just serve digital currencies, they also protect people’s privacy. We also need Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc. to understand that personal data belongs in the hands of the individual. — Amine Rahal , IronMonk Solutions

7. Mobile Security

Mobile security is a big issue because we rely so much on mobile internet access today. We need to be more aware of how these networks can be compromised and how to protect them. Whether it ’ s the IoT devices helping deliver data wirelessly to companies or people using apps on their smartphones, we need to become more aware of our mobile cybersecurity and how to protect our data. — Josh Kohlbach , Wholesale Suite

8. Deepfake Content

More and more people are embracing deepfake content, which is content created to look real but isn ’ t. Using AI, people can edit videos to look like someone did something they didn ’ t do and vice versa, which hurts authenticity and makes people question what ’ s real. Lawmakers need to take this issue seriously and create ways to stop people from doing this. — Jared Atchison , WPForms

9. Poor User Experience

I ’ ve noticed some brands struggling with building a seamless user experience. There are so many themes, plugins and changes people can make to their site that it can be overwhelming. As a result, the business owner eventually builds something they like, but sacrifices UX in the process. I suspect that we will see more businesses using customer feedback to make design changes. — John Brackett , Smash Balloon LLC

10. Cybersecurity Threats

Cybersecurity threats are more prevalent than ever before with increased digital activities. This has drawn many hackers, who are becoming more sophisticated and are targeting many more businesses. Vital Information, such as trade secrets, price-sensitive information, HR records, and many others are more vulnerable. Strengthening cybersecurity laws can maintain equilibrium. — Vikas Agrawal , Infobrandz

11. Data Backup and Recovery

As a company, you ’ ll store and keep lots of data crucial to keeping business moving forward. A huge tech issue that businesses face is their backup recovery process when their system goes down. If anything happens, you need access to your information. Backing up your data is crucial to ensure your brand isn ’ t at a standstill. Your IT department should have a backup plan in case anything happens. — Stephanie Wells , Formidable Forms

12. Multiple Ad and Marketing Platforms

A major issue that marketers are dealing with is having to use multiple advertising and marketing platforms, with each one handling a different activity. It can overload a website and is quite expensive. We ’ re already seeing AdTech and MarTech coming together as MAdTech. Businesses need to keep an eye on this convergence of technologies and adopt new platforms that support it. — Syed Balkhi , WPBeginner

13. Location-Based Innovation

The concentration of tech companies in places like Seattle and San Francisco has led to a quick rise in living costs in these cities. Income isn ’ t catching up, and there ’ s stress on public infrastructure. Poor internet services in rural areas also exacerbate this issue. Innovation should be decentralized. — Samuel Thimothy , OneIMS

14. Artificial Intelligence Implementation

Businesses, especially those in the tech industry, are having trouble implementing AI. If you ’ ve used and improved upon your AI over the years, you ’ re likely having an easier time adjusting. But new online businesses test multiple AI programs at once and it ’ s causing communication and data mix-ups. As businesses settle with specific programs and learn what works for them, we will see improvements. — Chris Christoff , MonsterInsights

Built In’s expert contributor network publishes thoughtful, solutions-oriented stories written by innovative tech professionals. It is the tech industry’s definitive destination for sharing compelling, first-person accounts of problem-solving on the road to innovation.

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Tackling our biggest problems

Technology is an engine for problems—both solving them and creating new ones. What role should it play going forward?

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For all of history we’ve turned to technology, again and again, to help us solve our hardest problems. Technology gave us warmth and light when it was cold and dark. It helped us pull fish from the sea and crops from the earth so we would not be hungry. It enabled us to cross over the oceans and fly through the skies, shrinking vast distances down to routine travel. It’s given us vaccines and treatments and cures. It has made virtually every fact and all of human knowledge available to us instantly on demand. We can speak to each other in entirely different languages and be understood using nothing more than a slim slab of glass and metals in our pocket. 

Sometimes technology can seem like a miracle. Of course, it is nothing more than human achievement. Yet like all things human, our creations can be deeply flawed. As a result, we have also used tech to unleash horrors on ourselves, intentionally and by accident. 

We have employed it to broadcast hateful rhetoric and divisive ideologies. We have fine-tuned our machines to kill each other in ever greater numbers and with ever more efficiency. It is our technology that took the carbon from out of the ground and put it in the sky. Our technology that poisoned the water and the air, that made deserts out of forests, and that wiped entire species off the planet. 

Technology is an engine for problems, for solving them and for creating entirely new ones—and then we perversely turn to even newer technologies to try to solve those . In this issue, we step back from this cycle. We explore big questions and hard problems and ask: What role can—and should—technology play going forward?

Our cover is inspired by Douglas Main’s terrifying story on plastics . There’s an adage that says every piece of plastic ever made still exists. While that isn’t entirely true, as Main vividly describes, it is pretty darn close. We’re not reducing how much is made—precisely the opposite. Reuse is negligible. Recycling isn’t working. Meanwhile, plastic is absolutely everywhere, and in absolutely everything, including our own bodies. What are we going to do about it? 

AI epitomizes the sometimes fraught relationship we have with technology. It has the potential to massively benefit society—and yet it could cause incalculable harm if we get it wrong. As its development races ahead, Grace Huckins has written a powerful, even poetic exploration of AI consciousness . What would it take, and what would it mean, for an AI to become conscious? How would we know? What would we owe it? 

David W. Brown takes on the challenge of spacecraft design and the struggle to make smaller, cheaper missions that can still tell us meaningful new things about the solar system. If we are going to make the most of the resources we devote to space exploration, we’ll have to grapple with the hard limits of physics—and think hard about what we can, and want to, do.

Some of our hardest problems come down to human nature, and our capacity and sometimes outright desire for conflict. Social media and online communications are lousy with trolling, disinformation, harassment, and hate speech. Katie Notopoulos argues that the solution for much of this is to end our fixation with free services and move to smaller, distributed platforms that put more power in users’ hands. 

One hard problem most of us have likely faced is the experience of interacting with government services online. A decade after the famously botched launch of Healthcare.gov, Tate Ryan-Mosley explores why it is still so hard for the government to get tech right . Her reporting takes us to New York City, which has had some manner of success—in part by going with the lowest tech possible. 

And finally, we asked some of the smartest minds out there what they consider the biggest problems that aren’t getting enough attention right now. You’ll find their responses, and many more online at techreview.com/hardproblems .

Thanks for reading,

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5. tech causes more problems than it solves.

A number of respondents to this canvassing about the likely future of social and civic innovation shared concerns. Some said that technology causes more problems than it solves. Some said it is likely that emerging worries over the impact of digital life will be at least somewhat mitigated as humans adapt. Some said it is possible that any remedies may create a new set of challenges. Others said humans’ uses and abuses of digital technologies are causing societal harms that are not likely to be overcome.

The following comments were selected from among all responses, regardless of an expert’s answer to this canvassing’s main question about the impact of people’s uses of technology. Some of these remarks of concern happen to also include comments about innovations that may emerge. Concerns are organized under four subthemes: Something is rotten in the state of technology; technology use often disconnects or hollows out a community; society needs to catch up and better address the threats and opportunities of tech; and despite current trends, there is reason to hope for better days.

The chapter begins with some overview insights:

Larry Masinter , internet pioneer, formerly with Adobe, AT&T Labs and Xerox PARC, who helped create internet and web standards with IETF and W3C, said, “Technology and social innovation intended to overcome the negatives of the digital age will likely cause additional negative consequences. Examples include: the decentralized web, end-to-end encryption, AI and machine learning, social media.”

James Mickens , associate professor of computer science at Harvard University, formerly with Microsoft, commented, “Technology will obviously result in ‘civic innovation.’ The real question is whether the ‘innovation’ will result in better societal outcomes. For example, the gig economy is enabled by technology; technology finds buyers for workers and their services. However, given the choice between an economy with many gig workers and an economy with an equivalent number of traditional middle-class jobs, I think that most people would prefer the latter.”

Michael Aisenberg , chair, ABA Information Security Committee, wrote, “Misappreciation of limits and genesis of, e.g., AI/machine learning will produce widely disparate results in deployment of tech innovations. Some will be dramatically beneficial; some may enable abuse of law enforcement, economic systems and other fundamental civic institutions and lead to exacerbation of gaps between tech controllers/users and underserved/under- or mis-skilled populations (‘digital divide’) in what may be a significant (embed limitations on career/economic advancement) or even life-threatening (de facto health care or health procedure rationing) manner.”

The problem is that we are becoming more and more dependent on machines and hence more susceptible to bugs and system failures. Yaakov J. Stein

Peter Lunenfeld , a professor of design, media arts and digital humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of “Tales of the Computer as Culture Machine,” predicted, “We will use technology to solve the problems the use of technology creates, but the new fixes will bring new issues. Every design solution creates a new design problem, and so it is with the ways we have built our global networks. Highly technological societies have to be iterative if they hope to compete, and I think that societies that have experienced democracy will move to curb the slide to authoritarianism that social media has accelerated. Those curbs will bring about their own unintended consequences, however, which will start the cycle anew.”

Yaakov J. Stein , chief technology officer of RAD Data Communications, based in Israel, responded, “The problem with AI and machine learning is not the sci-fi scenario of AI taking over the world and not needing inferior humans. The problem is that we are becoming more and more dependent on machines and hence more susceptible to bugs and system failures. This is hardly a new phenomenon – once a major part of schooling was devoted to, e.g., penmanship and mental arithmetic, which have been superseded by technical means. But with the tremendous growth in the amount of information, education is more focused on how to retrieve required information rather than remembering things, resulting not only in less actual storage but less depth of knowledge and the lack of ability to make connections between disparate bits of information, which is the basis of creativity. However, in the past humankind has always developed a more-advanced technology to overcome limitations of whatever technology was current, and there is no reason to believe that it will be different this time.”

A vice president for research and economic development wrote, “The problems we see now are caused by technology, and any new technological fixes we create will inevitably cause NEW social and political problems. Attempts to police the web will cause freedom of speech conflicts, for example.”

Something is rotten in the state of technology

A large share of these experts say among the leading concerns about today’s technology platforms are the ways in which they are exploited by bad actors who spread misinformation; and the privacy issues arising out of the business model behind the systems.

Misinformation – pervasive, potent, problematic

Numerous experts described misinformation and fake news as a serious issue in digital spaces. They expressed concern over how users will sort through fact and fiction in the coming decade.

Stephanie Fierman , partner, Futureproof Strategies, said, “I believe technology will meaningfully accelerate social and civic innovation. It’s cheap, fast and able to reach huge audiences. But as long as false information is enabled by very large websites, such social and civic innovators will be shadow boxing with people, governments, organizations purposely countering truthful content with lies.”

Sam Lehman-Wilzig , a professor of communications at Bar-Ilan University specializing in Israeli politics and the impact of technological evolution, wrote, “The biggest advance will be the use of artificial intelligence to fight disinformation, deepfakes and the like. There will be an AI ‘arms race’ between those spreading disinformation and those fighting/preventing it. Overall, I see the latter gaining the upper hand.”

Greg Shatan , a lawyer with Moses & Singer LLP and self-described “internet governance wonk,” predicted, “I see success, enabled by technology, as likely. I think it will take technology to make technology more useful and more meaningful. Many of us pride ourselves on having a ‘BS-meter,’ where we believe we can tell honestly delivered information from fake news and disinformation. The instinctual BS-meter is not enough. The next version of the ‘BS-meter’ will need to be technologically based. The tricks of misinformation have far outstripped the ability of people to reliably tell whether they are receiving BS or not – not to mention that it requires a constant state of vigilance that’s exhausting to maintain. I think that the ability and usefulness of the web to enable positive grassroots civic communication will be harnessed, moving beyond mailing lists and fairly static one-way websites. Could there be ‘Slack for Community Self-Governance?’ If not that platform, perhaps something new and aimed specifically at these tasks and needs.”

Oscar Gandy , a professor emeritus of communication at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Corporate actors will make use of technology to weaken the possibility for improvements in social and civic relationships. I am particularly concerned about the use of technology in the communications realm in order to increase the power of strategic or manipulative communications to shape the engagement of members of the public with key actors within a variety of governance relationships.”

An expert in the ethics of autonomous systems based in Europe responded, “Fake news is more and more used to manipulate a person’s opinion. This war of information is becoming so important that it can influence democracy and the opinion of people before the vote in an election for instance. Some AI tools can be developed to automatically recognize fake news, but such tools can be used in turn in the same manner to enhance the belief in some false information.”

A research leader for a U.S. federal agency wrote, “At this point in time, I don’t know how we will reduce the spread of misinformation (unknowing/individual-level) and disinformation (nefarious/group-level), but I hope that we can.”

A retired information science professional commented, “Dream on, if you think that you can equate positive change with everybody yelling and those with the most clout (i.e., power and money) using their power to see their agendas succeed. Minority views will always be that, a minority. At present and in the near future the elites manipulate and control.”

A research scientist for a major technology company whose expertise is technology design said, “We have already begun to see increased protections around personal privacy. At present, it is less clear how we might avoid the deliberate misuse of news or news-like content to manipulate political opinions or outcomes, but this does not seem impossible. The trick will be avoiding government censorship and maintaining a rich, vigorous exchange of opinions.”

Privacy issues will continue to be a hot button topic

Multiple experts see a growing need for privacy to be addressed in online spaces.

Ayden Férdeline , technology policy fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, responded, “Imagine if everyone on our planet was naked, without any clear options for obtaining privacy technology (clothing). It would not make sense to ask people what they’d pay or trade to get this technology. This is a ‘build it and they will come’ kind of scenario. We’re now on the verge, as a society, of appropriately recognizing the need to respect privacy in our Web 2.0 world, and we are designing tools and rules accordingly. Back in 1992, had you asked people if they’d want a free and open internet, or a graphical browser with a walled garden of content, most would have said they prefer AOL. What society needed was not AOL but something different. We are in a similar situation now with privacy; we’re finally starting to grasp its necessity and importance.”

We’re now on the verge, as a society, of appropriately recognizing the need to respect privacy in our Web 2.0 world, and we are designing tools and rules accordingly. Ayden Férdeline

Graham Norris , a business psychologist with expertise in the future of work, said, “Privacy no longer exists, and yet the concept of privacy still dominates social-policy debates. The real issue is autonomy of the individual. I should own my digital identity, the online expression of myself, not the corporations and governments that collect my interactions in order to channel my behaviour. Approaches to questions of ownership of digital identity cannot shift until the realization occurs that autonomy is the central question, not privacy. Nothing currently visible suggests that shift will take place.”

Eduardo Villanueva-Mansilla , an associate professor of communications at Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Peru, and editor of the Journal of Community Informatics, wrote, “I’m trying to be optimistic, by leaving some room to innovative initiatives from civic society actors. However, I don’t see this as necessarily happening; the pressure from global firms will probably too much to deal with.”

An international policy adviser on the internet and development based in Africa commented, “Technology is creating and will continue to evolve and increase the impact of social and civic innovation. With technology we will see new accountability tools and platforms to raise voices to counter societal ills, be it in leadership, business and other faculties. We must however be careful so that these innovations themselves are not used to negatively impact end users, such issues like privacy and use of data must be taken on in a way that users are protected and not exposed to cybercrime and data breaches that so often occur now.”

Jamie Grady , a business leader, wrote, “As technology companies become more scrutinized by the media and government, changes – particularly in privacy rights – will change. People will learn of these changes through social media as they do now.”

Technology use often disconnects or hollows out community

Some respondents commented on rising problems with a loss of community and the need for more-organic, in-person, human-to-human connection and the impact of digital distancing.

Jonathan Grudin , principal researcher at Microsoft, commented, “Social and civic activity will continue to change in response to technology use, but will it change its trajectory? Realignments following the Industrial Revolution resulted from the formation of new face-to-face communities, including union chapters, community service groups such as Rotary Club and League of Women Voters, church groups, bridge clubs, bowling leagues and so on. Our species is designed to thrive in modest-sized collocated communities, where everyone plays a valued part. Most primates become vulnerable and anxious when not surrounded by their band or troop. Digital media are eroding a sense of community everywhere we look. Can our fundamental human need for close community be restored or will we become more isolated, anxious and susceptible to manipulation?”

Rebecca Theobald , an assistant research professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, said, “Technology seems to be driving people apart, which would lead to fewer connections in society.”

The program director of a university-based informatics institute said, “There is still a widening gap between rural and urban as well as digital ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ As well, the ability to interact in a forum in which all members of society have a voice is diminishing as those with technology move faster in the digital forums than the non-tech segment of the population that use non-digital discourse (interpersonal). The idea of social fabric in a neighborhood and neighborly interactions is diminishing. Most people want innovation – it is the speed of change that creates divisions.”

An infrastructure architect and internet pioneer wrote, “The kind of social innovation required to resolve the problems caused by our current technologies relies on a movement back toward individual responsibility and a specific willingness to engage in community. As both of these work against the aims of the corporate and political elite as they exist today, there is little likelihood these kinds of social innovations are going to take place. The family and church, for instance, which must be the core institutions in any rebuilding of a culture that can teach the kind of personal responsibility required, were both hollowed out in the last few decades. The remaining outward structures are being destroyed. There is little hope either families or churches will recover without a major societal event of some sort, and it will likely take at least one generation for them to rebuild. The church could take on the task of helping rebuild families, but it is too captured in attempts to grow ever larger, and consume or ape our strongly individualistic culture, rather than standing against it.”

Angela Campbell , a professor of law and co-director of the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University, responded, “I think there will be efforts to address the social and civic impacts of technology but they may not be sufficient. In particular, I am concerned about the impact of overuse or over-reliance on technology with respect to children and teens. I am concerned about the safety of children online, not just from predators but from peers (bullying). Overuse may also contribute to physical maladies such as obesity, bad posture, eye problems, ADHD, insufficient sleep and even addiction. While technology can help to educate older children (not preschoolers who need to interact with humans and objects), it needs to be selected [and] used carefully and should not subject children to commercialism or invade their privacy. My other major concerns are job loss and discrimination. It seems inevitable that many jobs will be eliminated by technology, and while technologies may generate new jobs, I suspect there will be fewer jobs, and those that remain will require certain skills. It will be important, and difficult, to ensure that everyone is able to have employment and to make enough to live at a reasonable level. As competition for jobs increases, I am also worried about how big data allows hidden discrimination in education, health and employment.”

A researcher based in North America predicted a reining in of the digital in favor of the personal: “Between email and phones, I think we’re close to peak screen time, a waste of time, and it’s ruining our eyes. Just as we have forsaken our landlines, stopped writing letters, don’t answer our cellphones, a concept of an average daily digital budget will develop, just as we have a concept of average daily caloric intake. We’ll have warning labels that rate content against recommended daily allowances of different types of content that have been tested to be good for our mental health and socialization, moderately good, bad, and awful – the bacon of digital media. And people who engage too much will be in rehab, denied child custody and unemployable. Communities, residences and vacation areas will promote digital-free, mindfulness zones – just as they have quiet cars on the train.”

Society needs to catch up and better address the threats and opportunities of tech

Some of these experts said that the accelerating technological change of the digital age is making it difficult for humans to keep up and respond to emerging challenges.

A chair of political science based in the American South commented, “Technology always creates two new problems for every one it solves. At some point, humans’ cognitive and cooperative capacities – largely hard-wired into their brains by millennia of evolution – can’t keep up. Human technology probably overran human coping mechanisms sometime in the later 19th century. The rest is history.”

There is a gap between the rate at which technology develops and the rate at which society develops. We need to take care not to fall into that gap. Louisa Heinrich

Larry Rosen , a professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, known as an international expert on the psychology of technology, wrote, “I would like to believe that we, as citizens, will aid in innovation. Smart people are already working on many social issues, but the problem is that while society is slow to move, tech moves at lightning speed. I worry that solutions will come after the tech has either been integrated or rejected.”

Louisa Heinrich , a futurist and consultant expert in data and the Internet of Things, said, “There is a gap between the rate at which technology develops and the rate at which society develops. We need to take care not to fall into that gap. I hope we will see a shift in governance toward framework-based regulation, which will help mitigate the gap between the pace of change in technology and that in government. At the very least, we need to understand the ways in which technology can extend or undermine the rules and guidelines we set for our businesses, workplaces, public spaces and interactions. To name just one common example, recruitment professionals routinely turn to Facebook as a source of information on prospective employees. This arguably violates a number of regulations designed to protect people from being denied work based on personal details not relevant to that work. How do we unravel this conundrum, bearing in mind that there will always be another social network, another digital source to mine for information about people? Taken from another angle, there is a significant gap between what users understand about certain bits of technology and the risks they take using them. How can we educate people about these risks in a way that encourages participation and co-creation, rather than passivity? As the so-called Gen Z comes of age, we will see a whole generation of young adults who are politically engaged at a level not seen in several generations, who are also native users of technology tools. This could bring about a positive revolution in the way technology is used to facilitate civic engagement and mutually empower and assist citizens and government. Technology provides us with powerful tools that can help us advance socially and civically, but these tools need to be thoughtfully and carefully put to use – when we encode barriers and biases into the applications that people need to use in daily life, whether intentionally or no, we may exclude whole segments of society from experiencing positive outcomes. We are living through a time of rapid and radical change – as always, the early stages feel uncomfortable and chaotic. But we can already see the same tools that have been used to mislead citizens being used to educate, organise, motivate and empower them. What’s needed is a collective desire to prioritise and incentivise this. New Zealand is leading the way with the world’s first ‘well-being’ budget.”

Bulbul Gupta , founding adviser at Socos Labs, a think tank designing artificial intelligence to maximize human potential, responded, “Until government policies, regulators, can keep up with the speed of technology and AI, there is an inherent imbalance of power between technology’s potential to contribute to social and civic innovation and its execution in being used this way. If technology and AI can make decisions about people in milliseconds that can prevent their full social or civic engagement, the incentive structures to be used toward mitigating the problems of the digital age cannot then be solved by technology.”

Gene Policinski , a journalist and First Amendment law expert at the Freedom Forum Institute, observed, “We forget how new the ‘tech revolution’ really is. As we move forward in the next decade, the public’s awareness of the possibilities inherent in social and civic innovation, the creativity of the tech world working with the public sector and public acceptance of new methods of participation in democratic processes will begin to drown out and eventually will surpass the initial problems and missteps.”

Gabriel Kahn , former bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, now a professor of journalism researching innovation economics in emerging media at the University of Southern California, wrote, “We are not facing a ‘Terminator’-like scenario. Nor are we facing a tech-driven social utopia. Humans are catching up and understanding the pernicious impact of technology and how to mitigate it.”

Kathee Brewer , director of content at CANN Media Group, predicted, “Much like society developed solutions to the challenges brought about by the Industrial Revolution, society will find solutions to the challenges of the Digital Revolution. Whether that will happen by 2030 is up for debate. Change occurs much more rapidly in the digital age than it did at the turn of the 20th century, and for society to solve its problems it must catch up to them first. AND people, including self-interested politicians, must be willing to change. Groups like the Mozilla Foundation already are working on solutions to invasions of privacy. That work will continue. The U.S. government probably won’t make any major changes to the digital elections framework until after the 2020 election, but changes will be made. Sadly, those changes probably will result from some nastiness that develops due to voters of all persuasions being unwilling to accept electoral results, whatever the results may be.”

Valerie Bock of VCB Consulting, former Technical Services Lead at Q2 Learning, responded, “I think our cultures are in the process of adapting to the power our technologies wield, and that we will have developed some communal wisdom around how to evaluate new ones. There are some challenges, but because ordinary citizens have become aware that images can be ‘photoshopped’ the awareness that video can be ‘deepfaked’ is more quickly spreading. Cultural norms as well as technologies will continue to evolve to help people to apply more informed critiques to the messages they are given.”

Bach Avezdjanov , a program officer with Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression project, said, “Technological development – being driven by the Silicon Valley theory of uncontrolled growth – will continue to outpace civic and social innovation. The latter needs to happen in tandem with technological innovation, but instead plays catch-up. This will not change in the future, unless political will to heavily regulate digital tools is introduced – an unlikely occurrence.”

A computing science professor emeritus from a top U.S. technological university commented, “Social/civic innovation will occur but most likely lag well behind technological innovation. For example, face-recognition technology will spread and be used by businesses at a faster pace than social and legal norms can develop to protect citizens from any negative effects of that technology. This technology will spread quickly, due to its various positives (increased efficiencies, conveniences and generation of profits in the marketplace) while its negatives will most likely not be countered effectively through thoughtful legislation. Past Supreme Court decisions (such as treating corporations as persons, WRT unlimited funding of political candidates, along with excessive privacy of PACs) have already undermined U.S. democracy. Current populist backlashes, against the corruption of the Trump government, may also undermine democracy, such as the proposed Elizabeth Warren tax, being not on profits, but upon passive wealth itself – a tax on non-revenue-producing illiquid assets (whose valuation is highly subjective), as in her statement to ‘tax the jewelry of the rich’ at 2% annually. Illiquid assets include great private libraries, great private collections of art, antiques, coins, etc. – constituting an assault on the private sector, that if successful, will weaken democracy by strengthening the confiscatory power of government. We could swing from current excesses of the right to future excesses of the left.”

