Technology is everywhere and like living, breathing things technology attaches itself to us as unyielding as beads of sweat clinging to your forehead or articles of clothing sticking to your skin during a hot Miami summer. The normalcy of carrying a phone around like a second limb has become so embedded into our society that it could even be said that not having this device (a cell phone for example) on you is abnormal.
We absorb the information technology supplies us with, it becomes food for our curious, content-driven minds. On a daily basis we are bombarded with endless choices, images, thoughts and ideas that leave us craving like an addict on his last pack of smokes. Information, information, information. However well you know how to Google search, upload an image or edit a video do you know the mechanics behind the programs you are running or the technologies you preciously value?
According to Internetlivestats.com over 86.75% of Americans have internet. This number grows 7% each year. With all these people who have access to what many would say is the greatest technology to be invented how many people know how Google searches their terms?
Pewinternet.com did a survey in January 2014 says that 90% of all American adults own a cell phone and 58% of people own smartphones. How many people know how to assemble a smartphone? Or how to program the apps that they play on Android or iOS?
10.6% of undergraduates in American pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. And, though there are over 42,000 high schools in the United States only around 2,100 of these are certified to teach AP computer science courses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the percent change in employment of Computer Programmers in the USA from 2012-2022 was at 11%. There are around 11 million professional software developers in the world and Asia-Pacific accounts for over 37% of them whereas North and South America accounted for only 32%.
The British government recently implemented a programming curriculum in all of its primary and secondary schools that will be carried out by September. In April, 2014 River Valley Middle School announced they would be offering students courses on so that they can better understand and adapt to a life that caters to the technology savvy. The Canadian middle school has introduced a programming language developed at MIT called Scratch that allows students to create games and interactive stories. A social networking site for programmers did a study showing that Chinese programmers outsources American programmers in logic and math by 20%.
How is it that Americans have more access to technology than most others countries in the world yet the majority of Americans only utilize this technology for self-serving purposes? We are a country whose so far built its image on being powerful but how powerful can America be when most of its people don’t fully understand one of the most powerful tools in history?
Not all Americans are like this so I’ll try not to generalize too much; however, the majority is what matters because the majority is capable of changing the tide. In order to grow as a country we should encourage people to learn more about the products they regularly use. And, until we do so America will be left behind by countries who implement these in their curriculum.
“Our enthusiasm for digital technology about which we have little understanding and over which we have little control leads us not toward greater agency, but toward less…We have surrendered the unfolding of a new technological age to a small elite who have seized the capability on offer. But while Renaissance kings maintained their monopoly over the printing press by force, today’s elite is depending on little more than our own disinterest.”
― Douglas Rushkoff, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age
About Post Author
