Computing · Year 6 · The Impact of Technology on Society · Summer Term

The Future of Technology: Innovation and Impact

Students explore emerging technologies and discuss their potential positive and negative impacts on society and daily life.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS2: Computing - Digital Literacy
• KS2: Computing - Computational Thinking

About This Topic

In this topic, Year 6 students examine emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and biotechnology. They analyze how these innovations address global challenges like climate change or healthcare access, while also predicting potential negative impacts on privacy, employment, and equality. Through structured discussions and evidence-based predictions, students develop critical evaluation skills aligned with KS2 Digital Literacy and Computational Thinking standards.

This unit encourages students to connect technology to real-world societal changes, fostering ethical reasoning and foresight. For instance, they consider how algorithms might perpetuate biases if not designed carefully, building computational thinking through decomposition of problems and pattern recognition in tech trends. These discussions prepare students for a digital future by emphasizing responsible innovation.

Active learning shines here because abstract future impacts become concrete through collaborative design challenges and role-plays. When students prototype community solutions or debate scenarios in small groups, they practice articulating trade-offs, refining ideas based on peer feedback, and gaining confidence in voicing informed opinions on technology's role in society.

Key Questions

1. Analyze how new technologies could solve current global challenges.
2. Predict unforeseen consequences of rapidly developing technologies.
3. Design a vision for how technology could improve a specific aspect of community life in the future.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the potential benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence in healthcare diagnostics.
• Evaluate the ethical considerations surrounding the use of facial recognition technology in public spaces.
• Compare the societal impacts of virtual reality in education versus entertainment.
• Design a prototype concept for a future technology that addresses a specific community need, such as reducing plastic waste.
• Predict unforeseen consequences of widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles.

Before You Start

Introduction to Digital Citizenship

Why: Students need a foundational understanding of online safety, privacy, and responsible technology use before exploring advanced impacts.

Basic Concepts of Programming

Why: Understanding simple algorithms and how computers follow instructions helps students grasp how AI and other technologies function.

Key Vocabulary

Artificial Intelligence (AI)	Computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Virtual Reality (VR)	A simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world, often experienced through headsets and interactive devices.
Biotechnology	The use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or any technological application that uses biological systems and living organisms.
Algorithm	A set of rules or instructions followed by a computer to solve a problem or complete a task, which can sometimes contain biases.
Automation	The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention, impacting jobs and efficiency.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

All new technologies bring only benefits and no downsides.

What to Teach Instead

Students often overlook unintended consequences like job displacement from automation. Group debates help them explore balanced evidence, while role-plays reveal hidden impacts through peer perspectives, building nuanced critical thinking.

Common Misconception

Future technologies will solve every global problem automatically.

What to Teach Instead

This ignores human factors like ethics and access. Design challenges prompt students to consider limitations, with collaborative prototyping showing how active iteration uncovers flaws and encourages realistic predictions.

Common Misconception

Emerging tech will not affect everyday life in noticeable ways.

What to Teach Instead

Pair discussions of personal scenarios make abstract changes tangible. Students map connections to daily routines, using evidence from current trends to predict shifts, strengthening foresight through shared examples.

Active Learning Ideas

Debate Carousel: Tech Pros and Cons

Divide the class into small groups and assign emerging technologies like AI or drones. Each group prepares two-minute arguments for positive and negative impacts, then rotates to new stations to respond to others' points. Conclude with a whole-class vote on balanced views.

45 min·Small Groups

Future Tech Design Challenge

Students work in pairs to identify a community problem, such as traffic congestion, and sketch a technology solution with predicted impacts. They present prototypes using simple materials and receive feedback on feasibility and ethics from the class.

50 min·Pairs

Scenario Role-Play Simulations

In small groups, students act out future scenarios where a new technology launches, assigning roles like citizen, developer, and policymaker. They improvise dialogues on benefits and risks, then debrief to list real-world predictions.

35 min·Small Groups

Impact Mapping Gallery Walk

Individuals create mind maps of one technology's societal effects, posting them around the room. The class walks the gallery, adding sticky notes with agreements or challenges, followed by paired discussions to refine maps.

40 min·Individual

Real-World Connections

• Companies like DeepMind are using AI to develop new drugs and treatments, aiming to solve complex health challenges and improve patient outcomes.
• The development of self-driving cars by companies such as Waymo and Tesla raises questions about job displacement for professional drivers and the safety regulations needed for public roads.
• The use of VR in surgical training allows medical students to practice complex procedures in a risk-free environment before operating on real patients.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'If AI can diagnose illnesses more accurately than doctors, what are the potential benefits and risks for patients and the healthcare system?' Encourage students to consider accuracy, cost, patient trust, and the role of human doctors.

Exit Ticket

Ask students to write down one emerging technology discussed. Then, they should list one positive impact and one negative impact this technology might have on their community in the next 20 years.

Quick Check

Present students with a short scenario, e.g., 'A city is considering using AI-powered cameras to monitor traffic and identify potential crimes.' Ask students to identify one potential benefit and one potential ethical concern related to this technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

What emerging technologies should Year 6 students study for impacts?

Focus on accessible examples like AI for healthcare diagnostics, virtual reality for education, smart cities for sustainability, and biotech for food production. Use short videos and infographics to illustrate real applications, then guide students to research one via safe search tools, noting two positives and two risks each.

How can active learning help students grasp technology's future impacts?

Active methods like role-plays and design sprints make predictions experiential. Students debate in groups, prototype ideas, and critique peers, which reveals biases and trade-offs faster than lectures. This builds ownership, with 80% of students in trials showing deeper ethical awareness through tangible outcomes.

How to link this topic to UK National Curriculum Computing standards?

Aligns with KS2 Digital Literacy by evaluating tech use safely and Computational Thinking via pattern spotting in trends and algorithmic ethics. Assessments like impact predictions demonstrate decomposition of complex systems, preparing for GCSE digital literacy.

What assessment ideas work for technology impact discussions?

Use rubrics for group debates scoring evidence use and balance, or student-led vision boards with annotated predictions. Portfolios of prototypes track progression in foresight, with self-reflections on how discussions changed views, ensuring standards-aligned evidence.