Lab 5: Computers and Work
Students will explore two main questions about the effect of computing on work. First, what jobs will be available to them? Will they be better or worse off than their parents? They also discuss whether there are jobs that computers will or should never do.
Second, how is technology changing the conditions of work? For example, technology connects people in new ways, which provides opportunities to be flexible about the time and location of work, but also has implications for the relationship between employers and employees and how responsible employers are or should be for the well-being of their employees.
Pacing:
The 3 lab pages could be split across 2–4 days (
70–140 minutes). Expected times to complete follow:
Prepare
- There are many links in the materials below since many of the activities in this lab ask students to do their own online research about different topics. The links to the articles below can be shared with students, but are mostly provided to give you a sense of the kinds of articles students might come across.
Lab Pages
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Page 1: Past and Future.
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Learning Goals:
- Consider how jobs have changed over the years and continue to change.
- Think about and discuss ways one might prepare for jobs of the future that may not exist yet.
- Grapple with the ethics of whether there are jobs that computers should not be allowed to do.
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Tips:
- Give students 4 minutes to brainstorm each item, and then 8 minutes to groups share with class, with flexibility at the end.
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Here are some resources you can recommend your students:
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Once students have brainstormed responses, have a discussion:
- What do you study/do to prepare for a job that doesn't exist yet?
- What are some jobs that you think cannot (and will not ever) be automated?
- How do your own career interests and plans line up with our discussion today? (Note the goal is not to incite fear or anxiety, but to perhaps think differently about work.)
- As you think about the jobs of the future, how do they compare to the jobs of the past and present? Better or worse? More or less interesting? More or less satisfying? More or less meaningful?
- The questions so far have been about how you as an individual can affect your career. But what if there just aren't enough good jobs to go around? What can your generation do collectively to improve the situation? Should governments or businesses be held responsible for the provision of jobs? Should some of the benefits of automation go to workers, e.g., in the form of a shorter work week for the same pay?
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Page 2: Working Conditions.
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Learning Goals:
- Consider the different ways technology is used in the workplace, such as monitoring workers or expanding opportunities.
- Understand the issues surrounding on-demand companies and the status of their workers as independent contractors.
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Tips:
- Some research may need to be done prior to class (previous day or at home), or you might assign different groups different parts of research. Judge the level of interest and relevance to your students, and extend or contract as needed.
- Examples of ways that technology has affected working conditions:
- The canonical example is people who take phone calls from customers at big companies (including Directory Assistance operators at the phone company). Their workstations collect information about how long it takes each worker to handle a call, on average, and also on how well the customer rates the worker. Managers see all this information in real time and can yell at slow or surly workers.
- Some employers put key-card locks on the rest rooms, so their computers can collect information on who takes a lot of bathroom breaks.
- Uber competes with licensed taxis, without having to follow the licensing rules; some cities have banned them for this reason. Uber drivers are considered independent contractors, so Uber doesn't have to provide health insurance or unemployment compensation, and yet arguably Uber determines their conditions of work, so they should be employees. (More below.)
- It is possible to use computers in ways that improve the conditions of work. Scandinavian countries, in which, by law, unions must be represented on corporate boards of directors, have experimented along these lines. The idea is to set up computer systems that give the worker the right information at the right time, without telling the worker what to do.
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These interesting scenarios are directly quoted from Littler.com, which holds trainings around issues of technology and working conditions:
- An employee embarrasses herself on social media (Facebook or Twitter) and is now the number one topic of conversation - and distraction - among other employees. What can you do?
- Should supervisors "friend" subordinates on social media? Or does that potentially give the employer too much involvement in and knowledge of the employee's private life?
- Exactly what can an employee say about his company online? What control can the employer exercise?
- Can employers prohibit employees from engaging in political or religious activities using company electronic resources? What if employees are doing it on a company-provided device, but on their own time?
- If you use technology such as video cameras in work areas and GPS tracking devices in company vehicles to monitor and/or control behavior, how will this likely impact your employees - and is it worth it?
- Should employees be prohibited from using technology like smartphones to videotape or record workplace interactions with coworkers or supervisors?
- Question 2 is about the on-demand economy. Students can consider the social implications of one of the features of these companies, which is their model of not hiring employees, but rather independent contractors. This has implications for the workers themselves, who don't get health insurance or other benefits that generally come with steady employment, and also for competing companies who do pay benefits. One article warns that no one is immune from the effects of on-demand companies; in every field, technology is making it easier to connect with other people that will do certain aspects of every job for less money, and this has far-reaching implications (for example, companies might generally find that they no longer have any incentive to pay benefits for their workers). For students, this discussion may be approached from the perspective of users of these services or of potential workers for these companies. The last prompt also asks students to consider what kinds of ideas they may have for forming an on-demand company. Theoretically, no idea is too small, although you might tell students about kozmo.com, a company in the 1990s that was based on delivering ice cream and videos that had short-lived success: In Kozmo.com's Failure, Lessons for Same-Day Delivery (Wall Street Journal blog)
- The status of "gig economy" workers is the subject of current legislation efforts. As we write this in 2019, California has just required companies like Uber to treat drivers as employees. The companies are fighting to overturn this law before it takes effect. We aren't linking to news stories because they'll certainly be outdated quickly, but you should search for current stories.
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Page 3: Working Remotely.
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Learning Goals:
- Consider how computers affect the distribution of jobs among communities by enabling long-distance work.
- Explore the different ways that technology enables long-distance working relationships.
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Tips:
- Again, this involves both research information and discussion. Depending on what research can be done outside of class, the length of time needed can vary greatly.
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Question 1 asks students to consider reasons that a boss would or wouldn't want their employees to telecommute. By considering this question from an employer's point of view, hopefully students can consider this issue beyond their own personal reasons for wanting to telecommute. Some sample responses:
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For not wanting employees to telecommute:
- Potentially harder to monitor their behavior (i.e. make sure they are actually working)
- Employees feel less like part of a ''team'' at work, affecting workplace dynamics
- Some jobs just aren't amenable to telecommuting
- People might feel less loyal to the company
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For benefits of telecommuting:
- Can hire more qualified workers by being able to search a wider applicant pool
- Allows people to work who would have a hard time coming into an office, such as those with children or those who have limited mobility
- People might be more productive in a setting they choose instead of in an office, where they might be distracted
- Saves money by not needing to provide employees with a desk/office space
- For students who find it difficult to think of the workplace, you might adapt the prompt to ask students to think of the idea of ''telecommuting'' to school, and think of reasons that teachers may or may not like this for their students.
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Question 2 provides three examples of ''working remotely'' that students can read more about online. One goal for this problem is to have students think more broadly about global implications and how issues of technology can be closely tied to issues of equality and economic justice. You might have students in small groups who research a topic together then present to the class, or perhaps have the entire class look at one area and discuss together. Here are some resources:
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Telemedicine
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Agriculture
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Personal Outsourcing
BRIAN
Do we need any of this commented out content? --MF, 6/13/19
I deleted some of it that duplicated stuff above, but some points are different and I didn't delete them.
Solutions
Correlation with 2020 AP CS Principles Framework
Computational Thinking Practices: Skills
- 5.C: Describe the impact of a computing innovation.
Learning Objectives:
- IOC-1.A: Explain how an effect of a computing innovation can be both beneficial and harmful. (5.C)
Essential Knowledge:
- IOC-1.A.2: The way people complete tasks often changes to incorporate new computing innovations.