The Digital Age · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Pocket computers, giant arguments

History · The Modern World · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What changed once copying information cost almost nothing?

    • Messages stopped travelling at all
    • One message can reach millions in seconds
    • Only experts may publish anything

  2. Put these in order, earliest first: smartphones, personal computers, early room computers, the web.

    • Web, smartphones, PCs, room computers
    • Early room computers, PCs, web, smartphones
    • Smartphones, web, PCs, room computers

  3. What is the difference between information security and privacy?

    • Security blocks intruders; privacy decides who may see data
    • They mean exactly the same thing
    • Privacy blocks hackers; security sells data

  4. A rumour and a correction both post at noon. By evening millions saw the rumour and few saw the fix. Why?

    • False claims travel just as fast as true ones
    • Corrections always travel faster online
    • Rumours cannot spread on networks

  5. A network firm hires server keepers and security guards while the town's print shop lays people off. What pattern is this?

    • Networks create some work and remove other work
    • Technology never touches any jobs
    • Print shops always grow with networks

  6. A handful of big platforms still shape what most people end up seeing.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. A school cheers that every pupil can now publish, but one app decides what the town reads. What tension is this?

    • Publishing is now impossible for pupils
    • Feeds show every post to every reader
    • More voices can speak, yet few firms shape what spreads

  8. A firm says tweaking feeds in secret is harmless because users agreed to vague terms. What does the 2014 mood test teach?

    • Feed order never affects any reader
    • Vague terms equal clear permission
    • Secret feed tests can shift feelings without consent
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Pocket computers, giant arguments W1-mt_9aQnMPk7y--s1

  1. One message can reach millions in seconds · Free copying lets news and lessons spread instantly, and false claims ride along.
  2. Early room computers, PCs, web, smartphones · Rooms came first, then desks in the 1970s, the web in the 1990s, pockets in the 2000s.
  3. Security blocks intruders; privacy decides who may see data · One guards the vault, the other writes the guest list.
  4. False claims travel just as fast as true ones · Free copying speeds everything equally, so speed never proves truth.
  5. Networks create some work and remove other work · Design, server, and security jobs grew as mail, telegraph, and print labour shrank.
  6. True · Ranking rules decide feed order, so few firms hold most of the traffic.
  7. More voices can speak, yet few firms shape what spreads · The open argument of the age: spread voices against concentrated traffic control.
  8. Secret feed tests can shift feelings without consent · Almost 700,000 feeds were quietly tilted, and published results proved mood moved.
Worksheet · LightMySky