There has been a swift change in technology that impacts society and transforms people’s lives. In almost all parts of the world, technology plays a pivotal role in thriving, evolving, and meeting population needs. Transformations have significantly affected education systems, and Zayed University, in particular, bringing new opportunities. Today, most people’s livelihoods revolve around technology leading to the development of additional innovations to satisfy the rising public demands. While technology has brought significant benefits to people’s lives, society has become dependent on them and fails to cope with the burden of negative consequences of technological changes.
One of the primary advantages of technology is a variety of communication opportunities, allowing uniting people at a great distance. New cell phones and other gadgets have recently made communication faster and more effective. For instance, one can choose to use audio calls or messages through the available platforms. The possibility of video calls is another significant change that technological innovations have enabled in the recent past. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many places were locked, and people would communicate with their relatives and friends from wherever they were. Moreover, technology allowed students of educational institutions such as Zayed University to continue their studies while remaining safe at home. Business companies can hold zoom meetings with employees in different places without physical interaction. Technology has improved social lives and saved people’s time through video conferencing and providing more new opportunities.
Technological changes play a vital role in economic prosperity, and there has been notable economic growth due to various innovations. Countries use technology to drive different development dimensions and support their economies. Technological science supports the economic context, complementing it with multiple innovations (Grunwald, 2018). For instance, science has contributed to discoveries that accelerate the development rate. Technological innovations have led to agricultural and production mechanization, which is a significant achievement for society. Increased agricultural activities and practices have been fueled by technology, thus bringing radical changes in different parts of the world. Mechanization calls for innovations in machines and processes in various industries, replacing outdated systems and making the work easier. Science-aided technology has changed people’s lives in many ways, at the same time becoming their indispensable part.
Another significant change is improved transport systems around the world. There have been modification and production of smaller and more affordable vehicles that simplifies transportation tasks. People seek new means of transportation that are cheaper to maintain and easier to operate. Due to the increased transport, the infrastructure has improved, including telecommunication, food delivery, travel, and other aspects. Technological evolution and its benefits have dramatically shaped the modern world.
Technology has significantly changed the education sphere, in particular, learning processes. In today’s world, it is easy to access many educational materials from Google searches, podcasts, or YouTube videos where the learner acquires various skills like languages, programming, writing, stress management, and other competencies. Technology has led to the wide use of e-books, online training, and seminars, making learning faster, more efficient, and more convenient through mobile apps and computer systems (Hayes, 2019). Using online platforms allows universities to interact more effectively with their students even in limiting conditions such as a pandemic.
Considering changes in the educational system in the context of Zayed University, one can distinguish several transformations. In addition to remote learning opportunities, the university significantly accelerates its work using technology instead of outdated processes. For example, virtual databases eliminate the need to store many paper documents and facilitate searching for essential data. Moreover, as technology changes the world, new trends are reflected in the work of Zayed University. The administration adapts curricula and creates new educational programs so that students can better understand the technologies and take advantage of them. For example, the university and technology company Injazat signed a cooperation agreement under which the organization’s specialists will be students’ mentors (Cabral, 2022). Such measures can be helpful for the development of ideas and innovations and, consequently, contribute to the well-being of the country and its population.
Nevertheless, it is worth noticing that technology has negatively changed a person’s life in some ways. Remarkably, there are concerns regarding people’s physical and psychological health. Technology has given room to improve longer lifespans, but, as a result, there is a significant burden on health care, and people are deprived of the necessary medical care in many countries. Part of society suspects harmful radiation from wireless technologies, causing additional health concerns (Kostoff et al., 2020). Increased personal usage of technologies has also led to other health issues. For example, because of linking work, entertainment, and leisure to technology, a sedentary lifestyle has become a significant problem.
A decrease in social interactions, especially among young people, is another adverse consequence. The younger generation has been the most affected by technological innovations due to access to the Internet. The activities have significantly affected their social life and reduced interactions. For instance, most students use tablets while in school, and when they get home, they switch to laptops and mobile phones. All the activities they are expected to perform are available on the Internet (Savelyeva & Andrade, 2022). Due to the increased reliance on technology, young people have become victims of carelessness on different privacy issues related to technology (Turner, 2021). Furthermore, they become more conversant with technical systems that are computer generated and supported, making them miss out on practicals that require specialized skills to work.
Hope for the help of technology and the impact of its novelty has also changed human behavior. Over the energetic performance of different activities, people prefer searching for information and services like learning new languages, looking for a house, and finding partners from apps. Moreover, technology, namely the Internet, has given a new space for cruelty hidden behind anonymity, contributing to the emergence of phenomena such as cyberbullying. However, anonymity can be an illusion, and dilemmas arise about balancing the security and privacy of personal life. Therefore, human behavior has become reliant on technology too much, and at the same time, they pose new threats which have not yet been sufficiently explored.
In conclusion, the increased technological innovations have a contradictory influence on people’s lives. On the one hand, in almost all parts of the world, technology plays a critical role in society’s prosperity. Technology has led to improved communication, economic development, production mechanization, transport, and changes in education and learning. On the other hand, technology has caused health concerns and raised dilemmas regarding privacy. It has also led to a decrease in social interactions, especially among young people. Human behavior has changed from the energetic performance of different activities to the significant reliance on technology leading to dependence on them.
References
Cabral, A. R. (2022). Injazat and Zayed University team up to develop student-led EdTech solutions. The National News. Web.
Grunwald, A. (2018). Technology assessment in practice and theory. Routledge.
Hayes, S. (2019). ‘Employable posthumans’: Developing HE policies that strengthen human technological collaboration, not separation. In M. A. Peters, P. Jandrić, & A. J. Means (Eds.), Education and technological unemployment (pp. 159-174). Springer, Singapore. Web.
Kostoff, R. N., Heroux, P., Aschner, M., & Tsatsakis, A. (2020). Adverse health effects of 5G mobile networking technology under real-life conditions. Toxicology Letters, 323, 35-40. Web.
Savelyeva, T., & de Andrade, J. B. S. O. (2022). New knowledge ecology and politics of technological change. In A. M. Peters, & R. Heraud (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational innovation (pp.1-7). Springer. Web.
Turner J. (2021). The 7 main ways technology impacts your daily life. Tech.co. Web.