How important are material tools in the acquisition of knowledge?

Knowledge and Technology

Object 1: “Amazing Thing” Stylus Pen and iPad 9th Generation

I was gifted this “Amazing Thing” Stylus Pen and the iPad 9th Generation just because I started
enrolling in this International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the hopes of it potentially helping me in
my studies. Before even having these, I only took notes by using physical books and also multicolored
pens. Honestly, even though I did pull through for my high school years, I felt uneasy about the fact
of how much my notebooks have been compiled, unorganized, and misplaced and I tend to forget in
which book I have written the notes in because I never really had a system to classify my notes.

Luckily, thanks to myself for getting a hold of this set of items, it has been efficient for me. Whereas
this Stylus Pen has a feature where it has a long-lasting battery and also promotes accurate and
effortless digital writing, the iPad has built-in “palm-rejection” technology and a split-screen view
where I can split the screen into multiple segments that could showcase different apps at the same
time and there are apps such as Goodnotes that could be used to store notes in named files of my
choice.

I am certain by the fact that this set of items is really important to me and I can never go on with my
day taking this IB program without it because now I have finally developed my own studying
mechanism which is by taking notes of new chapters from different type of subjects at the end of the
week during my free time by using my trusty Stylus Pen and iPad. My notes are more appealing than
ever and also way more organized which makes it easier for me to access and look back to, which
simultaneously makes me want to study more. So, I am always at hold of them and they can never be
separated from each other and will forever see them as a unit. Fortunately, throughout my
educational journey in Semester 1, they have been really useful to me and I have attained somewhat
good grades in the end.
Object 2: The Evolution of the Telescope

I was always intrigued by how humanity could even come up with the idea of creating the telescope
to discover more in-depth of outer space. It’s not like the existence of it was never mentioned in
historical books such as the Quran. The Quran refers to the orbits and paths of celestial bodies, as in
the verse, “It is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all [heavenly
bodies] in an orbit are swimming” (Quran 21:33). From this verse, the Islamic community in the
olden times wouldn’t have understood the context behind it at the time due to the lack of
technology.

However, with the help of the innovation of technology related to the telescope and the birth of
impactful scientists until today’s time such as William Gascoigne who was the first who commanded
a chief advantage of the form of telescope suggested by Kepler: that a small material object could be
placed at the common focal plane of the objective and the eyepiece which led to his invention of the
micrometer, and his application of telescopic sights to precision astronomical instruments. Instead of
that, we also have the famous Galileo Galilei who made his own telescope that had a convex
objective lens and a concave eyepiece in a long tube which then improved his version magnification
from 8 times to 20 times.

In today’s time, we have organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) which have built the largest, most powerful, and most complex telescope that has ever been
launched into space which is called the Webb Space Technology which is used to look out further out
into the distant universe by using longer wavelengths and infrared light. As of now, going back to the
use of the generic telescope, it could solidify the assumption that there is an “outer space” until it
fulfills the curiosity and questions that have been asked throughout mankind's history and because
of the aid of the telescope some questions have already been answered with a more physical and
solid answer such as: Is there anything beyond this earth?
Object 3: The Efficiency of iPhone 12

At the age of 16, my parents gifted me a secondhand iPhone 7 Plus and I must say I was quite excited
by the fact that I could finally be one of the cool kids since it was my first time owning an Apple
product. However, since it is known to many as a considerably old phone since it was released in
2016, bugs started to occur such as occasional lags and limited battery life, hindering my productivity
and the frustration tends to get a hold of me and I tend to get easily stressed when I’m doing my
assignments or even doing research for tasks and projects.

Our mobile phones have become a necessity in our lives and efficiency plays a big role in picking the
right phone model. I am the type of person who prioritizes the efficiency of an item and how much
satisfaction and ease an item can bring to my life. That is when I took the initiative to switch up to a
new model which is the iPhone 12. One thing about the iPhone 12 is that at the heart of the phone
lies the A14 Bionic chip, a marvel of engineering prowess that epitomizes the fusion of hardware and
software innovation. This cutting-edge processor delivers unparalleled speed and responsiveness,
powering through tasks with ease and eliminating the frustrating lags that plagued my previous
device.

Ever since I’ve been using this iPhone 12 that emits full efficiency, it has been helping me with my
studies and research because there is one less thing to think about when I’m doing my work. No
matter what I’m doing at the moment, whether it is investigating the latest news being broadcast
that shocks the world or wanting to know the latest trendy dances that are showcased on TikTok
with a group of friends, my first thought would always be my phone because of how much
dependency and entrustment that I put onto the phone to gain the vast field of knowledge.
References

Amazing Thing Pencil & iPad 9th Gen

Telescope

https://medium.com/@zoyasheikh2005/the-quran-and-astronomy-celestial-revelations-and-islamic-
cosmology-025645685414#:~:text=The%20Quran%20refers%20to%20the,aligns%20with
%20contemporary%20scientific%20understanding.

https://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/galileo.html#:~:text=Galileo
%20Galilei%20did%20not%20invent,1610%20and%20made%20him%20famous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telescope#:~:text=Invention,-Notes%20on
%20Hans&text=The%20first%20record%20of%20a,as%20if%20they%20were%20nearby%22.

https://www.toppr.com/ask/question/collect-the-information-about-lenses-used-by-galileo-in-his-
telescope/#:~:text=Initial%20version%20magnification%20was%208x,served%20as%20the%20ocular
%20lens.

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/spacecraftoverview/

iPhone 12

https://www.apple.com/my/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-7-plus,iphone-12