Information and communication technology

Information and communication technology
NAME : TAMOJIT DAS
COURSE : B.tech(CSE)
SEM : 3RD
SECTION : B
ENROLL : A91005216064
YEAR : 2016-2020
INTRODUCTION

Prathibha is a trained graduate mathematics teacher working in a
village in Chamarajanagara. Recently Prathibha organized a
"Mathematics Day" on the eve of Ramanujan's birthday. She
organized a video show on Ramanujan's life and his contributions.
She had identified this video from YouTube. Based on the learning
form the video, students took a quiz in the afternoon. Since the
quiz was online, she could announce the winner immediately.
Prathibha used google form for this purpose. Prathibha shared
pictures of the event in the subject teachers' group via WhatsApp
messenger. One of her friends suggested her to open a blog on her
experiences. She has a blog now, in which she regularly posts her
teaching experiences and reflections. Prathibha uses web tools
and technology in her class regularly. She finds that technology
integration in teaching has made the learning experience very
engaging. Prathibha is excited about the potentials of technology
use in the classroom.
This is only an example to show how information and
communication technologies have started influencing the
classroom practices. With the world becoming more and more
digital with time, our classrooms are also headed in this
direction. This unit would introduce to you the basic concepts and
ideas related to the field of Information and Communication
Technologies.
In this unit we are going to explore the concept of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT), its evolution and its
nature. We will also understand the scope of ICT in our daily life in
general and education in particular. We discuss the features of ICT
that makes it widely applicable. We also learn about few concerns
regarding safe use of ICT.
OBJECTIVES

After having a glance this topic, you will be able to:
 explain the meaning of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)
 give an overview of applications of ICT in general and
educational context in specific
 Identify possible information tasks that can be done with
technology
 identify major landmarks in ICT evolution
 analyze the strengths and concerns associated with ICT use
WHAT IS ICT?
We are in a digital era. It is difficult to think of any event in our daily
life that is not using Information and Communication Technology.
Our schools and classrooms are no exceptions. This course is
meant for introducing you with these technologies with the
intension that you meaningfully integrate technology in your
practices related to teaching and learning.
As an ordinary citizen as well as a teacher, you handle enormous
data all the time. Data refers to facts, events, activities and
transactions which have been recorded. Data is the raw material
from which information is produced. Number of boys and girls in
your class is a factual description of your classroom. This is an
example of data related to the students in the class. In this sense,
data is a description of the world. Information is making meaning
from the data. Based on the data, you can conclude if girls are more
in number in your class. This conclusion is information. In other
words, information is processed data. Most of the decisions taken
in and around the world by and large are based on the data and
information. Information is the key guiding force of the world today.

For a wider use of the information, the information must be
communicated to people. It is only when the information reaches
the intended audience, the purpose of creation of information as
well as its communication would be served .
Let us take an example. As a teacher, you are organizing a teacher
parent meeting. Details of the same need to be communicated to
the concerned parents. This should happen within a time frame. As
you know, it is neither easy to physically reach every parent within
a given time, nor desired. With the availability of technology, it is
possible that a teacher now not only can reach the parents but also
interact with them in real time. A simple WhatsApp group would
serve this purpose. This is only an illustration to say how
technology has simplified many complexities of our life.
The tasks you as a teacher engage in during the school time and
outside require you to generate information very frequently. For
example, you need to create a worksheet for a class. You designed
a worksheet template. Since the worksheet is for the class use, you
need multiple copies of the worksheet. You have to take printout of
the worksheets. You transfer the worksheet template to your mail
or carry it in a pen drive. In other words, you have stored the
information either in a cloud storage service (mail cloud) or in a
storage device (pen drive).
You have successfully done the worksheet activity. You would like
to see how the students progressed through the activities. For this
purpose, you transfer the information of student responses into a
spreadsheet to analyze. You would also communicate the
students’ progress to their parents through mail, before recording
these developments in the students' e-portfolio. The students’ e-
portfolios are digital display of students’ progress as well as your
teaching.
You would have noticed that the information created, stored,
processed, transmitted, displayed and shared is in digital form and

through electronic media. The technologies used in these
processes are Information and Communication Technologies.
Traditionally also radio, television, and print media were the
widespread technologies used for communication. The digital
revolution has changed the way these traditional technologies
function. The analog television has become digital television. In
addition to the printed newspaper we also have electronic versions.
Along with traditional radio, we also have online radio. All these
have started appearing in the classroom to make the learning
experiences rich.
With this example, let us try to arrive at a definition of ICT.
UNESCO has defined ICT as forms of technology that are used to
transmit, process, store, create, display, share or exchange
information by electronic means. It includes not only traditional
technologies like radio and television, but also modern ones like
cellular phones, computer and network, hardware and software,
satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and
applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing.
Look at the following table to get an understanding of range of
technologies that fall under the category of ICT.

