Advances in Technology and Exchange after 1900
Driving Question: In what ways has technological innovation helped solve global challenges, and what new challenges has it created?
In the last 250 years, the rapid pace of change and increasingly global interconnections have produced an era of intensive globalization. Humanity produces more stuff, more cheaply, and distributes it all more broadly than ever. Yet, these trends haven’t benefited everyone everywhere, and distribution of the stuff produced remains unequal. We are more connected by networks than ever before, but many people feel more isolated and lonelier. How is this era of intensive globalization a product of our long human history, and where will we go in the future?
Learning Objectives
- Understand how historians create narratives to explain the convergence and divergence of human communities and experiences during this era.
- Explain how the development of new technologies changed the world from 1900 to the present.
Did you know: The first thing ever sold on the internet was a Sting CD, which Dan Kohn purchased on August 11, 1994. It cost $12.48 plus shipping. In 2026, global e-commerce sales are projected to reach around $7 trillion.
How much has change accelerated from 1945 to the present? You might be surprised.
John Green walks you through what globalization looks like—and how t-shirts are made—in the twenty-first century. How has this system of globalized production improved our lives? How has it endangered us?
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Guiding Questions
This lesson is all about helping students use what they’ve learned to think about the future. Check out 12:53–17:30 in this OER Project podcast for a perspective on the future promises and perils of AI.
Can you imagine a world without cell phones, air travel, and antibiotics? You wouldn’t have to go too far back in time to witness a world without these advancements.
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Guiding Questions
As with many revolutions, the changes created by the Green Revolution did not impact everyone equally. Explore the aims, political motivations, and results of the Green Revolution in this video.
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Guiding Questions
You’ve “traveled” quite a long way during this lesson. Time to use your imagination as you look back on how much has changed.