Unit 1 Living with technology

Part One Teaching Design

第一部分 教學設計

Aims and requirements

Read some exhibition boards about the history of television and audio devices, and an article about the dangers of mobile phones

Listen to information about electronic dictionaries

Talk about how modern electronic devices affect our lives and ask for information over the telephone

Write an e-mail to give advice

Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of some modern electronic devices

Procedures

●Welcome to the unit

Step 1: Brainstorming

Nowadays, it seems that man cannot live without such electrical and electronic products as microwave ovens, refrigerators, TV sets, air conditioners, washing machines, electric fans, mobile phones, digital cameras and vacuum cleaners. Do you agree with me?

Which do you think is the most useful?

What electrical and electronic products do you use in your studies and in your life? (electronic dictionaries, computers, CD players, MP3)

Are they helpful or just make you lazier?

For reference

Electronic dictionaries give students quick responses in their reading. Students using electronic dictionaries need less time in reading than those who use paper dictionaries. Moreover, electronic dictionaries can provide correct pronunciation to students, which a paper dictionary cannot. The number of people using electronic dictionaries is increasing greatly.

As we can see, with the rapid development of electronic technology in the last few decades, electrical and electronic products have made our lives more convenient. I’d like to give you some examples.

Now, let’s have a discussion: What do you think life would be like without these products?

Step 2: Sharing information

1. Let’s enjoy some wonderful ads about some electrical and electronic products. What conclusion can you draw?

Man has made remarkable progress in this area in the last few decades.

Do you think the progress has made our lives more convenient or has made simple things more complicated?

For reference

●They are invented to meet people’s needs.

●They have improved people’s lives to some degree.

●They are developing very quickly.

●The radiation from some of the electrical and electronic devices, such as mobile phones, may be harmful to people’s health.

●When people buy new electrical of electronic devices, they throw away the old ones. This may generate large amount of waste, which is harmful to the environment.

2．Group work. Look at the four pictures at page 1. Let’s study them one by one and try to discuss some questions in group of four.

Picture 1

What kind of TV do you have at home?

What differences can you find between the TV in your home and the TV in this picture? (Early TV had antennae on top. The screen was very small and could show only black-and-white pictures. The size of the TV was small compared with modern TV, and usually it looked like a wooden box. Early TV also did not have a remote control. The control panel was on one side of the screen.)

What kind of pictures did early TV have? (Early TV had black-and-white pictures that were fuzzy.)

What other functions do you need in a modern TV?

Picture 2

What did people need when they wanted to record music in the past? (Tapes and a tape recorder.)

How did people record music in the past? (People put the tapes into the recorder, then played the tape with music at one side and pushed the play and record buttons at the other side to record the music onto the blank tape.)

Look at the picture. What devices do people need to record music now? (A computer, an MP3 player and some recording software.)

How do People record music using a computer? (People copy the music from a CD to the computer using recording software. The music will then be digitalized in and played by an MP Player. )

Picture 3

How do you look up a word in a paper dictionary? (The words in a paper dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order from ‘A’ to ‘Z’. We need to look at the first letter of the word and use it to search in the dictionary. If two words start with the same letter, we look at the second letter to decide the alphabetical order. If the first and second letters are the same, we look at the third letter and so on.)

How many of you have an electronic dictionary? How do you look up a word in such a dictionary? (We key in the word we want to look up and click the button ‘Enter’. Then the word entry will appear on the screen.)

Besides the dictionary, what else can be stored in your electronic dictionary? (There can be a calendar, a list of addresses and phone numbers, memos or a clock. More recent electronic dictionaries have large memory space and some can be used as electronic books with hundreds of books stored inside.)

Which do you prefer, an electronic book or a traditional paper book? Why?

Picture 4

How did people keep in touch in the past? (People sent letters in the past, but letters were slow, and they took from a few days to several months to arrive. Then people invented the telegraph, but the telegraph could send only short sentences. Later, people could communicate via telephone, but the disadvantage was that not everyone had a telephone. Now, people use e-mails to communicate. E-mails are quick, but people without computers and access to the Internet cannot send e-mails. Today, most people use mobile phones to keep in touch with others. The size of a mobile phone is small so people can carry one in a pocket and receive and make calls wherever they are and whenever it is.)

What recent developments have been made to mobile phones? (Now, mobile phones have more and more functions. They can send text messages. They can also be used as a digital camera to take still or even moving pictures. People can send the pictures they take to other mobile phones or e-mail addresses. Mobile phones can be connected to the Internet and people can look at web pages with mobile phones. More technologically advanced mobile phones can receive TV signals so that people can watch live TV programmes on their mobile phones.)

It is reported that many high school students bring mobile phones to their schools. Do you think high school students should use mobile phones at school? Why or why not?

Please express your ideas freely and make sure that all of you have a chance to speak.

Step 3: Discussion:

1. How have different electronic devices changed over time?

2. How have these inventions improved people’s lives?

Sample answers

1. Different electrical and electronic devices have changed a lot over time. Take mobile phones as an example. Mobile phones first appeared in 1947, and they looked much bigger than what we are using nowadays. In the past, they could only provide us with basic services like making phone calls. However, customers now want to be entertained. As a result, developments were made. Nowadays, many new types of phones are available that can connect to the Internet or be used as cameras or MP3 players.

2. These inventions have greatly improved people’s lives. Mobile phones are a good example of this. Before mobile phones came into use, people couldn’t make phone calls or receive phone calls if there was no telephone nearby. With mobile phones, people are able to make calls at any time and at any place. Today, many of us are very busy and cannot be expected to wait for a long time. Mobile phones provide us with a chance to keep in touch with others wherever we are.

For reference

Electrical and electronic goods help people save a lot of time and make our lives more convenient. However, we cannot ignore that every year electronic and electrical waste is increasing considerably, much of which will do great harm to our environment if not properly dealt with. The governments in many countries have realized the importance of solving the problem and they have been trying to find the solutions, but further attention needs to be given to the problem.

Step 4: Homework:

1. Collect more information about the development of some electronic and electrical devices.

2. Prepare the Reading part.