1st Lesson

Initially, I did not have much clue about what this topic was really all about. From the required readings and video "Guns, Germs & Steel", I had a very brief understanding that this module was probably just like what the name stated, the interlink between technology and world change. Or simply put, globalization. Hence, like the most of us, I stepped into the first TWC class with an open mind.

During the introduction of my fellow peers, I noticed that most of us were for change, only if it would bring positive benefits. However, in reality, we have seen some of the negative impacts, for example- pollution causing detrimental damage to the environment. On the other hand, like in one of the discussion topics, change has become something inevitable in our daily lives. 

The facts in Youtube video clip "Shift Happens" that was shown in class left a deep impression on me. I am sure most of us were definitely aware of facts like China is the up and rising country in the global arena and we are living in a fact-paced society. However, it is the extent of these facts that really surprised me. For example, as quoted in the video- "25% of the China's population with the highest IQs is greater than the total population in North America" and the estimation of more than 1.5 exabytes of new information will be generated yearly. 

The other video "Guns, Germs & Steel" held an important question of inequality with Yali asking Diamond "Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans, have so little?" There is so much to the answer as reasons could be due to geographical location, availability of resources and more. In one of the required readings- "Timeline of Time", it was fascinating to see the list of milestones of what have been discovered and invented, starting from the existence of mankind. 

In fact, I found this module to be quite brain-stimulating. It made us consider of how the lives of human race have transformed significantly over the years and how things would change in time to come. Now, with advanced technology and knowledge, the focus should be on how to improve lives and make the world a better place to live in.  

Not only that, the active discussion at the Facebook's group was also intriguing. I saw many interesting articles and videos contributed by the Professor and peers. I also thought that commenting on the postings was a good way to air our differing views to have more perspectives on the issue. In my opinion, this was better than using the discussion forum on Elearn!

For this lesson, I would rate 7/10. It would have been even better if we could have more time to discuss about the video- "Guns, Germs & Steel" of Jared Diamond's discoveries. 

Looking forward to the next class! (: