Resource type
Use type
Tools
Project name
Activity Overview
In this activity, students work in groups to identify the unanticipated consequences of technology and discuss those consequences.
Total Activity Time: 30 minutes
Materials:
Unanticipated consequences game (slides)
Prep:
Options for Differentiation
- Assign student group members to cognitive roles: logical thinker, social thinker, over thinker, critical thinker, decision maker
- Logical Thinker: Thinks about a reasonable cause and effect chain and suggests what might reasonably happen next.
- Social Thinker: Thinks specifically about how humans react to technology as emotional and social beings and suggests how people might react emotionally (i.e., by feeling about themselves in certain ways, having their opinions about others change, and what these feelings or changes might do to their behavior), how they might react socially (i.e., by connecting (or disconnecting) with friends, family, teachers in particular ways.
- Over Thinker: Thinks about the worst or best case scenario by getting creative, exploring options that are extremely hopeful and catastrophic. Remind this person to have fun!
- Critical Thinker: Reflects on what the others in the group are suggesting and pushes back by asking questions (e.g., asks for details, asks for explanations). This person is not judging or telling the other group members they are wrong, this person is asking the other group members to think more about their suggestions and offer more information.
- Decision Maker: Ultimately, the group needs to decide on one answer. So this person keeps a record of everyone's idea, summarizes them back to the group, facilitates a vote, counts the vote, then makes a decision about which answer should be written down, and justifies their decision to the group.
2. Assign student group members to management roles: recorder, facilitator. Ask one student to be in charge of writing the consequence and another one of leading the discussion. Students in the writing role should legibly and coherently communicate one of the group’s ideas. The facilitator should read the appropriate line out loud and survey all the members of the group to ensure all of the members of the group participate.
3. Assign all students to pairs / partners (instead of small groups) to match students who might struggle with this activity with students who might not struggle with the activity.
4. Create more time to complete the activity by removing the last two slides from the deck / the last two boxes from the worksheet.