Unit 3 Lab 5 Teacher Guide

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:

Prepare

Lab Pages

Page 1: Past and Future.
- 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.
- Tips:
  - Give students 4 minutes to brainstorm each item, and then 8 minutes to groups share with class, with flexibility at the end.
  - Here are some resources you can recommend your students:
    - Occupational Outlook Handbook (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Under "select occupations by", choose "growth rate (projected)" to see what jobs are declining and growing.
    - Future Jobs (University of Kent)
    - "How will AI impact jobs?" (TechRepublic). Interesting quote at the end: "Maybe we need to let go of the obsession that we all need jobs."
  - 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?
Page 2: Working Conditions.
- 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.
- 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.
  - 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.
Page 3: Working Remotely.
Mary to review BH additions here. --MF, 6/27/21
- 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.
- 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.
  - 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.
    - 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.
  - 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:
    - Telemedicine
      - Virtual doctors treat real patients at remote digital clinics (Fox News)
      - This Doctor Is Using Telemedicine to Treat Syrian Refugees (Fast Company)
      - The surgeon who operates from 400km away (BBC)
      - About monitoring devices: Doctors monitor patients remotely via smartphones and fitness trackers This article addresses concerns such as privacy; others mention the danger of hacking into devices.
      - This service isn't just for remote areas: The doctor is online: Remote video medical exams gain popularity This article mentions the downside of the possibility of over-prescribing medications; other articles mention downsides like the depersonalization of medicine when doctors and patients have less interaction.
    - Agriculture
      - Addressing challenges in Africa: Africa: The Digital Technology Cloud Hangs Over Every African Farm (AllAfrica.com)
      - Contributing to and benefiting from research: Direct line to research delivers fresh ideas to farmers (SciDev.net)
      - Examples from Africa: Agricultural app brings smart farming to Kenya's rural poor (Philanthropy Age) or New apps transforming remote parts of Africa (Washington Post)
      - Example from Asia: Technology Drives Sustainable Agricultural Development in China (WorldBank)
      - Example from the US: MicaSense raises $7.4M from Parrot to develop new drone technology for agriculture industry (GeekWire)
      - Interesting section from a site about ICT in agriculture, though it's a lot of reading for students. Includes lots of interesting cases from different countries: Key Benefits and Challenges Related to Mobile Phones and Agricultural Livelihoods
    - Personal Outsourcing
      - Personal Assistants on Call, Just Not in the Next Office (NY Times)
      - The following articles are about Mechanical Turk. May spark an interesting discussion about what is considered exploitation of workers versus providing opportunity.
        
        ''I make $1.45 a week and I love it'' (Salon.com)
        
        How Crowdworkers Became the Ghosts in the Digital Machine (thenation.com)
        
        The Ladies Vanish (thenewinquiry.com) - Feminist view
        
        The Internet's hidden science factory (PBS Newshour) - About researchers who use the site and reliability of surveys given here.
        
        My gruelling day as an Amazon Mechanical Turk - This one was well written and entertaining, but had inappropriate language for school

Lab 5: Computers and Work

Pacing:

Prepare

Lab Pages

Solutions

Correlation with 2020 AP CS Principles Framework

Computational Thinking Practices: Skills

Learning Objectives:

Essential Knowledge: