Information Technologies
Information Technologies for Development is a new field of study that deals with the design, development, deployment, and evaluation of novel technologies for social and economic formation. The ICTD research agenda is driven by the urge to bridge the digital divide and make computing useful for that large fraction of the world’s population who live in underdeveloped regions of the world with limited resources.
Amongst a range of diverse themes relating to ICTD, this special issue includes six papers covering some of these themes. Information and communication technology is an extensional form of information technology based on stress with the role of unified communications and integration of telecommunications, computers, important enterprise software, middleware, and storage.
How can we describe information technologies?
Globalization – Video conferencing saves money on flights and accommodation. Information technology has not only brought countries and people closer together, but it has allowed the world economy to become a single interdependent system to contact businesses making them exceptionally cost-effective.
Cost-effectiveness –The feels free to send an email and without a doubt cheaper than phone calls. ICT has also helped to automate business practices, to make them exceptionally cost-effective.
More Time –You may have your goods delivered right to your doorstep by having to move a single muscle by clicking the items to be purchased via the internet and making payment electronically.
Education –Computers along with their programs and the internet have created educational opportunities not available to previous generations. A degree can be completed online from a person’s home. It is possible to hold a job and still do a degree.
Blackmail –Using the internet to threaten to cause damage with the intent to extort from any person any money or other thing of value.
Unemployment-Replaced by computers instead of using human resources employers make huge amounts of money but employees are losing their jobs as not needed anymore.
Privacy –Information technology, though it may have made communication faster and more convenient, has also brought along with it privacy problems worms, Trojans, malware, spam any or all can chaos and disrupt our daily lives.
The main discourse that ICT brings is?
Information technology can help realize universal access to education, knowledge equity, quality learning and teaching, and teachers’ professional production. Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information strategy(IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, and middleware.
How do we classify information technologies?
Information Technology is mainly classified into four main categories which include;
1. Computing and Information Technology:
Computing and information technology refers to the designing and building of computers. It also contributes to maintaining and troubleshooting the computer system. It also ensures that the computer runs smoothly.
2. Broadcasting:
Broadcasting is the exchanger of audio and video visuals through electronic mass communication to many audiences all over the world. It mainly uses the electromagnetic spectrum to change the data.
3. Telecommunications:
Telecommunications are the transfers of electronic information over many distances. This information may be in terms of voice, data, text, images, or any video.
4. Internet:
The Internet is a global system providing a variety of information and other communicational services by the use of interconnected networks. It uses the Internet Protocol to communicate with others.
Impression of Information Technologies on Society
There are many effects of Information Technology which bring about in our daily life. Some of these are:
Advantages of ICT
Some of the benefits of information technology include:
1. It allows access to data and information more quickly, more easily, and at a much lower cost.
2. It prompts business commerce, manufacturing, and managerial transactions and activities.
3. ICT has allowed people worldwide to access the internet in new & exciting ways.
4. Business relationships & transactions have become closer due to ICT technologies.
5. In today’s era, it provides a much more reliable, flexible, fast, & efficient means of information transmission.
6. It creates job opportunities & introduces new career opportunities for individuals worldwide.
7. It also serves as one of the most excellent modes of communication in different industries.
Negative effects of ICT
Despite its several advantages, Information technology has some limitations, which include the following:
Loss of jobs: As human functions & operations are being automated, ICT implementations in the working places may snatch away some jobs.
Expensive: ICT equipment & technologies can be expensive & unreachable to the common public.
Loss of Social Bond: As more & more, work & discussions are done on the Internet, the implementation of ICT in most spheres of life is leading to a decline in terms of interpersonal relationships or face-to-face interactions.
Crime: The use of ICT may lead to an increase in criminal activities. People are being duped through the medium. Identity theft, credit card theft, system hijacking & piracy are all increasing. Another disadvantage of Information Strategy is abuse: Pornography, especially child porn, plagiarism, cyber warfare, and e-mail spamming are common examples.
Addictive nature: Working with ICT is addictive: Compulsive users may be on the Internet for several hours at a stretch. This could lead to stress and other health-related problems.
The bottom line of Information Technologies
To summarize information technology provides for effective peer response, yields positive interactivity within teaching and learning, motivates learners to use knowledge in any content area in a writing task, and engages learners with different kinds of projects.
Increases student engagement with the language, allows the use of new technology that permits communicating and collaborating within an educational context, gives a platform for active and meaningful learning to happen, develops independent work habits among learners, improves learners’ knowledge of vocabulary, allowing the user collaboration and the publishing of work such as writing.
As for the disadvantages, the literature suggests that the use of computer strategy could cause a lackadaisical attitude among students whereby they will not deliver their work seriously and the student’s reading skills formed from scrolling the computer screen could carry an accelerated but superficial, inexact understanding of the content.