Despite current trends, there is reason to hope for better days

Many of the experts in this canvassing see a complicated and difficult road ahead, but express hope for the future.

Cheryl B. Preston , an expert in internet law and professor at Brigham Young University Law School, said, “Innovation will bring risk. Change will bring pain. Learning will bring challenges. Potential profits will bring abuse. But, as was the decision of Eve in the Garden of Eden, we need to leave the comfortable to learn and improve. If we can, by more informed voting, reduce the corruption in governmental entities and control corporate abuse, we can overcome difficulties and advance as a society. These advances will ultimately bring improvement to individuals and families.”

John Carr , a leading global expert on young people’s use of digital technologies, a former vice president of MySpace, commented, “I know of no proof for the notion that more people simply knowing more stuff, even stuff that is certifiably factually accurate, will necessarily lead to better outcomes for societies. But I do harbour a hope that if, over time, we can establish the idea that there are places on the internet that are reliable sources of information, it will in the medium to longer term help enough people in enough countries to challenge local demagogues and liars, making it harder for the demagogues and liars to succeed, particularly in times of national crisis or in times when war might be on the visible horizon. I used to think that if the internet had been around another Hitler would be impossible. Recently I have had a wobble on that but my optimism ‘trumps’ that gloomy view.”

Mike Douglass , an independent developer, wrote, “There is a significant realization that a stampede to create connections between anonymous people and devices was a bad idea. It’s up to the technologists and – more importantly – those who want to make money out of technology – to come up with a more measured approach. There’s a reason why gentlemen obtained letter of introduction to other gentlemen – one shouldn’t trust some random individual turning up on your doorstep. We need the equivalent approach. I’ve no idea what new innovations might turn up. But if we don’t get the trust/privacy/security model right we’ll end up with more social media disasters.”

Hume Winzar , an associate professor and director of the business analytics undergraduate program at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, predicted, “With more hope than evidence, I’d like to think that reason will eventually overcome the extraordinary propaganda machines that are being built. When the educated upper-middle classes realise that the ‘system’ is no longer serving them, then legal and institutional changes will be necessary. That is, only when the managers who are driving the propaganda machine(s) start to feel that they, personally, are losing privacy, autonomy, money and their children’s future, then they will need to undermine the efforts of corporate owners and government bureaucrats and officials.”

Carolyn Heinrich , a professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University, said, “My hope (not belief) is that the ‘techlash’ will help to spur social and civic innovations that can combat the negative effects of our digitization of society. Oftentimes, I think the technology developers create their products with one ideal in mind of how they will be used, overlooking that technology can be adapted and used in unintended and harmful ways. We have found this in our study of educational technology in schools. The developers of digital tools envision them as being used in classrooms in ‘blended’ ways with live instructors who work with the students to help customize instruction to their needs. Unfortunately, more often than not, we have seen the digital tools used as substitutes for higher-quality, live instruction and have observed how that contributes to student disengagement from learning. We have also found some of the content lacking in cultural relevance and responsiveness. If left unchecked, this could be harmful for far larger numbers of students exposed to these digital instructional programs in all 50 states. But if we can spur vendors to improve the content, those improvements can also extend to large numbers of students. We have our work cut out for us!”

In the field I follow, artificial intelligence, the numbers of professionals who take seriously the problems that arise as a consequence of this technology are reassuring. Pamela McCorduck

Heywood Sloane , entrepreneur and banking and securities consultant, wrote, “I’m hopeful the it will be a positive contributor. It has the ability to alter the way we relate to our environment in ways that shrink the distances between people and help us exercise control over our personal and social spaces. We are making substantial progress, and 5G technology will accelerate that. On the flip side, we need to find mechanisms and processes to protect our data and ourselves. They need to be strong, economic and simple to deploy and use. That is going to be a challenge.”

Pamela McCorduck , writer, consultant and author of several books, including “Machines Who Think,” commented, “I am heartened by the number of organizations that have formed to enhance social and civic organization through technology. In the field I follow, artificial intelligence, the numbers of professionals who take seriously the problems that arise as a consequence of this technology are reassuring. Will they all succeed? Of course not. We will not get it right the first time. But eventually, I hope.”

Yoshihiko Nakamura , a professor of mechno-informatics at the University of Tokyo, observed, “The current information and communication technology loses diversity because it is still insufficient to enhance the affectivity or emotion side of societies. In this sense I can see the negative side of current technology to human society. However, I have a hope that we can invent uses of technology to enhance the weaker side and develop tomorrow’s technology. The focus should be on the education of society in the liberal arts.”

Ryan Sweeney , director of analytics at Ignite Social Media, commented, “In order to survive as a functioning society, we need social and civic innovation to match our use of technology. Jobs and job requirements are changing as a result of technology. Automation is increasing across a multitude of industries. Identifying how we protect citizens from these changes and help them adapt will be instrumental in building happiness and well-being.”

Miles Fidelman , founder, Center for Civic Networking and principal Protocol Technologies Group, responded, “We can see clear evidence that the internet is enabling new connections, across traditional boundaries – for the flow of information, culture and commerce. It is strengthening some traditional institutions (e.g., ties between geographically distributed family members) and weakening others (e.g., the press). Perhaps the most notable innovation is that of ad hoc, network-centric organizations – be they global project teams, or crisis response efforts. How much of this innovation will make things better, how much it will hurt us, remains an open question.”

A technology developer active in IETF said, “I hope mechanisms will evolve to exploit the advantages of new tech and mitigate the problems. I want to be optimistic, but I am far from confident.”

A renowned professor of sociology known for her research into online communications and digital literacies observed, “New groups expose the error of false equivalence and continue to challenge humans to evolve into our pre-frontal cortex. I guess I am optimistic because the downside is pretty terrible to imagine. It’s like E.O. Wilson said: ‘The real problem of humanity is the following: We have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.’”

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Digital technologies can save the world, but we need to make sure it's sustainably used. Image:  Unsplash/Christopher Burns

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10 Experts on the Biggest Problems Tech Needs to Solve

“What is one problem you would use technology to fix?” With technology playing a key role in advancing our world today, here are 10 experts’ responses on the biggest problems tech needs to solve.

By Milan Shetti, CEO Rocket Software

In the past year, we have experienced a global pandemic, social justice trials, political reforms and much more. As business leaders, we are usually concerned with finding solutions to answer our companies’ specific problems. We often don’t take a minute to look at the bigger picture of how we can aid today’s biggest global challenges through digital technology. At Rocket Software, we are led by our core values of empathy, humanity, trust, and love. These values guide us in trying to make the world a better place through technology.

On our podcast, Digital: Disrupted , we host a wide range of tech professionals every week. A question we like to ask each guest is, “What is one problem you would use technology to fix?” With technology playing a key role in advancing our world today, here are 10 experts’ responses on the biggest problems tech needs to solve.

Andrew Winston, Winston Eco-Strategies

Problem: Misinformation

Andrew is the co-author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take and the founder of Winston Eco-Strategies where he advises companies on managing today’s mega-trends. Winston says a problem he wishes tech could solve is the misinformation caused by technology.

“Misinformation is making all of today’s problems worse and we are at a time in history where we need to come together like never before.”

Bob Friday, Mist

Problem: Connectivity

Bob is an entrepreneur focused on developing wireless technologies and is currently the VP and CTO of Mist, a Juniper Company. Friday says a problem he wishes tech could change is connectivity.

“The more people that know about each other, the better off they are.”

Shirish Nadkarni, Serial Entrepreneur and Author

Problem: Climate change

Shirish started his career at Microsoft where he engineered the acquisition of Hotmail and launched MSN.com and has since created and sold multiple consumer businesses that have scaled to tens of millions of users worldwide. Most recently, he wrote the book, Startup to Exit – An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Scaling Your Tech Business . Nadkarni says a problem he wishes tech could solve is climate change.

“I did not think that climate change would happen in my lifetime, but it already is, and I believe with technology we can make advancements before it’s too late.”

Gary Chan, Alfizo

Problem: Healthcare

Gary runs Alfizo, a consultancy company helping businesses build and transform their information security programs. Chan says a problem he wishes tech could solve is healthcare. “I wish technology would be able to scan someone to find and fix their problem. I think that would be pretty cool.”

Dr. David  A. Bishop, Agile Worx

Problem: Hunger

David is a technology consultant and researcher who has worked with companies such as AT&T, Delta Airlines and Toshiba. He is also an author and the creator of agile vortex theory, the subject of his book Metagility: Managing Agile Development for Competitive Advantage . Bishop says a problem he wishes tech could solve is hunger.

“Hunger, while it seems like a very simple thing off the cuff…it has such a great impact long-term on communities.” 

Ed Skoudis, SANS Technology

Problem: Feelings of depression, loneliness, and isolation

Ed is the founder of Counter Hack, an information security consulting firm, and the president of the SANS Technology Institute where he developed their penetration testing curriculum. Skoudis says a problem he wishes tech could solve is the feelings of depression, loneliness, and isolation.

“I would love digital technology to be leveraged to limit the depression people are facing and turn it around.”

Josh Linkner, University of Michigan

Problem: Racial Injustice

Josh has founded and sold five tech companies and authored four bestselling books including his most recent, Big Little Breakthroughs . Linkner says a problem he wishes tech could solve is aiding in help of restoring the environment.

“I’d love to use technology to help solve issues like racial injustice and hunger. We have a long way to go, but I am an optimist and think that while technology will not solve all of these issues in one swoop, technology will certainly be able to aid in the solving of the most difficult and pesky problems.”

Camille Eddy, Open Tech Pledge

Problem: Misunderstanding of other cultures

Camille is the senior product engineer at the startup Sector and the co-founder of the Open Tech Pledge. Eddy says a problem she wishes tech could solve is misunderstanding other cultures.

“Not understanding other people gets in the way of innovation. I think if we could use technology to find a way to understand each other a little bit faster and easier that would be great.”

Tom Sweet, GM Financial

Problem: Privacy

Tom is the VP of Cloud Services at GM Financial, where he inspires colleagues to start a career in IT based on his own career journey. Sweet says a problem he wishes tech could solve is the lack of privacy.

“I think we are losing our privacy in a lot of different areas, and it is always at the top of my mind.”

Bill Miller, Beelinebill Enterprises

Problem: Cancer

Bill is an executive advisor and consultant, speaker, author, mentor, and coach who helps small and medium company CEOs and leaders who need a partner to guide them through overwhelming times and issues and get desired outcomes. Miller says an issue he wishes technology could fix is cancer.

“In the year of a pandemic and vaccines, I would love to see technology create a vaccine that cures cancer.”

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Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments and Self-Reported Health Among Adults in the U.S.: An Analysis of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies

Roberto j. millar.

1. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration and Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A

2. Gerontology Doctoral Program, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A

Shalini Sahoo

Takashi yamashita, phyllis cummins.

3. The Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH, U.S.A

Problem-solving skills in the context of technologically complex modern societies have become increasingly important to health management in later life. This study is designed to investigate the associations between problem-solving skills in technology-rich environment (PSTRE) and health, and to explore whether age-differences exist. Using the data from the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), we used logistic regression to examine the relationship between PSTRE and self-reported health among a representative sample of American adults aged 35 years and older (N = 3,260). Overall, greater PSTRE (OR = 1.012, p < 0.001) was significantly associated with better self-rated health even after adjusting for the sociodemographic characteristics. Yet, PSTRE was only partially predictive of health in some age groups. Our findings highlight the potential of PSTRE to reduce health disparities among middle-aged and older adults living in modern technology and information rich societies.

Everyday problem-solving skills, or the ability to find effective solutions for everyday challenges, have been shown to be an important predictor of health status among aging adults ( Mienaltowski 2011 ; Thornton, Deria, Gelb, Shapiro & Hill, 2007 ). Further, age- related cognitive declines can contribute to difficulties in everyday problem solving that involve domains such as processing speed, working memory, and inductive reasoning ( Mienaltowski, 2011 ; Schaie, Willis & Caskie, 2004 ). In an era of digital technology, health-related information and patient-physician communications is increasingly being integrated through emerging technologies like computerized systems, which may present a unique challenges associated with managing one’s own health and navigating healthcare systems in later life ( Gordon & Hornbrook, 2018 ). In the context of an aging society and given the increasing reliance on technology in healthcare settings and health management, problem solving skills in an environment of fast-changing digital technology could influence the health of middle-age and older adults by limiting access to and use of digitalized health information ( Mackert, Mabry-Flynn, Champlin, Donovan, & Pounders, 2016 ).

Literature Review

Problem solving and health.

Problem solving skills (PSS) refer to individuals’ ability to draw from accumulated knowledge/experience and critical thinking skills to reach sound solutions and adapt to everyday challenging environments ( Mienaltowski, 2011 ). Problem solving may require that individuals recruit different skills based on the nature of the ‘challenge’ at hand. For instance, crystallized intelligence is knowledge or experience that is accumulated over time and remains as a person ages, such as language, or general knowledge. In contrast, fluid intelligence refers to the ability to solve unfamiliar problems and use critical thinking skills through processing speed, inductive reasoning, and working memory ( Ziegler, Cengia, Mussel, & Gerstorf, 2015 ). Skills related to fluid intelligence have been shown to decrease starting in the late-twenties and mid-thirties, while crystallized intelligence is thought to remain stable in mid-life until there is a gradual decline in the seventies and eighties ( Schaie et al., 2004 ). Thus, solving problems that require fluid skills (e.g., processing speed, inductive reasoning) can be more challenging in middle and older adulthood due to age-related cognitive declines. These age-related changes in strategies for problem solving can result in different individual outcomes across the life course ( Artistico, Cervone, & Pezzuti, 2003 ; Burton, Strauss, Hultsch, & Hunter, 2006 ). For instance, differences in PSS can have important consequences for health and health behaviors later in life.

There is now evidence that PSS are moderately related to a number of health conditions and overall health status. Visser and colleagues (2015) found that among stroke survivors, greater PSS are associated with better health related quality of life. PSS have been also studied in the context of diabetes self-care ( King et al., 2010 ), mobility ( Areáin et al., 2015 ), and ability to complete Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) ( Kimber, 2013 ). The positive relationship between PSS and health-related outcomes are generally consistent. These studies support that PSS is a predictor of health status. Similarly, problem-solving therapy (PST) has shown positive health-related outcomes such as reduced depressive symptoms in several clinical trials and interventions for older adults (e.g., Areán, Raue, Mackin, Kanellopoulos, McCulloch & Alexopoulos, 2010 ; Gustavson, Alexopoulos, Niu, McCulloch, Meade & Areán, 2016 ). PST is a problem-focused cognitive-behavioral intervention that promotes proactive problem solving and positive coping strategies ( Haley, 1987 ). Overall, this body of research supports a positive relationship between problem solving and health in middle and older adulthood.

Technology and Health

Although PSS has been associated with health, the roles of specific PSS components remain understudied ( Kimbler, 2013 ). This is particularly the case for PSS in the context of technology-rich environments (PSTRE). PSTRE refers to “using digital technology, communication tools and networks to acquire and evaluate information, communicate with others and perform practical tasks” ( OECD, 2012 , p.46). High PSTRE skills can facilitate the successful attainment and assessment of health information using digital sources, providing individuals with greater PSTRE with additional health-promoting opportunities and resources. Limited research has examined the direct influence of PSTRE and its effect on health. Among such studies, Prins and colleagues (2015) found that an increase in PSTRE was associated with 7.6% greater odds of reporting better self-rated health among adults aged 16–65. However, this relationship became non-significant after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics. Importantly, adults over the age of 65 were not included in their analysis. The second half of adult life is a life stage where individuals often experience declining health. Given the growing presence of technology in healthcare and health care management ( Mackert et al., 2016 ), the use of problem-solving skills within technology-rich environment present opportunities for promoting the health of middle age and older adults.

In an era of digital technology, health-related information and patient-physician communications are increasingly being provided through web-based modalities ( Gordon & Hornbrook, 2018 ). For instance, eHealth, or consumer health information technologies allow prompt access to patient-physician communication and health-promoting information ( Gewald & Rockmann, 2016 ). The role of technology in healthcare is likely to continue expanding, which offers opportunities for health promotion by allowing individuals to take active control of their health management ( Jacobs, Lou, Ownby, & Caballero, 2016 ). The Healthy People 2020 initiative calls for the use of health information technology as a tool for improving population health and health care quality. However, utilizing these resources requires basic knowledge and the ability to adapt to emerging technologies ( Czaja et al., 2006 ). Digital health literacy has been used to capture the skills required to use technology for health management and health information seeking ( Norman & Skinner, 2006 ). Older adults may face a number of barriers that limit their digital health literacy. For instance, older adults may have less familiarity with the use of digital technology and may be less likely to use these resources (e.g., online health information management system) for health management ( Gordon & Hornbrook, 2018 ). Differences in access to digital technologies and the ability to use these technologies to obtain health information can contribute to health disparities for middle and older adults.

Conceptual Model

Given a lack of conceptual scholarship involving a direct relationship between PSTRE and health, we draw from two relevant conceptual models: Paasche-Orlow and Wolf ‘s (2007) model linking health literacy to health outcomes, and Gewald’s and Rockmann’s (2016) model of enhanced eHealth use. Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 ). On the other hand, PSTRE can be considered a specific type of general PSS. Given the increasing interest in health and digital technology in later life, we apply these conceptual models to examine the role of PSTRE in relation to self-rated health as an outcome. In view of Paasche-Orlow and Wolf’s (2007) model, PSTRE are one of several individual-level characteristics associated with health-related outcomes. Furthermore, problem-solving is influenced by age, among other sociodemographic characteristics ( Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2007 ). The second model by Gewald and Rockmann (2016) highlights the importance of computer self-efficacy, through the innovative use of information technology (i.e., PSTRE) for healthcare management. This model suggests that PSTRE is negatively associated with age and is expected to affect health outcomes via differing health information seeking, including the use of internet, printed sources as well as social networks. Ideas put forth by these models propose an important association between PSS, technology use and health. We build on these two conceptual models by explicitly examining the direct association between a specific type of PSS (i.e., PSTRE) and self-rated health in the adult life.

Research Questions

This study formulated and addressed two research questions:

• Is there an association between PSTRE and self-rated health among American adults?
• Are there age-related differences in the relationship between PSTRE and self-rated health?

We obtained the data from the U.S. public use files of the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). PIAAC provides data for adults from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations. The overall goal of the PIAAC is to assess the skills of adults in economically developed societies. In particular, the PIAAC uses an interactive computer-based assessment to measure individuals’ Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments (PSTRE) skills. The U.S. PIAAC uses a four-stage stratified probability method to recruit adults between the ages of 16 and 74. PIAAC provides final sampling and replicate weights to correctly estimate nationally representative results (AIR PIAAC Team, n.d.). Additional technical information about PIAAC has been published elsewhere ( National Center for Education Statistics, 2017 ). The current analysis uses data for adults over the age of 35. Our decision for this age cut-off is based on support for changes in cognitive skills (i.e., fluid intelligence indicators) that relate to problem-solving that involves novel problems (e.g., emerging technologies). Of 4,532 eligible respondents, our final analytic sample consisted of 3,260 respondents who were randomly selected to complete the PSTRE module.

Outcome variable.

Our outcome of interest is self-rated health. PIAAC respondents were asked the following question: “In general, would you say your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?” In light of the low number of fair and poor health responses, self- rated health was dichotomized as (1=good health [excellent, very good, good] or 0= poor health [fair, poor]).

Predictor variables.

PSTRE was analyzed by a set of 10 statistically estimated means (i.e., plausible values; range 0–500) based on the respondents’ performance on a select number of PSTRE-related tasks (OECD, 2012a). PIAAC’s PSTRE domain measures and quantifies individuals’ ability to use digital devices and software applications to solve everyday tasks. More specifically, the PIAAC assesses PSTRE skills by presenting respondents with a set of computer-based tasks of increasing difficulty. These tasks incorporate adaptive response functions and are timed in order to rigorously assess individuals’ PSTRE skills. For example, a simpler task asks individuals to organize or sort large numbers of digital files according to their size, or adjust software program settings according to specific instructions (OECD, 2012a, p.55). More complex tasks may involve locating an email, opening its attachments, and using the attached information to create simple graphics and tables. (See Chapter 5 of the OECD’s 2012a technical report for detailed information and additional sample items). Age was measured in two different ways: in five- year intervals (i.e., 35–39, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, 60–65, 66–70, and 71+) and ten-year intervals (i.e., 35–44, 45–54, 55–65, 66 +). Although the five-year interval provides more detailed information and was used in the main analysis, the ten-year intervals were included in subgroup analyses, given the small sample size and distribution of two relevant covariates (health insurance and income) in older age groups. This decision was made based on PIAAC-specific recommendations, which suggests a minimum subgroup sample size of 62 in order to produce meaningful, reliable results (AIR PIAAC Team, n.d).

Covariates.

Sex was coded as 1-female and 0-male. Race/ethnicity was dichotomized to reflect whether a respondent identified as non-Hispanic white or some other race/ethnicity (1-non-Hispanic white and 0-other). The sample size for the specific race/ethnic groups was insufficient. Educational attainment was dichotomized to represent 1- college degree or higher and 0- less than a college degree. Income was categorized based on a five-category scale developed by PIAAC to illustrate representative income quintiles (1-lowest income to 5-highest income). Non-employed individuals, or those with no income, were aggregated to the lowest income quintile given PIAAC’s classification of the unemployed as non-earners. A dichotomous variable was used to denote whether a respondent had health insurance (1-yes and 0-no). Finally, based on Gewald and Rockmann’s (2016) conceptual model of technology and health, we included a variable to capture the use of the internet for health-information seeking. Based on the question “How much information about health issues do you get from the Internet?” and the responses, “a lot”, “some”, “a little”, and “none”, we dichotomized internet use for health information-seeking (1=yes [“a lot”, “some”] and 0=no [“a little”, and “none”]) based on conceptual and distributional considerations.

Analytical Approach

We used the IDB Analyzer version 4.0.14, developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (2017) . The IDB Analyzer generates a macro program that can be executed using SPSS or SAS software in order to estimate representative figures with PIAAC data, and incorporates sampling weights (SPFWT0), replicate weights (SPFWT1- SPFWT80), and PSTRE plausible values into the statistical analysis (AIR PIAAC Team, n.d; IBM SPSS Statistics, 2017 ; SAS Institute Inc, 2013 ). Unweighted descriptive statistics were computed for all variables included in the final model. In order to address our first research question (Is there an association between PSTRE and self-rated health?), we used a fully adjusted binary logistic regression to model self-reported health [dichotomized given the skewed distribution and conceptual reasons for the meaningful groups (positive vs. negative health)] as a function of PSTRE values while adjusting for covariates ( Wright, 1995 ). We also constructed unadjusted models to establish the baseline models.

To address our second research question (are there significant age differences in the relationship between PSTRE and self-rated health?), we conducted a series of logistic regression analyses for age groups based on the five- and ten-year intervals. In order to explore meaningful age-group specifications in the context of our research, age in five and ten-year intervals were used in separate analyses. Our decision to utilize both age categorizations (i.e., five and ten-year intervals) for the sub-group analysis was informed by the PIAAC guidelines requiring the use of subgroups with more than 62 observations in order to make accurate estimations (AIR PIAAC Team, n.d.). Due to the small sample sizes for those who were not employed and/or uninsured among older age groups, we eliminated income and health insurance from our covariates in the sub-group analysis. This way, the model specifications were consistent across the age groups and results were comparable. Since the objective of the sub-group analysis is to explore the relationship between the self-reported health and PSTRE across age groups, the comparable models were required.

Finally, given the conceptual relevance of health information seeking using the internet, we tested an interaction between PSTRE scores and internet use for health information-seeking; results for this interaction were non-significant in our preliminary analysis. We also tested models that included the age and income variables measured in a series of dichotomous variables. We verified no major differences between these models, and final models were constructed with the age and income as ordinal measures. All analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4 ( SAS Institute Inc, 2013 ).

Table 1 presents unweighted descriptive statistics (except for the PSTRE scores) for our analytic sample by health status. The majority (85%) of respondents in our sample reported good health. The average weighted PSTRE score was 265. Respondents with good self-reported health had, on average, higher PSTRE scores than those with poor health (268.415 and 265.432; t = 8.053; p < .05; df = 3,259). There were a smaller percentage of respondents in the two oldest age categories of 66 to 70 and 71 and over (10.726% and 5.782%, respectively). Over half of respondents were in the lowest income quintile (54.412%) mainly due to the employment status (i.e., unemployed or retired). Nearly half of respondents were female (54.822%), while the majority (60.741%) had a high school-level education or less, identified as white (68.878%) and reported having health insurance (81.919%). Finally, over 67.977% of participants reported using the Internet frequently for accessing health information.

Unweighted Descriptive Statistics for Adults Over Age 35 by Health Status

Note: PSTRE = Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments. SE= standard error. PSTRE significance test based on weighted values, other estimates based on unweighted values. PSTRE score estimate is weighted and calculated using plausible values and replicate weights. No unweighted score is available in the PIAAC. Good health = self-reported health (Excellent. Very good, Good); Poor health = self-reported health (Fair, Poor). Ten-year age groups used in sub-group analysis only.

Table 2 presents estimated Odds Ratios (OR) from weighted binary logistic regression models that address our first research question. In the unadjusted model, PSTRE was a statistically significant predictor of good health status (OR = 1.012, p < 0.001). That is, a one-point increase in PSTRE score was associated with 1.012 times odds of reporting good health. This relationship remained significant in our adjusted model after accounting for covariates (OR = 1.006, p < 0.01). A one-point increase in PSTRE score was associated with 1.006 times odds of reporting good health. Importantly, only income (OR = 1.509, p < 0.001) and college education (OR = 1.371, p < 0.001) were statistically significant predictors of good health. On a related note, given the validity of self-rated health changes in later life (i.e., moderation effect by age) (see Zajacova & Woo, 2016 ), we ran separate models for the life stages. For example, follow-up analysis of age 35–49, and 50 and older showed that the estimated odds ratios of PSTRE [age 35–49 (OR = 1.007, p < 0.01); age 50 and older (OR = 1.005, p < 0.01) were consistent with our final model (OR = 1.006). This is not to say that the interpretation of self-rated health by life stages are comparable, but its associations with PSTRE were consistent across age groups in our study.

Estimated Odds Ratios from Weighted Binary Logistic Regression Models of PSTRE Scores Predicting Self-Rated Health (N = 3260)

Note: PSTRE = Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments. OR= Odds Ratio, SE= Standard Error. Self-reported health was a dichotomous measure [Good health = Excellent. Very good, Good); Poor health = (Fair, Poor)]. A one-unit increase represents 1-point increment on PSTRE score. Logistic regression estimates calculated using plausible values and full sample replicate weights using IDB Analyzer (Version 3.1).

Table 3 presents adjusted logistic regression results for our subgroup analyses of five and ten-year age subgroups, which address our second research question. For the five-year age categories, PSTRE was a statistically significant predictor of good health status among the 45 to 49 year-old age group (OR = 1.013, p < 0.01), the 60 to 65 year-old age group (OR = 1.007, p < 0.05), and the 66 to 70 year-old age group (OR = 1.008, p < 0.05). In the ten-year age subgroups analyses, PSTRE was a statistically significant predictor of good health status among all age groups; 35 to 44 year-old group (OR= 1.006, p <.05), 45 to 54 year-old age group (OR = 1.008, p < 0.01), 55 to 65 year-old age group (OR = 1.006, p < 0.05), and those 66 years or older (OR = 1.010, p < 0.05). College education was a significant predictor of self-reported health in the age groups 35–44, 45–54 and 55–65. All other covariates were not statistically significant in any of the ten-year age groups.

Estimated Odds Ratios from Weighted Binary Logistic Regression Models Predicting Self-Rated Health by Age Groups

Note: PSTRE = Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments. Self-reported health was a dichotomous measure [Good health = Excellent. Very good, Good); Poor health = (Fair, Poor)]. Health insurance status and income quintile were omitted in subgroup analyses due to the small sample size in the older age groups. A one-unit increase of the PSTRE score represents 1-point increment. Logistic regressions were estimated using plausible values and full sample replicate weights using IDB Analyzer (Version 3.1). OR= Odds Ratio, SE= Standard Error.

We addressed two research questions: (1) Is there an association between PSTRE and self-reported health? and (2) Are there significant age-related differences in the relationship between PSTRE and self-reported health? In support of our first research question, results from our analysis show that an increase in problem-solving skills in the context of a technology-rich environment (i.e., PSTRE) was associated with better self-rated health. Unlike the previous studies of PSTRE and health of adults aged 16 to 65 (e.g., Prins et al., 2015 ), the PSTRE and health relationship persisted after introducing relevant socio-demographic characteristics among those aged 35 and 74. This relationship was partly explained by income and education. Income and educational status are well established social determinants of health in later-life (CDC Online Newsroom, n.d.).

With regard to our second research question about age-related differences in this association, subgroup analyses showed mixed findings. Consistent with the empirical and conceptual literature, which suggest age-related declines in the ability to solve novel problems such as those of emerging technologies ( Mienaltowski, 2011 ), we expected to see age-related changes in the association between PSTRE and health in middle and older adulthood. However, we found limited and inconsistent support for significant age differences. Our two sets of subgroup analyses by five and ten-year categories yielded different results. PSTRE was the only statistically significant predictor of good health among 45–49, 60–65, and 66–70 year-olds in the first set of analyses. On the other hand, the second set of analyses showed that PSTRE was a significant predictor of good health for all age groups. Yet, it should be noted that there could be significant differences in the way older and younger cohorts utilize PSTRE skills for health-related information. Our study lays the groundwork for future research to further investigate this relationship as well as to disentangle age, period, and cohort effects.

In view of the empirical and conceptual scholarship, we expected age differences in the use of the internet for health information seeking ( Jensen, King, Davis, & Guntzviller, 2010 ). However, internet use for health information seeking was not associated with reporting better health in any of our age subgroup analyses. This may suggest the use of alternative health information sources, such as healthcare professionals or books and magazines ( Hall, Bernhardt & Dodd, 2015 ; Yamashita, Bardo, Liu & Cummins, 2018 ). Higher PSTRE may be related to the use of these multiple health information sources. Indeed, there is evidence that health information seeking can be influenced by education and health literacy, with higher education being associated with greater use of text-based information, and higher health literacy associated with less use of the internet for health information ( Yamashita et al., 2018 ).

Nevertheless, PIAAC’s PSTRE domain is a novel and complex measure that assesses cognitive ability through problem-solving, as well as familiarity with technology (OECD, 2012a). The integration of these two domains (cognitive ability and technology use) provides an informative new measure that bridges previous avenues of inquiries related to the assessment of online health-information seeking in older adults ( Berkowsky & Czaja, 2018 ). PSTRE can be considered one of the health literacy domains that are important for health in later life. Past studies have found positive relations between general literacy, numeracy and self-rated health (e.g., Prins & Monnat, 2015 ). It should be noted that the PIAAC provides general literacy and numeracy in addition to the PSTRE skills assessment. Our decision to focus on PSTRE was based on a lack of inquiry on PSTRE as well as the relevance to the research needs on digital technology, health and aging. Given the little understanding about the relationship between PSTRE and health, we did not include other competency measures such as literacy and numeracy in order to document the baseline effect of PSTRE. Given our findings and insights from the previous research, components of health literacy, such as literacy, numeracy and PSTRE, are likely to contribute to health outcomes in different ways. Future research needs to identify such unique effect for informing health promotion programs targeting specific health literacy domains like PSTRE. Additionally, further research is needed to determine the subdomains of PSTRE (instead of a single-item indicator) and potential mechanisms by which PSTRE impacts a variety of health-related outcomes among middle age and older individuals.

Limitations

This study should be considered in light of some methodological limitations. First, our analysis uses cross-sectional data, which limits the ability to make any causal inference. Second, we cannot rule out potential omitted variable bias. Particularly, traditional demographic characteristics such as marital status and other social network/support information would be helpful in future research although not available in the current PIAAC data. Third, the PIAAC public use files only provide age group information. In addition, age range in the PIAAC is limited to ages 16 to 74. Given the importance of age for problem-solving skills, future studies should consider extending the age range beyond 74 years old to more broadly capture age-related health declines in the context of a digital era. Fourth, our sample distribution and the suggested sample size requirements for using the IDB Analyzer restricted our analytic approach to control for two relevant covariates (income and health insurance status) in our subgroup analyses. Although the decision was appropriate for the examination of age group differences, omission of these covariates could have over- or under-estimated the effect of PSTRE on health in general and, arguably, in older age groups with limited sample sizes. Finally, given our use of a dichotomous, self-reported measure of health, future research should consider more direct and objective indicators of health status.

Contributions

Despite the limitations, this study adds to the growing, yet limited, body of research on the malleable factors such as adult education and skill proficiencies (e.g., PSTRE), which are influential on health status among adults in multiple life stages (e.g., Paasche-Orlow et al., 2007 ; Prins & Mooney, 2014 ). We address a gap in this literature by focusing on an understudied adult competency indicator of PSS ( Kimber, 2013 ). We are one of few studies to use nationally representative data to directly explore PSTRE and its association with self-reported health in middle-aged and older adults. Results from our adjusted logistic regression analysis provide support for the association between PSTRE skills and self-rated health even after accounting for the sociodemographic characteristics. These findings have the potential to inform the design of competencies-based health promotion as well as adult education programs that incorporate technological problem-solving in order to address health disparities among middle-aged and older adults ( Mackert et al., 2016 ; Tikkanen, 2017 ).

Implications

There are a few preliminary implications we can draw from the results of this study. Our results suggest that adult education programs could include problem-solving and technology skills interventions to better equip middle-aged and older individuals to effectively navigate health care systems and enhance health outcomes. Promoting PSTRE could be an efficient and autonomous (e.g., self-care) way to reduce health disparities. From a life course perspective, lifelong learning is no longer a means merely to acquire new knowledge and skills; it has become a critical process to obtain necessary skills (e.g., appropriate use of internet as health information source) to navigate in this digital era ( Tikkanen, 2017 ). In addition, our findings suggest that healthcare professionals can identify and provide additional support (e.g., customized instruction, recommendation for technology-related training) to individuals with limited technological proficiencies as a potential avenue to limit health disparities. As our findings suggest, individuals with low PSTRE skills could benefit from technology-related training programs in order to promote health outcomes. For example, enhanced PSTRE could improve health outcomes by allowing middle age and older individuals to take active participation in managing their health with the use of emerging digital technologies ( Kiosses & Alexopoulos, 2014 ). At the same time, any intervention programs should consider age differences in skill sets as well as attitudes toward technology use. Finally, this study provides policymakers with a nationally representative profile of adults’ PSTRE, which, although understudied, seems to be important for health in in middle and old age.

In an era of emerging digital technology in healthcare, practicing self-care and navigating healthcare systems is becoming increasingly dependent on technology-related problem-solving skills. Difficulty understanding and using the rapidly advancing technologies for health-related information and health management may exacerbate already existing health inequalities, particularly among older individuals. In this study, we find that that problem-solving skills in the context of technology-rich environments is positively associated with self-reported health among American adults. Furthermore, we find unique age group differences, with higher PSTRE skills being associated with better health at the differential degrees by life stages. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting technological problem-solving skills through lifelong education in order to promote the health of aging adults.

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• Main content

How to solve 10 common problems with technology

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.    

Technology might cause some of your problems, but it can also solve them. 

I use technology to help with my problems on a daily basis, and I've identified some that most other people have, too.

Whether your work environment is noisy or messy, or you're looking to save a little money, you can find the solutions to your problem on this list.

The problem: not enough outlets

Apartment dwellers are generally worse off when it comes to usable outlets, but even homeowners might find that they're quickly running out of places to plug in their new gadgets. 

You can solve this problem a few different ways depending on its root cause. 

If you're clustering a lot of electronics together (think a home theater system), you should buy a surge protector . I've used one from Belkin for years, and it has helped me stay organized and keeps my gadgets safe. 

If the problem is that too many of our outlets are taken up by single-use power adapters for phones and tablets, you have options. You could go the DIY route and replace the outlets themselves with new ones that have USB ports built into them . Or, you could buy one of Anker's multi-port adapters , which let you charge up to five devices while only taking up a single outlet. 

Regardless of which option you pick, your life will be easier knowing there's a place to plug in the next cool thing you bring home.

Anker PowerPort 5 Multi-Port USB Charger, $23.99, available at Amazon

Topgreener usb charger outlet, $19.99, available at amazon, belkin 8-outlet commercial power strip surge protector, $14.88, available at amazon  , the problem: bad wi-fi.

