Lesson Overview

Shakespeare once said “time is a thief” and many literary artist have gone on to legitimize this statement. Society has always recognized time as a precious resource and has utilized technology in every civilization since the beginning of time to try and use their time wisely. With the desire to manage time was also the desire to manipulate the environment. In this lesson, you will examine how invention and innovation from different applications were influenced by the time and environment.

Learning Outcomes:

Develop an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology. (ITEA 1)

• The nature and development of technological knowledge and processes are functions of the setting (1-J)
• The rate of technological development and diffusion is increasing rapidly (1-K)
• Inventions and innovations are the result of specific, goal-directed research (1-L)
• Most development of technologies these days is driven by the profit motive and the market (1-M)

Getting Started

To begin this lesson, view this quick sampling of technological development over the past 100 years and consider the following questions:

• How has technology influenced and been influenced by setting and financial markets?
• How has the pace of technological development changed over the past 100 years?