Technology Unit Lesson Plans

We decided to create a nine week unit plan based on texts that pertain to technology and its impact on the self and society. Within the next few pages, there are detailed lesson plans for two weeks of the unit using George Orwell's 1984 as a dominant text. (We used the Signet Classic series text of 1984 to cite pages in the plans.) In addition to ten days of tentative plans, we have also included a fully developed day that we have taught in a classroom setting.

The unit was designed for college-bound seniors in a primarily white middle-class school district; however, it can be adapted for any school district. We have tried to include as many diverse texts and materials as possible to demonstrate the impact of technology in a variety of settings.

The following is a brief overview of our unit. Click on a page corresponding to the appropriate day to view that specific day's lesson, objectives, and rationale.

Day One: Introduction to Two Week Unit

Day Two: Technology--Friend and Enemy

Day Three: The Altering of History Through Technology

Day Four: Hope Amidst Despair

Day Five: Manipulation of the Mind

Day Six: Individualism vs. Collectivism

Day Seven: Freedom Through Literature

Day Eight: Government Intrusion Through Technology

Day Nine: The Consequences of Technology in Society

Day Ten: The Pro's and Con's of Technology--Class Debate

To see a list of teacher sources for the two week plan, click here. In addition, click here to see a list of student sources--the composition of the packet.

In addition, we attempted to create a listing of potential dominant readings for the nine week unit that we would teach with the overall theme being technology.

This website was created by Janet M. Dovyak and Christine E. Franks as part of a course in teacher preparation at The Pennsylvania State University. If you would like to contact us, please send us an e-mail. Just click on either name to respond. We will try to reply promptly. Thank you.