Ipads, Iphones, I-bots -- Oh my!

This lesson plan is based on a combination of activities featured on the Film English website

Film English

Ipads

What do you use paper for in your daily life?

Do you have an ipad or laptap? What do you use them for in your daily life?

Are there some things that you prefer to use paper for?

What are some activites that are easier to do on your ipad/laptop?

View the following French commercial regarding paper vs. ipads:

Technology Discussion Questions

Cell/ Mobile Phones

Get into partners and explain to him/her how you use your cell phone.

Example: I use my cell phone to make calls. I use my cell phone to send text messages

Then as partners you will explain to the class what you have in common.

Example: We both use our cell phones to check our facebook accounts. Neither of us use our cell phones to take pictures.

Generally speaking, how does the class use their cell phones?

Now we are going to watch a short film called iDiots by special effects company, BLR_VFX. The short film portrays themes of technology addiction, mass consumption and planned obsolescence



How did the robots use their cell phones? How does it compare with our class discussion?

Does the film have a message?

Robots 

This next section is about Robots and how their daily use may be sooner than expected. You can find a copy of this article from Breaking News English

A scientist said robots will be more intelligent than humans by 2029. The scientist's name is Ray Kurzweil. He works for Google as Director of Engineering. He is one of the world's leading experts on artificial intelligence (A.I.). Mr Kurzweil believes computers will be able to learn from experiences, just like humans. He also thinks they will be able to tell jokes and stories, and even flirt. Kurzweil's 2029 prediction is a lot sooner than many people thought. The scientist said that in 1999, many A.I. experts said it would be hundreds of years before a computer was more intelligent than a human. He said that it would not be long before computer intelligence is one billion times more powerful than the human brain.

Mr Kurzweil joked that many years ago, people thought he was a little crazy for predicting computers would be as intelligent as humans. His thinking has stayed the same but everyone else has changed the way they think. He said: "My views are not radical any more. I've actually stayed consistent. It's the rest of the world that's changing its view." He highlighted examples of high-tech things we use, see or read about every day. These things make us believe that computers have intelligence. He said people think differently now: "Because the public has seen things like Siri [the iPhone's voice-recognition technology] where you talk to a computer; they've seen the Google self-driving cars."

Discussion Questions

1. Do you agree with this article?
2. What could be the advantages of smarter robots?
3. What could be the disadvantages of smarter robots?
4. Have your ideas about technology changed over the past 10 years?

 

Humanoid Robots by Honda

In June 2013, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. conducted a demonstration testing of their humanoid robot, ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility). The goal was to verify the robot’s ability to autonomously explain its features while interacting with people.

In this demonstration testing, ASIMO autonomously explained its own features to guests. The robot communicated interactively by asking people questions to which they respond to by a show of hands. Moreover, ASIMO recognized the reactions of groups of people by using a network of sensors. Then ASIMO autonomously determined how to explain its features based on its interpretations of people's reactions which required no sequential commands from an operator.

For the complete story, view the link below:



 Autonomous Explaining Robot

This next section features a short film by Ruairí Robinson called Blinky the film depicts themes of robots, technology, anger and hostility.

Show from 0:00 - 2:00

What are the Robots three specialties?

How does the boy feel about the robot?

Show from 5:00 - 7:25

Why is the boy so angry?

What does he ask Blinky to do?

Show from 9:15 - 10:45

What happened?

What´s the film's message?

I, Robot Trailer