Personally it is difficult to imagine my life without technology. As a student at ACU, my laptop, phone and headphones are all ways on me and normally are part of almost everything I do. I use them to take notes, talk to friends and complete assignment tasks. Due to technology being such a big part in my life, I have generally associated technological progress with improvement. However, the question "Is our technological progress sustainable?" made me stop for a second and consider what happens behind the screen. While technology continues to become faster, smarter and more accessible, I began to question whether we are progressing fast than our environment can support. 

One idea that particularly challenged my thinking was the environmental cost of constantly developing and replacing technology. An article from Reuters talks about how Microsoft's decision to stop supporting computers that can't upgrade to the new windows 11 software will lead to 40 million PC's ending up in landfill (Sriram, 2023). This highlights how quickly devices become outdated, even when they are still physically functional. I realised that technological progress often encourages us to view older devices as inferior simply because their is a newer version out there. This thought process creates a cycle of purchasing, upgrading, and disposing. I found myself feeling quite uncomfortable when reading about the environmental impact artificial intelligence has due to the substantial energy that is needed to power. It made me realise most people understand the convinience that comes with technology without considering the resources required to sustain it. 

This led me to think differently about what the word "progress" actually means. The impact of robots and digitalisation on employment (Sinozic et al., 2018), demonstrating that technological development can transform industries and the skills required by workers. This made realise that sustainability is not simply an environmental issue. If technology changes the workplace faster than the education can prepare people for those changes, technological progress may create new social challenges. As a future teacher, this is particuarly relevant to me because schools have have a responsibility to prepare students for a future that we cannot completely predict. 

At the same time, I do not think the answer is to reject technology. Its about students realising not to abuse technology but use it more responsibly. Reflecting on my initial assumptions, I now realise that i had been defining technological progress too narrowly. I associated progress with innovation and quick upgrades, rather than considering the longevity, environmental impact and social responsibility, Gibbs reflective cycle (The University of Edinburgh, 2024) encourages reflection to lead towards future action, and this has made me consider how i would  approach technology in my own classroom. 

As a future teacher, I want to encourage students to question technology rather than simply accept every new devlopment as progress. This could involve discussing electronic waste, artificial intelligence and the environmental consequences of technology. I also wasnt to model sustainable practices by using technology when it genuinely adds value rather than treating digital solutions as automatically better. 

Finally I now believe technological progress is only sustainable when innovation is balanced with responsibility. A technology being newer or more advanced does not necessarily make it better. If we want future generations to benefit from technology, we need to ensure that the progress we make today does not create problems that they are left to solve in the future.