Normanby Hall - Mon 10 March 2014

On Monday 10 March 2014 we went on a journey of discovery to Normanby Hall near Scunthorpe.                                                                       

During the journey & on arrival we discussed the sort of things that are in our environment & that relate to ICT in some way.

These are the things we discovered.

Things that are visible signs of technology:

• Traffic lights - controlled by the council highways department & operated by computers & sensors. 
• Street lights - have sensors in them that detect dawn & dusk & turn them on & off. They are old technology but new technology is having an impact by the design being adjusted to cut light pollution & to save energy.
• Road signs - high quality images for drivers & other road users to navigate by - nowadays drivers also navigate by SatNav, a computer device specially made for that purpose and mounted on the dashboard or windscreen of a vehicle. 
• Speed cameras - a policing tool. These record the speed of vehicles approaching them and produce an image which shows the speed and other details for offending drivers.  This is used in evidence for prosecutions.
• Surveillance cameras - a policing tool which are used to catch criminals but also to ensure the safety of town centre users. 
• Wind turbines - a visible sign of new technology being used for power generation. These are becoming very popular visible signs of electricity production and they are meant to produce a renewable form of energy.  Sometimes they are unpopular with locals & have been the source of protests.
• Satellite dishes - visible signs of technology being used in the home for TV & radio. 
• Telephone wires - carry telephone, broadband & TV data. 
• Car park meter - prints a ticket according to price selected for time of the stay. Car park meters sometimes have information to enable drivers to pay by phone if they don't have cash to put in the machine.

DISCUSSION POINT

1. Think about how many of the above items are new technology & how many we had 10 years ago.
2. Discuss the changes to our landscape because of them.
3. Is our environment a better place because of them?  
4. If not, think of the reasons why?

Other things we mentioned during our outing that use technology & affect our environment. 

Minibus DAB radio - Digital Audio Broadcasting

Minibus engine management system - a computer chip that controls fuel consumption & emissions & other automatic features. 

Cars are made by robots in an automated factory.

Remote control gates

Remote control garage doors

Map of the park - a large scale image produced on a commercial printer which gives information to visitors to the park.

Information point - published documents. Q. What type of office software can publish leaflets & flyers? A. Publisher & Word Processor.

Supermarket tills - now have barcode scanning for purchases and shoppers can use these for self service.  The tills even talk to shoppers to give instructions.

Digital cameras

Mobile phones - Smart phones that can access the Internet & send & receive email. mobile phones also operate as digital cameras.

Air conditioning unit - the outlet of which was causing a noise to come from a building. These can be operated by a remote control device.

Path laying machine - not there but a new path has been laid through the woods which is wheelchair friendly. 

DISCUSSION POINT

Think about the technology used in the above items.

Discuss it's use and consider any alternatives.  

In our future sessions we will discuss aspects of all these things & expand on how & why they use technology.