Unit 1 Question:To What Extent Does our

Health Depend on Technology?

Area of Interaction (AOI):Health and Social

EducationSignificant Concept:

Our health is only as good as our health service

First Task

“Complete your introduction to the Unit. Use the slides on the previous PowerPoint that list the information you need to know to give you ideas of what to write about. This work needs to be finished for homework, for this time next week.”

This will have to be my first task; the deadline for it is Friday the 27th of September.

Introduction:

In this first unit of the year, I will have to research on some of the modern technologies which are being used in our days. These technologies will not simply have to be the ones we use for pleasure. Instead, they have to be related to our health. In fact the unit question I will have to focalize on is: “To What Extent does our Health Depend on Technology?” I find this a very interesting question because it can be analyzed under different perspectives. For example when I look at this question, the first thing that pops into my mind is the technologies used to cure heart malfunctioning problems. I already know one basic technology that I could research on because of personal experience. Furthermore, I know that I will have some problems while researching and investigating because some of the equipment that I am going to be investigating on could be difficult to use in my final animation.

Most of them are going to be very complex pieces of equipment, and I will have to discover in more detail what they are. My final product for this first unit of the year will be an animated video of my own production. This animation will have to based on my unit question (To what extent does our health depend on technology?). I have some clear ideas on what I will have to do in order to achieve the highest grade as possible. In fact, I want to keep working hard so that I can get a 7 A like last year. In order to have the highest mark as possible I know that I have to work very hard, maybe even harder than last year; I will have to gather a lot of different information that will help me produce the final product and also I will have to reflect on every decision I make. I was asking myself: what will my animation have to have? And what should I include in it? These types of question will help me create a clearer idea on how to design my final product. I do not think that I should think about my product in this introduction section, but instead, I will have a more detailed analysis on it in my research that will come immediately after this first task. A question that I should have answered now is: What do I want to achieve during this unit?

1. I want to understand how to use different programs on the computer,

2. One of my aims is to understand how much health can depend on technology,

3. Lastly, I want to research on how much we depend on technology now,

4. Also, how it can be so essential to us under so many aspects.

To end my introduction I have to talk about the Area of Interaction (AOI). This unit is seen under the “Health and Social Education” point of view. I think it is obvious of why, the whole final product is based on the new technologies related to our health. Furthermore, during my entire research I will have to state how the technologies will help my community and me. I already know that they bring a lot of new advantages to old machines that were used in the past. People are now healthier because of all the inventions that can help doctors to cure the people who need specific and extremely delicate cures. The research question will guide me through my research and investigation. I want to look at the social experiences of people who have had technologies implanted in their bodies to help them live better. I will have two interviews to specific people I know, this will give me an idea on what it is like now compared to what it was like before these new technologies even existed. This is how it relates both to me and to the society that surrounds me.

Deciding on my guiding question:

1. What are some of the advantages/benefits of the technology I am basing my product on? √

2. What exactly do I have to create as a final product? √

3. What software will I need to use in order to complete my tasks? √

4. What do I need to do in order to create a high standard product?

5. Where will I get my information from? Which sources will I use? √

6. How can I make my product effective? How will it be interesting for the reader?

7. What is my aim for this unit of work? √

8. What is my specific audience? Who am I aiming for? √

9. Why do I have to create a video or an animation? √

My new task consists in answering my research questions, which are all of the ones listed above. In order to do this I will have to start and complete some stages of my research process. I will use different web sites and mainly focus my research on what technologies I will include in my video or animation. For now, I think I will research more on the pacemaker, I find this very interesting because I already have an idea for my product. Because I am starting a new project I have to think about who my target audience is going to be. I want to aim the product at young teenagers from Grade 7 to 9. This will affect how my product will be because I will have to have specific elements that the audience will be interested in. For more information on this, check the document below, which is called the “Design Specification.” I have thought about it a lot and I think I have decided to make an animation using the same software we have used last year which is called: “Macromedia Dreamweaver.” I want to use this specific program because it will be easier to know all the functions that I will now be able to use. This is all thanks to last year’s unit based specifically on learning how to use the functions available. My animation will have multiple slides showing a heart beating. From this heart there will be a little “door” which will be opened by something that looks like a pacemaker. This technology will then talk directly to the audience. I think it’s going to be very original and interesting for the person who looks.

Considering my research, the main advantages, and benefits, of the pacemaker are these:

1. By regulating the heart’s rhythm, a pacemaker can often eliminate the symptoms of bradycardia.

2. This means individuals often have more energy and less shortness of breath. However, a pacemaker is not a cure. It will not prevent or stop heart disease, nor will it prevent heart attacks.

The two benefits above are the main one’s I have found, and are the one’s I want to base my product on. The message of my animation will be: How can technology improve our health.

A very interesting website I found was: http://www.healthcentral.com/encyclopedia/408/289.html?ic=506048

In order to conclude my specific research on pacemaker’s here is a definition I found that gave me a very good idea of what it was:

“Since their introduction in the 1960s, pacemakers have steadily shrunk in size and grown in sophistication, yet their basic function remains the same. The job of the pacemaker is to maintain a safe heart rate by delivering to the pumping chambers appropriately timed electrical impulses that replace the heart's normal rhythmic pulses.

The device designed to perform this life-sustaining role consists of a power source the size of a silver dollar (containing the battery), and control circuits, wires or "leads" that connect the power source to the chambers of the heart. The leads are placed in contact with the right atrium or the right ventricle, or both. They allow the pacemaker to sense and stimulate in various combinations, depending on where the pacing is required.”

As I already did, most of my general information will be gotten from the internet, this is because I think there are more sites which explain information in a simple way more than books. Even because, web sites display information in a more organized way. This would mean that I could find my information, the one I am interested in, in a shorter period of time. Furthermore I also want to include an interview with my grandfather which has had a surgery operation in order to install a pacemaker. I want to ask him about what it was like, if he felt any differences and also what has changed in the pacemaker’s that they used in his times and the one’s they use now days.

The last two guiding questions I will have to answer should be part of my specification. Right now, I will briefly explain five of the main points. Below, you will find a restricted answer to the question: “How will my product be interesting enough for my target audience”:

1. The colors must be light and attractive for young people. I will have to use colors such as: light blue, light red, and probably pink and grey. Something I have to pay attention to is the contrast between the colors. I want to attract the reader but if he’s finding hard to read what the animation says, he will get bored and my animation will not be a success at all.

2. FINISH THIS PART

In order to achieve the highest grade as possible, I will have to make sure that I complete every task that is asked in the two photos above. As you can see from the text in the above pages, I have answered to the questions and tried to modify them by writing what was needed in my own words. Following what I needed to do and what the actual unit asked to do. I am now ready to start on my Design brief part. Mr.Mariani has given the class a precise deadline where we will have to hand everything in. It’s on the 4 th

of November, and I think it’s not going to be a problem at all because I will have a lot of time in order to finish and check everything done so far. For now I’m only missing:

1. Design Brief,2. Design Specification,3. Test plan,4. Evaluation of performance so far.

Design Brief

In this part of my project I will have to state five different things, as you can clearly see from the list below:

1. Why have I decided to do this particular animation?2. What am I going to do? (Explained in a lot of detail of course)3. What am I going to need to do in order to succeed in this unit?4. What information will I have to gather? (Will I have to do any interviews? Etc.)5. Where am I going to do the work? (Only at school? Homework?) 6. Who will help me during this unit? Who will guide me throughout the work?7. When will I have to hand in my final piece of work? (Do I have any deadlines)

I will have to answer these questions and analyze my thoughts critically in order to understand whether I will have to do further research, whether I have to produce any further information (like interviews and tables etc.).

FINISH THIS PART – Answer questions above