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Lesson 3.3: The Third Wave: The Information/Knowledge Age

The document discusses the Third Wave of technological development, known as the Information/Knowledge Age. It describes how technology has evolved from mobile phones gaining additional functions to computers becoming common household items. While this wave has increased access to information and empowered learners, it has also widened gaps between users and non-users of digital technologies. The wave is characterized by differentiation, customization, and flexible work schedules, though it also places greater demands on individuals to reach their full potential.

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Faith Prachaya
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57 views

Lesson 3.3: The Third Wave: The Information/Knowledge Age

The document discusses the Third Wave of technological development, known as the Information/Knowledge Age. It describes how technology has evolved from mobile phones gaining additional functions to computers becoming common household items. While this wave has increased access to information and empowered learners, it has also widened gaps between users and non-users of digital technologies. The wave is characterized by differentiation, customization, and flexible work schedules, though it also places greater demands on individuals to reach their full potential.

Uploaded by

Faith Prachaya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 3.

3: The Third Wave: The Information/Knowledge Age

Lesson Summary
The Third Wave that defines the world you are in is indeed, amazing. However, the digital world
also widens the gap between the user and non-user.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

1. identify the technology that defines the Third Wave, and


2. critique its effects on both the environment and the social structure.

Motivation Question

Since you are reading this printed instructional material, can you say you are an
outcast of the information age, why?

Discussion
How has technology evolved? How has this affected our relationships with each other and with
the environment? Transitions in the third wave include but are not limited to the integration of
more functions into fewer parts, like in your cell phone. Look at the transition of the mobile
phone. It is not anymore about the size, but the built-in functions, from the primary call and text
function to so much more. How about your cell phone? What can it do?
While the second wave started the massification & standardization, it was differentiation and
customization in the 3rd wave. Again, look at your cell phone. Your mother might have bought a
cp for you with the same brand. But as of now, do they still look exactly alike? How about the
theme, casing, profile picture? If you remember, the industrial revolution was associated with
quality control, strict compliance to standard 8:00-5:00 office time. At this time, there exists a
flexible time for working. You have heard of the graveyard shift, right? In the education sector,
multiple intelligence, multitasking, higher educational attainment, and competencies are
recognized and valued. One is pushed to the limit, realize your potential. But is this healthy or
unhealthy? The term prosumer was coined. The producers are also the consumer, and vice
versa. Can you think of an example? How about your selfie? Yes, you produce, and you view it,
right? This generation has empowered learners. Producers exploit the innate learning and
explorative nature of their customers. When computers were introduced to the common people,
those in the working sectors had to learn on their own, for computers were not a thing in their
formative to formal education years. Several books enticed amateurs in computers by being
captioned like “do it yourself” and “101 for dummies”. Have you used one? How about you, what
made you explore computer apps? Is it the promise that it is “user friendly”? How about the help
section?
How far have we come? Which of these apps can you recognize (Fig. 3.2)? Were these introduced
in your subjects, or you stumbled upon them on your own? How did you learn of their functions?
Despite being an engineer and the co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, Ken Olsen said,
“there is no reason for any individual to have a computer at home”. Bill Gates himself once
opined, “640 kb ought to be enough for anybody”. Do you know that there was a time that
notification in a cp inbox would be “your inbox is full” and you need to erase messages or else,
you cannot receive any text? Can you imagine reading such a message while you are in a chat
mode? How about your gallery? How often do you erase pictures to spare phone memory?

Figure 3.2. The common social media logos (retrieved from https://source44.net/v2019/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/social-media-logos-1200x600.png

By this time, you must appreciate that the reality you live with was not even considered in the
past, while some were dreams turned into reality. Through S&T, capabilities are significantly
enhanced to minimize the limitations! However, every generation believes that the best is on
hand. Let me remind you that the society that you belong to demands revolutionary
technologies. The 3rd wave indeed brings with it a genuinely new way of life, but wait till you
meet the 4th wave, the “ATM”. Meanwhile, in the energy sector, diversified, renewable energy
sources are explored as calculations show the imminent end of the use of coal, a finite
resource, pollutant, and now deemed as among the factors of climate change. The strict
protocols for quality control, the division of labor scheme in the assembly line had evolved into
other approaches. Manufacturing operated 24/7. Non-nuclear families were emerging and
recognized, radically changing schools and corporations of the future, adaptive in nature or
tailored for the current demands. This civilization writes a new code of behavior for us and
carries beyond standardization, synchronization and centralization beyond the concentration of
energy, money, and power. But what happened? There are those civilizations bold enough to
have toppled bureaucracies, reduce the role of the nation-state, and give rise to semi-
autonomous economies in a post-imperialist world. It requires governments that are simpler,
more effective, yet more democratic, and it is a civilization with its own distinctive world
outlook, its own ways of dealing with time, space, logic, and causality. Can you relate these to
the fall of the USSR?
By this time, you should realize that some technologies became obsolete, while those that still
exist for their functions are still relevant; there are overlaps (Fig. 3.3). Look at fire, among those
that made life easier in the agricultural revolution. The ability to make an open fire is considered
a life skill even to date. Can you cook using an open fire when you ran out of LPG or electricity to
power your induction stove?

Figure 3. 1. The overlaps of the waves of technology, agriculture to the information age
(http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971209/graph.gif)

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