I've heard people say that having bad Wi-Fi is  worse than having no Wi-Fi, and I agree.

If you live in a place with spotty Wi-Fi you have two options: extend your current network, or create a stronger one. 

I've tried TP-Link's Wi-Fi range extender , and given its budget-friendly price it's what I recommend people try first. It's easy to set up and does a really good job, providing adequate coverage in places that have none. 

If you live in a bigger home, it might be worthwhile to invest in a multi-router Wi-Fi setup, in which case I recommend Eero . Instead of extending your Wi-Fi, Eero's routers create a strong Wi-Fi net to blanket an area in complete coverage. Each router has the same strength and range, so installing them strategically around your house should provide high-speed coverage everywhere.

TP-Link AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender, $24.99, available at Amazon

Eero home wi-fi system (2-pack), $259.99, available at amazon, the problem: dirty floors.

Most people would  like a robot vacuum, but it can be a pretty significant expense. 

I recently tried a more budget-friendly option in this category, and I'm still impressed at how well it works. With six modes and a 90-minute battery life, Eufy's vacuum should be a good fit for any apartment and single-floor homes. 

The vacuum's sensors are good enough that it's able to accurately clean a room after a very quick survey. Although I'm pretty meticulous when I clean, I can honestly say that since I started trying the Eufy my floors have never been tidier.

Eufy RoboVac 11, $219.99, available at Amazon

The problem: shoddy battery life.

If your phone's battery just isn't cutting it, there are to ways to help it get through a night out or weekend camping trip. 

Those who don't mind adding a little bulk to their phone can invest in one of Mophie's charging cases. Yes, they're bigger than your average case, but they also extend your phone's battery life significantly. During my tests, I was able to get over 30 hours of battery life with my iPhone 7 Plus.

If bulky cases are a no-go, you can pick up one of Anker's external battery packs instead. The one I'm recommending can recharge most phones once or twice, and is still small enough to fit in a pocket, purse, or backpack.

mophie juice pack wireless for the iPhone 7, $71.98, available at Amazon

Mophie juice pack wireless for the iphone 7 plus, $74, available at amazon  , anker powercore 10000 portable battery pack, $25.99, available at amazon, the problem: wanting multi-room audio.

I love Bluetooth speakers, but if you live in a large place and want multi-room audio, things get a little complicated. 

I've had a chance to try Libratone's TOO speaker , which I still think is a great solution to this problem  if you value portability. You can link pairs of these speakers together into "zones," and you can play the same audio from both at the same time.

If you'd prefer to link up multiple speakers and don't care about portability, your best option is Sonos . The whole idea behind the well-known speaker brand is to slowly amass a collection of speakers in every room of your house. Sonos offers greater flexibility than Libratone's solution, but again, you give up portability.

Libratone TOO Portable Bluetooth Speaker, $149, available at Amazon

Sonos play:1 wireless smart speaker, $199, available at amazon, the problem: a high cable bill.

If you cable bill continues to creep up, it might be the right time to consider cutting out your TV package.

I haven't had cable in years, and while I don't  miss live TV, I understand the utility in having it during important events, which is why I bought an HDTV antenna. 

How useful this antenna is will depend on your location, but with a 50-mile range you're likely to pick up the big four networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. You should check how good the over-the-air cover coverage is in your area before making the investment, but in my experience, it's worth it. 

1byone 50 Miles Amplified HDTV Antenna, $29.99, available at Amazon

The problem: too many wires on your desk.

A messy work environment can make it difficult to get things done. 

I realized that the quickest way for  me to clear it off was by investing in some wireless tech, namely a wireless keyboard and mouse. 

I've settled on a Bluetooth mouse from Logitech and Bluetooth keyboard from Anker , and despite their reasonable price tags, I've never had to search further. Both paired to my computer instantly and have worked well together for years. 

My preference for Bluetooth gear over traditional wireless gear is the lack of wireless receivers. Instead of taking up a USB port with a small adapter you might lose, these accessories are  totally wireless.

Logitech M557 Bluetooth Mouse, $19.95, available at Amazon

Anker bluetooth ultra-slim keyboard, $17.99, available at amazon, the problem: overcooked or undercooked food.

Whether you're cooking inside, outside, for yourself, or for family, nothing is worse than overcooking or undercooking food.

With grilling season nearly here, Weber has just released the iGrill 3 , its latest wireless thermometer. Stick it into the center of your meat and you'll never have to worry about the steak or chicken being too pink in the middle.

Indoor chefs might want to try sous vide cooking, a technique that heats meat or vegetables up to the perfect temperature by bagging them up and submerging them in water. It might come across as strange at first, but it's a technique that's been used to cook food in high-end restaurants for years. Anova is the biggest name in consumer-grade sous vide cooking, and their option can be paired with your phone via Bluetooth to let you know when your meal is done.

Weber iGrill 3 Bluetooth Thermometer, $98, available at Amazon

Anova culinary bluetooth sous vide, $149, available at amazon, the problem: a boring commute.

Commutes, even when they're relatively short, can be tedious. 

If you prefer to occupy your mind with games rather than a book or music, I have two recommendations that got me through months of train trips.

Minimize is a minimalist puzzle game that requires you to pair similarly colored tiles together. It starts out simple but has a nice difficulty curve. The last few levels required enough concentration that I almost missed my stop. 

Arguably the most well-known puzzle game on the planet, Tetris is easy to play, but tough to master. Like Minimize, the difficulty curve is gentle, but when blocks start falling at a rapid pace it's easy to lose track of time.

Minimize, $2.99

Tetris, $1.99, the problem: working or living in a noisy environment.

If you're like me, you need silence or pleasant sounds to get anything done. 

Unfortunately, it's difficult to get peace and quiet everywhere, which is why it's a good idea to invest in some noise-cancelling headphones. I've recommended Sony's H.ear headphones for the past few months, and everyone who's tried them has come away impressed. 

They're comfortable, sound good, have the only worthwhile on-ear cup controls I've found on headphones, and their noise cancelling is excellent. If you're looking for a way to put a barrier between you and the outside world, these headphones are a great way to do it.

Sony H.ear on Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphone, $219, available at Amazon

Subscribe to our newsletter. You can purchase syndication rights to this story here. Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

Contemporary Issues in Science and Technology Education pp 253–265 Cite as

Problem-Solving in Science and Technology Education

• Bulent Çavaş 13 ,
• Pınar Çavaş 14 &
• Yasemin Özdem Yılmaz 15  
• First Online: 25 February 2023

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Part of the Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education book series (CTISE,volume 56)

This chapter focuses on problem-solving, which involves describing a problem, figuring out its root cause, locating, ranking and choosing potential solutions, as well as putting those solutions into action in science and technology education. This chapter covers (1) what problem-solving means for science and technology education; (2) what the problem-solving processes are and how these processes can be used step-by-step for effective problem-solving and (3) the use of problem-solving in citizen science projects supported by the European Union. The chapter also includes discussion of and recommendations for future scientific research in the field of science and technology education.

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• Citizen science
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Meaningful Technology and Curriculum

Julia Green

Julia Green ( [email protected] ) York Region District School Board

Technology has been an integral part of education as teachers strive to prepare students for the twenty-first century. In order for education to be pertinent, productive, progressive and proficient, technology is an essential tool (Abbas, Lai-Mei, Ismail, 2013). Problem-based learning (PBL) is grounded in meaningful and experiential situations. In PBL, students learn by solving problems, becoming active learners, situated in real-world problems and allowing students to be responsible for their learning paths (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Modern-day educators require innovative teaching methods which promote skill acquisition and are problem-based, “Millennial students can benefit from this approach as they work collaboratively, construct integrated knowledge, develop problem-solving skills, experience self-directed learning, and become intrinsically motivated” (Matthews & Dworatzek, 2012, p.196). Technology can be defined in a wide variety of ways, and the multitude of methods in which technology can be used to support PBL is equally as diverse. (Brush & Saye, 2014). The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how technology can support the implementation of PBL in educational settings. The key characteristics of both technology and PBL are examined in order to guide educators to make informed decisions to support deep and authentic learning.

Keywords : collaboration, critical thinking, learner-centered, problem-based learning (PBL), real-world application, technology

Introduction

Problem-based learning has been in the realm of education for the past fifty years (Wood, 2008). Its implementation in educational settings has promoted collaboration, problem-solving and independent acquisition of new knowledge. With changes in education (for example; the flipped classroom, online courses and students in charge of their own learning journeys), there has been a natural move towards the utilization of technology. Twenty-first century learners are more adept at using technological tools than ever before. Students are accessing tech platforms to communicate with each other, research topics of interest to them and learn about world issues.

Technology refers to the designs and environments that engage learners (Abbas et al., 2013). The integration of technology in problem-based learning supports exploration, collaborative inquiry and the development of the skills required for students moving into the modern world. When done effectively, technology can support problem-based learning because of the wide range of tools available; the way in which technology naturally lends itself to collaboration, and its ability to help students explore problems. Problem-based learning’s scope has become even wider with the integration of tech in the classroom. The possibilities to promote the objectives of PBL (discussed later in this chapter) are flexible and ever-changing, allowing PBL to exist naturally in modern learning environments.

Background Information

Problem-based learning.

Developed in the late 1960s for primary use in medical schools, problem-based learning or PBL is grounded in the constructivist learning theory (Wood, 2008). This theory posits that learning is an active, constructive process. Constructivism states that learning takes place in contexts (Abbas et al., 2013). PBL was developed by Barrows and utilized at McMaster University in 1968 for the first time. Barrows proposed the following three objectives of PBL:

• Students acquire knowledge that is retrievable and usable.
• Students develop the cognitive skills appropriate for reasoning.
• Students extend and improve knowledge to remain current with new problems that may arise (self-directed learning skills), (Taylor & Miflin, 2008).

Other educational models emerged from this such as Bruner’s ‘discovery learning’ (Taylor & Miflin, 2008). PBL was innovative because of its shift in teaching strategies and outcomes. It was predicted that PBL created better learning environments, knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Wood, 2008). PBL focuses on meaningful tasks which are practical in their approach and experiential (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Theorists such as Dewey (1938) explained that learning was most authentic when done through experience. He believed that education and learning were a social and interactive process. Students should experience and interact with curriculum and take part in own learning (Talebi, 2015). Similarly, in PBL, students solve problems which are related to the real-world, construct knowledge and develop strategies for problem-solving (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). One of the defining features of the PBL approach is that students investigate and work collaboratively to find out what they need to know in order to solve the presented problem (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Today, PBL is a construct of previous research and practices. It has been adapted to modern learning environments, is flexible and dynamic.

The teacher’s role in PBL .

In problem-based learning, the teacher acts more as a facilitator to student learning than being in complete control. Facilitators progressively fade their scaffolding as students become more experienced with PBL until finally the learners adopt many of the facilitators’ roles (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). The teacher helps students acquire the skills necessary for problem-solving and collaboration (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Modern PBL approaches vary depending on norms, beliefs and values of PBL practitioners. Furthermore, PBL and its implementation also rely on the cost, the extent of influences, understanding and interpretation by the teacher and institution (Taylor & Miflin, 2008).

The modern teacher is one who recognizes, encourages, facilitates and stretches student learning. Teachers are considered partners with their students and no longer need to teach by telling. Teachers should foster creativity and real-life problem solving, purpose and passion (Fullan, 2013). Allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge of technology is a great way for teachers to work alongside students.

Considerations and applications for technology in PBL

Technology is an integral and supportive factor of learning in PBL. The following section delineates characteristics of problem-based learning in the twenty-first century learning environment, and how technology can best support them.

Learner-centered.

With students at the forefront of this style of learning, teachers are able to engage and motivate learners. In learner-centered environments, the focus on abilities and process of the learner are of priority. This strategy also centers on what the students already know which encourages motivation (Megwalu, 2014). Student skill-level and interests are considered in a PBL environment. Web 2.0 for example, allows users to browse topics and explore (Tambouris, Panopoulou, Tarabanis, Ryberg, Buus, Peristeras, Porwol, 2012). Students can use their own preferred technological tools to solve problems and show their understanding of topics. They may prefer to use their personal devices or engage in new tools.

With this in mind, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the learners are considered. Preconceptions, cultural differences, comfort level in various group settings are crucial to creating a positive learning environment. Attention should be given to individual progress and material needs to present the right amount of challenge. In order to achieve this, teachers and schools need to understand student knowledge, skill levels and interests (Donovan, 2002). Tools such as online surveys, polls and collaborative online workspaces engage students and help teachers check in with student progress, better understand their interests and their position as a learner.

Collaborative.

It is important that a technological tool create a community of learners by broadening repertoires and personal resources (Conoley, 2010). Collaboration promotes engagement as well as positive well-being. Collaborative spaces have proven to positively impact well-being, “People with relationships to other individuals they trust and depend upon are healthier, more productive, and happier”, (Uchino, Cacipo, Kiecolt-Glasser, 1996 as cited in Conoley, 2010, p.77).

When technology tools are appropriately selected, they promote the collaborative production of knowledge through engaging with real-world problems or cases (Tambouris et al., 2012). The emergence and re-conceptualization of online systems supports collaboration between learners and teachers. It affords learners and facilitators access to external resources and resource persons. Donnelly (2010), suggests that the social processes of learning in PBL and through the enabling power of online asynchronous communication, actively engage students in their own learning. Current trends focus on virtual learning environments, but also a shift to personal online learning environments, which allow students to customize their learning journey (Tambouris et al., 2012). Additionally, there exist a plethora of collaborative online platforms from which to choose such as online classrooms, synchronous and asynchronous learning spaces as well as web-based software which allow multiple users to work, revise and comment simultaneously.

Real-life applications.

When students are able to make connections between new material and the real-world it creates for authentic learning environments, “Learning is stronger when it matters” (Brown et al., 2014, p.11). Repetition has not shown to remain in long-term memory, however, when connections are made to real-life problems, the learning is better retained (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Research has shown that rereading, for example, is a time-consuming learning strategy which does not result in lasting learning. On the other hand, students exploring real problems that exist in relation to the subject matter can deepen the learning. That being said, it is important for educators to take risks and allow students to connect with their communities and the world. Learners should apply new skills in context which can be facilitated through tools such as virtual reality, online forums, blogs and discussions and communication tools to connect via video chat across the world.

Optimal learning occurs with the development of norms and connections to the outside world. In these settings, intellectual camaraderie is promoted to build a sense of community. Students build upon each other’s knowledge, questioning, make suggestions and work collaboratively towards a common goal. Problem-solving, argumentation, a sense of comfort, an excitement of learning, and a sense of ownership are developed. Furthermore, classroom learning should be connected to aspects of students’ lives (Donovan, 2002). Educators play a key role in developing questions and creating tasks, “Real learning involves students immediately using what they learn to do something and/or change something in the world” (Prensky, 2010, p.20). Teachers set the learning goals and offer guidance and questions for students and then allow them the freedom to explore but also apply their learning in a real context. The notion of positioning learners as active and productive in real practices seems to correspond well with many of the ideas and ideals associated with Web 2.0 in learning (Tambouris et al., 2012).

Engages critical thinking.

In order to help students adapt to ever-changing situations and problems, critical thinking is an essential skill; “Higher level questioning requires students to further examine the concept(s) under study through the use of application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis (Nappi, 2017, p.1). As questioning is an important teaching tool, questions which are simply recall of information are considered lower level questions and do not encourage higher order thinking (Nappi, 2017). Students can use the internet to research and seek solutions to complex problems.

Because of the influx of information available to them, students require questions which allow them to investigate rather than completing a simple search. The use of subject specific technological tools can enrich student experience and close gaps which were previously roadblocks in the problem-solving process. Such an example is explained by Taradi et al. (2005), “Virtual environments encourage students to explore a topic beyond the boundaries of given material, thus supporting the proactive and exploratory nature of learning that allows the student to become self-reliant” (p. 38).

Conclusions and Future Recommendations

The integration of technology and problem-based learning is complicated since individually they each demand that staff and students possess a complex array of different teaching and learning capabilities (Donnelly, 2010). Together they are complementary to learning. By combining PBL with collaborative technological tools, educators can create active, vibrant learning environments that enhance student learning (Taradi et al., 2005). Problem-based learning affords students the flexibility of exploring concepts and acquiring skills through the learning process and co-create problems and solutions. Student engagement increases as they are active participants in their own learning (Wirkala, Kuhn, 2011). PBL has a clear connection with the promotion of twenty-first century skills, it “offers an opportunity for moving beyond content acquisition to develop skills and dispositions needed for lifelong learning” (Taradi et al., 2005, p.35).

With student success in mind and preparing students for the world beyond the classroom, PBL encourages problem-solving and collaboration. Furthermore, it allows students to engage in critical thinking and make real-world connections. The advancement of technology has further supported the integration of PBL in learning environments. The wide array of available tools, the collaborative nature, and links to the outside world lend themselves suitably to PBL.

Due to the range of technological tools available, it is challenging to identify exactly which tools best promote PBL. Consideration should be given to whether the tool is enhancing the learning experience or if the same problem-solving strategy could be used without the technology? In fact, several questions should be considered when selecting the appropriate tool for PBL:

• Does the tool encourage a learner-centered environment?
• Will the tool allow for collaboration among students?
• Does the tool promote real-world application?
• Can the tool be used to facilitate investigation, problem-solving and inquiry?

Technology has an ability to increase the complexity with which students create and implement a multitude of roles. This can lead to specialization and promote in-depth investigation. Technology in PBL learning environments lends itself to authentic and challenging tasks which support communication with others and promotes active learning (Abbas et al., 2013). The blending of technology in PBL encourages students to become twenty-first century problem-solvers. While there are many factors which contribute to the effective implementation of tech in PBL, it is undeniable that there are positive correlations between the two.

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Technology and the Curriculum: Summer 2018 Copyright © 2018 by Julia Green is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Problem-Solving Activities With the Help of Technology

Problem-solving is one of the most vital and basic skill which is required by every one of us in the 21 st century . We feel the need of this skill quite frequently in our daily lives, and especially children should develop it at quite a young age to cope up with problems in education as well as other domains, throughout their lives.

The importance of developing this skill today is such that, it is even highlighted in the Common Core standards and has become a necessary component of any curriculum. Problem-solving directly implies decision-making, which is another important skill, not only for academics but for success in life in general.

Problem-solving comes with numerous benefits. Teaching kids the art of problem-solving has many associated advantages, like, it teaches them how to avoid conflicts in school and in their daily lives, it strengthens their empathy skills, it helps them develop positive attributions  and it is utmost required for school readiness and academic success. Generally, we would solve problems by identifying the problem, listing its possible solutions, weighing them one by one, choosing a solution to try, putting it into practice and evaluating it. Though this technique works for us most of the times, it has now become conventional and tedious. With the introduction of technology in every domain of our lives, why not introduce it to problem-solving as well. Now, when technology comes to aid us in problem-solving, it can quite revolutionize and rejuvenate the entire experience of it.

Technology supports problem-solving in a number of ways. It enables you to identify problems quicker and easier and helps you better analyze a complex problem. Technology students are especially encouraged to be innovative and to want to improve a current situation by encountering and solving problems, in an advanced way. There can be different approaches to teaching problem-solving with the aid of technology :

Students should be encouraged to concentrate not on whimsical wants or fanciful products, rather they should apply their considerable problem solving skills to attain something substantial that will improve their present situation and benefit them in the future.

They should be encouraged to find solutions from a broad range of technological and non-technological realms.

The focus and procedure of teaching problem solving using technology should be flexible. This can be directed by how the teacher helps the student select a problem and frame the context of a problem.

Students should examine situations (big and small, near and far, individual and societal) and use their creative problem solving abilities to try to plan what is best.

They should be taught to weigh short-term gains and costs with long-term gains and costs by keeping in view the educational reform, personal lifestyle changes it may lead to with the incorporation of new technology in regulation with governmental action.

The tendency in education should be to employ the term ‘problem solving’ generically to include such diverse activities as coping with marital problems and trouble-shooting electronic circuits.

It can be stated that, different types of problem situations (personal or technological) require different kinds and levels of knowledge and capability and one must be willing enough to adopt different approaches in different situations, which is eased by the inclusion of technology in problem-solving activities.

Effective and responsible national leaders and corporate executives are those with enough backbone to do what they believe is best for the nation or corporation, in spite of mass opinion. The select solutions that are holistic, sometimes more technology-dependent, other times involved with laws, communication and other social arenas. They do not blindly accept the premise that their current product or service is the single best solution to a problem. If this is the type of person a technology teacher hopes their students will become, then specific educational experiences should be designed to empower students with those independent, risk-taking abilities where the goal is what is best.

However, the best solution to a technological problem may be non- technological. Students who are practiced in considering this wider range of alternatives will be better prepared to face the demands of global citizenry than those who merely make yet another CD rack. It is critical for a technology teacher to revisit their definition and philosophy of technology, analyzing its assumptions and bias. That definition should be individually crafted by that teacher, so that it is honest and accurate, accommodates a variety of belief systems and lays the path for a wondrous technological journey for the student and teacher.

You’re invited to share your views, additional knowledge or clarify doubts on the context. So go ahead and comment, the Comment Box awaits you.

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Even time-saving technology feels inadequate if you're bound to the nonclinical workload of primary care.

JAMES DOMDERA, MD, FAAFP

Fam Pract Manag. 2023;30(6):3

I read an article today about artificial intelligence (AI) in primary care 1 — and now I feel frustrated. Maybe writing about it will help me calm down and express what I'm thinking. (It's also a Monday, and my day in the office was super busy, so that might have something to do with my reaction, but I digress.)

The author begins with a good premise: AI-enhanced electronic health records (EHRs) could support primary care physicians. Great start. Even if you don't believe in the power of AI, anything that potentially saves us time and makes our day better is worth considering, right? The author lays a foundation of how AI can already help in the detection of diseases or complications using visual tests (chest x-rays, mammograms, retinal photos, etc.) while the things proceduralists do (cystoscopies, cardiac catheterizations, etc.) will always require a skilled human technician.

OK, so far so good, I guess. The promise of AI is heavily techy and specialist focused, so I'm waiting for the article to deliver the hook — something along the lines of “and none of that matters if your doctor can't see you, so here's how AI would help in family medicine.”

That's not what came next. This did: “Although the arrival of AI may thus be good news for specialists, primary care physicians (PCPs), who function as critical gatekeepers to these specialists, have been left in an uncomfortable limbo.”

Wait, what? We function as critical gatekeepers for specialists? Really? That's weird, because not one patient today asked me to “open the gate” and let them visit a specialist. I don't know how it's done in Los Angeles or Cambridge, but here in Akron, we manage our patients. We are not bouncers at the door, letting people into some exclusive specialist club. We are comprehensivists. 2 , 3

The author goes on to point out several theoretical examples of what AI could do for us in primary care, like scanning discharge summaries looking for diagnoses or reading a lab report to identify thrombocytopenia while cross-checking the medication list for possible causes. Great ideas. Cool technology. But is that what slows us down during the day? No.

One of the biggest time wasters in my practice is prior authorization . I recently had to get prior auth for a patient on dulaglutide who has been on it for years and now has an A1C of 6.2%, thanks in part to the medication. If AI is going to help me, it's going to have to help with that: “Hey, AI. Write a letter to the insurance company telling them to please let the patient stay on the medication they're already taking and paying for because it's working” or “Hey, AI. Call the insurance company, stay on hold for 35 minutes, and explain to them that the patient and I know exactly what we're doing.”

And then there's the patient who showed up 15 minutes late (through no fault of her own — we've all had car trouble), and now I'm at least 15 minutes behind. Can AI help with that? What about the patient who needs me to order an MRI of his back before the orthopedist will see him because “their office said the doctor doesn't have time to order tests”? And let's not forget the seven care gaps I need to close on the next patient, including documenting again why they can't be on a statin, so as not offend the SUPD police. 4

I'm probably being a little critical. The article does add to the shared pool of knowledge, includes a nice scenario about identifying a patient's ocular cicatricial pemphigoid as a possible cause of a hepatic adenoma, and suggests some ways things could be better.

But the big question to ask is not “How do we free primary care from the bonds of the EHR using AI?” but “Why are we bound to the non-clinical workload of primary care?” The EHR is just one slice of that pie. When AI can help solve the bigger problem for us in primary care, I'm all ears. Until then, it is just one more tool in the toolbox.

Harris JE. An AI-enhanced electronic health record could boost primary care productivity. JAMA . 2023;330(9):801-802.

Eidus R. Reclaiming primary care's “secret sauce.”. Fam Pract Manag . 2023;30(2):41-42.

DomDera J. Spreading the gospel of family medicine. Fam Pract Manag . 2023;30(3):4.

Measure: D12 - statin use in persons with diabetes (SUPD). In: 2023 Medicare-Medicaid Plan Performance Data Technical Notes. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 2023:20. Accessed Aug. 7, 2023. https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mmpperformancedatatechnotes.pdf

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Cryptopolitan

Pigeons as Model Problem Solvers in AI Research

Posted: November 12, 2023 | Last updated: November 12, 2023

In groundbreaking research from Ohio State University, pigeons have been showcased as unexpected paragons of problem-solving, demonstrating capabilities that align closely with artificial intelligence (AI) principles. This revelation challenges preconceived notions about the avian species and opens new avenues for AI development.

Pigeons and AI: A convergence of learning methods

The research conducted by Professor Brandon Turner and his colleague from the University of Iowa , Professor Edward Wasserman, illustrates that pigeons employ a learning method similar to the algorithms that drive modern AI when faced with complex tasks. Unlike humans, who may give up on unsolvable problems, pigeons engage in associative learning and error correction to gradually improve their performance. This strategy has shown efficiency in their experimental task completion.

In their study, Turner and Wasserman put pigeons through a series of visual categorization tasks that ranged in difficulty. These tasks required the birds to identify and categorize images, rewarding them with food pellets for correct answers. The resulting data showed that pigeons could improve their accuracy significantly, demonstrating their ability to learn and adapt without human-like generalization skills.

Redefining “Birdbrain” in the light of new research

The results of this study prompt a reevaluation of the intelligence of pigeons, traditionally underestimated in the popular vernacular. The term “birdbrain” may no longer be applicable as a pejorative, given the evidence of pigeons’ proficiency in tasks that require a learning curve similar to sophisticated AI systems. The study’s findings underline an ironic twist: the learning principles considered exclusive to human-designed AI are effectively employed by pigeons in their natural behavior.

The researchers’ work also highlights the effectiveness of brute force methods — repeated trial and error — which can be advantageous in specific scenarios, contrary to the traditional view of such approaches as primitive or inflexible. This suggests that the way pigeons learn can provide valuable insights into creating more robust AI capable of operating without the bias and rule-seeking behavior that characterizes human problem-solving.

Implications for future AI development

The Ohio State University’s study has significant implications for cognitive science and AI. By analyzing the problem-solving methods of pigeons, researchers have uncovered a surprising parallel to the functioning of machine learning models. This parallelism has potential applications in enhancing the way AI systems learn, offering a more streamlined and direct approach to problem-solving without the need for explicit programming of rules or instructions.

The research indicates that natural learning mechanisms like those seen in pigeons can be mirrored in AI to create systems that learn from their environment more organically. This helps in designing better machine learning models and contributes to a deeper understanding of cognition across species.

In essence, the study serves as a bridge between the study of natural intelligence and artificial systems, suggesting that the two may not be as different as previously thought. As AI research seeks inspiration from the natural world, the humble pigeon stands as a testament to the vast and varied landscape of cognitive ability, challenging researchers to look beyond human benchmarks in the pursuit of technological advancement.

The research from Professors Turner and Wasserman has not just transformed the view of pigeon intelligence. Still, it has also provided a model that could revolutionize AI learning algorithms, making “birdbrain” a compliment rather than an insult.

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Impact of technology on kids today (and tomorrow).

Hand a smartphone or tablet to a toddler, chances are they’ll figure out how to open it and make some in-app purchases in a matter of seconds. The technological boom means that children are becoming computer experts at a very young age. Elementary school kids have classes on computers, and many of them have been using their computers and tablets at home well before they started school. As kids are learning from a very young age about technology, they’re making huge strides as they grow in being prepared for schooling, future careers, innovation, and more. Your kids may even be able to help you with your online coursework at WGU!

However, with all this constant immersion in technology, there are some very real concerns about how this tech impacts childhood development. We are wandering into unknown territory as generations past have never had this same kind of constant technological immersion. But experts are starting to see what technology at this level can do to children and their future. Many of our WGU students are parents, and we want to help you

Children and technology: benefits and drawbacks.

Kids have access to screens all around them. Many homes have multiple television sets, computers, tablets, and phones for children to find and play with. And some children even have access to their own tablet and phone, starting at a young age. Research shows that the average 8- to 10-year-old spends almost 8 hours a day with a variety of media, and older children and teenagers spend around 11 hours per day with media. That time adds up, and young people are spending more time with technology than they do in school. 

Children and teenagers around the country aren’t cutting down their media consumption either. Some teenagers say they send thousands of text messages each month, stay up until 2 AM scrolling social media, and spend hours each day playing video games. And this has continued to get more intense over time, as more apps and options arise to distract kids.

While many people see the negative impact of such technology usage, there also pros. The real question is what can parents and teachers do to harness technology in useful ways, without letting kids become slaves to it and the negative effects it can have on their lives.

Negative effects.

Learn about the negative effects of technology on young children and teenagers.

Lower attention span. Teachers, parents, and students themselves find that technology can have a direct impact on attention spans. The immediacy of technological interactions make waiting harder for children. With technology, they aren’t forced to wait. They can have their TV show immediately, they don’t get bored because they always have something to entertain them. Technology moves fast, instant responses and instant gratification are impacting attention spans for young children and teenagers alike.

Increased risk and lack of privacy. Teenagers and children have grown up in a technological world, and the idea of privacy is somewhat foreign to them. Cybersecurity is a huge element of tech today, but it isn’t always perfect. Hackers and criminals can utilize technology to steal identities and harass children. Technology has created an increase of theft, privacy issues, harassment, and more. The IT industry is in need of cybersecurity professionals who can help make technology more safe for children, so consider getting started on your degree today.

Risk of depression. Teenagers and children who report more time using media are more likely to also report mental health issues . Depression is a key issue that is correlated with more media use. This has increased suicide rates and has lead to more youth needing mental health interventions like medicine and counseling. Experts believe time spent on social media or using technology can directly be tied to increased depression.

Obesity. Children who spend more time inside on their phones or tablets don’t spend as much time running and playing outside. They establish habits of technology use that doesn’t involve exercise. This can lead to increased obesity rates in children and young adults.

Falling grades. Many students today can see their grades take a hit when they spend more time with technology. Increasing technology usage means less time spent on homework, and the kind of developmental changes technology can bring can make students struggle with homework like reading and writing. 

Bullying. As technology flourishes, so does bullying. Children and teens are using technology and social media to bully other kids, without having to face them. Often called cyberbullying, this trend is increasing and getting more popular with even younger students. 

Social interaction issues. With more time spent on technology, younger children are having issues with face-to-face social interactions. Many seem to prefer to text or talk on social media as opposed to talking to each other in-person. Even when children spend time together, they may spend more time texting or on their phones than actually being together. 

Positive impacts.

While there are many negative impacts that can be connected to technology use, there are many positive impacts as well. 

Helping them learn . There are many educational elements of technology that can help children learn. From TV programming to apps on a smartphone or tablet, there are many things that children can be exposed to that can help develop their mind and teach them new things.

Classroom tool. Many teachers have started using technology in classrooms to help students learn. Technology helps teachers reach different kinds of learners, reinforce and expand on concepts, and motivate students in new ways. As more teachers embrace technology, new kinds of learning can take place in classrooms, and more students can be reached in ways that they relate with. 

Preparing for future tech careers. As technology continues to grow and flourish, there will be more demand for professionals ready to take on technology careers. When children start getting excited about technology and the potential it offers them from a young age, they’re more prepared for their future and the possibilities it offers. Children can start getting technological skills early that they’ll need in the future. If you’re a young student who has the technological background you need for an IT career, consider an IT degree to build your credentials and get you started on the path. 

Improved multitasking. Studies show that using technology helps young children learn how to multitask more effectively. While multitasking never allows you to fully focus on one area, students can learn how to listen and type to take notes, or other multitasking activities that can help them succeed in their future. 

Improved visual-spatial development. Spatial development can be greatly improved when technology like video games is used to help train young students and children. Practicing visual-spatial skills with video games can be a great way to improve abilities. Visual spatial skills are needed in a variety of things, like map reading, puzzles, and more.

Improved problem solving and decision making. Technology often presents children with problems , and helps them learn how to make decisions and solve those problems. Games and apps on tablets or smartphones can help give children the practice they need to find success down the road. When students wisely use technology they can reap huge rewards.

How adults can help.

Parents and adults can help children get the benefits of technology with less of the negative effects. Parents can start by ensuring children under two don’t use screens. They can also play along with children to include face-to-face interactions with technology, and make sure that tech doesn’t interfere for opportunities to play. Parents should also work to set appropriate boundaries including time limits, and model good smartphone use. Cybersecurity software and systems can help ensure that kids stay safe while using technology.

Parents and teachers can watch for quality apps that promote vocabulary, math, literacy, and science. Adults can help make sure kids learn about computer science and IT as part of technology use to give them opportunities for a bright tech future. 

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Problem Solving Activities With the Help of Technology –

Problem-solving is one of the most vital and basic skill which is required by every one of us in the 21 st century . We feel the need of this skill quite frequently in our daily lives, and especially children should develop it at quite a young age to cope up with problems in education as well as other domains, throughout their lives.

The importance of developing this skill today is such that, it is even highlighted in the Common Corestandards and has become a necessary component of any curriculum. Problem-solving directly implies decision-making, which is another important skill, not only for academics but for success in life in general.

Problem-solving comes with numerous benefits. Teaching kids the art of problem-solving has many associated advantages, like, it teaches them how to avoid conflicts in school and in their daily lives, it strengthens their empathy skills, it helps them develop positive attributions  and it is utmost required for school readiness and academic success. Generally, we would solve problems by identifying the problem, listing its possible solutions, weighing them one by one, choosing a solution to try, putting it into practice and evaluating it. Though this technique works for us most of the times, it has now become conventional and tedious. With the introduction of technology in every domain of our lives, why not introduce it to problem-solving as well. Now, when technology comes to aid us in problem-solving, it can quite revolutionize and rejuvenate the entire experience of it.

Technology supports problem-solving in a number of ways. It enables you to identify problems quicker and easier and helps you better analyze a complex problem. Technology students are especially encouraged to be innovative and to want to improve a current situation by encountering and solving problems, in an advanced way. There can be different approaches to teaching problem-solving with the aid of technology :

Students should be encouraged to concentrate not on whimsical wants or fanciful products, rather they should apply their considerable problem solving skills to attain something substantial that will improve their present situation and benefit them in the future.

They should be encouraged to find solutions from a broad range of technological and non-technological realms.

The focus and procedure of teaching problem solving using technology should be flexible. This can be directed by how the teacher helps the student select a problem and frame the context of a problem.

Students should examine situations (big and small, near and far, individual and societal) and use their creative problem solving abilities to try to plan what is best.

They should be taught to weigh short-term gains and costs with long-term gains and costs by keeping in view the educational reform, personal lifestyle changes it may lead to with the incorporation of new technology in regulation with governmental action.

The tendency in education should be to employ the term ‘problem solving’ generically to include such diverse activities as coping with marital problems and trouble-shooting electronic circuits.

It can be stated that, different types of problem situations (personal or technological) require different kinds and levels of knowledge and capability and one must be willing enough to adopt different approaches in different situations, which is eased by the inclusion of technology in problem-solving activities.

Effective and responsible national leaders and corporate executives are those with enough backbone to do what they believe is best for the nation or corporation, in spite of mass opinion. The select solutions that are holistic, sometimes more technology-dependent, other times involved with laws, communication and other social arenas. They do not blindly accept the premise that their current product or service is the single best solution to a problem. If this is the type of person a technology teacher hopes their students will become, then specific educational experiences should be designed to empower students with those independent, risk-taking abilities where the goal is what is best.

However, the best solution to a technological problem may be non- technological. Students who are practiced in considering this wider range of alternatives will be better prepared to face the demands of global citizenry than those who merely make yet another CD rack. It is critical for a technology teacher to revisit their definition and philosophy of technology, analyzing its assumptions and bias. That definition should be individually crafted by that teacher, so that it is honest and accurate, accommodates a variety of belief systems and lays the path for a wondrous technological journey for the student and teacher.

You’re invited to share your views, additional knowledge or clarify doubts on the context. So go ahead and comment, the Comment Box awaits you.

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November 11, 2023

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A new theory linking evolution and physics has scientists baffled—but is it solving a problem that doesn't exist?

by Bill Bateman, The Conversation

Hackle-raising claims

Biology and physics, putting numbers on the odds of evolution, a problem that doesn't exist.

Journal information: Nature

Provided by The Conversation

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