Information Technologies
Creation Personal Computers, Digital camera, Scanner,
Smartphone
Processing Calculator, PC, Smartphone
Storage CD, DVD, Pen drive, Microchip, Cloud
Display PC, TV, Projector, Smartphone,
Transmission Internet, Teleconference, Video conferencing,
Mobile technology, Radio
Exchange e-mail, Cellphone,
*A graphical representation of what is ICT is represented in more
details in the figure below (Graphic courtesy: Dr.M.U.Paily, RIE,
Mysore)

ICT IN EVERYDAY LIFE
The widespread use of ICT in Education is not just a coincidence.
It is observed in all aspects our life. Let us take a look at the
extent to which ICT has permeated our life.
ICT in Business
Today a lot of business transactions happen through internet and
hence called e-commerce. ICT facilitates marketing, customer
visit, product browsing, shopping basket checkout, tax and
shopping, receipt and process order. Through e-commerce one
can also offer services pertaining to processing transactions,
documentation, presentations, inventory management and
gathering product information. In other words, every business
activity can be done being at home.
ICT in Financial Services
Every service a traditional bank provides is available these days
through online service. Starting from transferring money from one
account to other up to running the day-today transactions of the
bank are provided through internet. Through the networking of
banks, this has become a reality. Capital market transactions,
financial analysis and related services are available on the online
platforms.

ICT in Entertainment
Internet is a major source of entertainment. Internet is a hub of
movies, games, books, and social networking. Due to digital
broadcasting, the television experience itself is changing. We can
easily record the television programs and view it. Digital
broadcasting has changed the way we experience television, with
more interactive programming and participation. Digital cameras,
printers and scanners have enabled more people to experiment
with image production.
ICT in Public Service
Both Central and State Governments are actively encouraging e-
governance practices. Digital India initiative of Government of
India and e-governance initiative of Government of Karnataka are
best examples of this. With these, and even before many
government services are available online. We can enroll
ourselves in the electoral roll of the local assembly constituency
through the State Election Commission portal. We can book an
LPG cylinder through the website of the gas supplier, pay
electricity bills online through an online bill desk. Land related
RTC can be viewed through internet being at home. ICT is also
providing a platform for a conversation between the public and the
government through various social networking services.

ICT in Education
Education is one major sector which has undergone the influence
of innovations in ICT. Starting from providing online content
service, platform for organizing learning experiences to managing
learning and assessment has been changed greatly by ICT
developments. Students, teachers and educational administrators
and every stakeholder in education have been benefitted by
the integration of ICT in education. Rest of the Units in this course
are going to deal with these issues at a greater length.

The graphic below represent the applications of ICT in various
areas of education. (Graphic Courtesy: Prof.M.U.Paily, RIE,
Mysore)
The concept map given here illustrates how ICTs have the
potential to be used in various practices of education, including
teaching and learning, assessment, administration and teacher
professional development. For example, the teaching and
learning dimension of education can integrate ICTs in content
creation, content delivery and collaboration. Let us see one of
them in detail, content development for example. ICT provides us
with many tools, including hardware and content. The hardware
encompasses computing devices as well as display devises. The
content sources can be Open Education Resources (OER), and
Reusable Learning Objects (RLO). Similar detailed exploration of

ICT use can be taken up for other aspects of educational practice.
Professional development of teachers is another such example.
ICT tools provide various opportunities in the form of Webinars,
online courses, online collaborative projects, online tutorials,
social networking, and so on. Look at other components
presented in the graphic and see how ICTs contribute for
educational practice.Rest of the Units in this course is going to
deal with these topics at a greater length.
EVOLUTION OF ICT
ICT is evolving in a very fast pace. Our grandparents grew up in
a society with no telephone; our parents in a society in which the
radio was the first and television was the last source of
information. We live in a world of internet. And the new generation
in in the wireless world. As a result the world around us also has
changed dramatically over the years. This dramatic change in the
field of ICT is a result of innovations in the field of science,
defense and business. These innovations have reduced the sizes
of the technological tools and increased the speed in which they
operate to process data and communicate information.
We can identify five phases of ICT evolution. They are evolution
in computer, PC, microprocessor, internet and wireless links.

Phase I
The first phase related to evolution of ICT is identified with the
creation of electromagnetic calculator during World War II,
weighing about 5 tons. Invention of transistors in 1947 led to
development of smaller but versatile computers. With the input-
output technology changing from punch cards to magnetic tapes,
"Computer" became a catch word.

Phase II
The second phase of ICT evolution is associated with the
development of personal computers during 1970's. Development
of chip technology and manufacturing magnetic discs transformed
huge computers into desktops, which are called personal
computers. Word processing, accounting and graphics became
very accessible.
Phase III
Third phase of ICT evolution is related to development of
microprocessors. Microprocessor, a multipurpose, programmable
device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to
instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output.
Microprocessors reduced the cost of processing power.

Phase IV
The fourth phase of ICT evolution is around networking. Starting
from connecting computers within a small geographic area for the
field of Defense and Education to connecting the computers
worldwide resulting in internet is the landmark development in the
field of ICT. This resulted in breaking the distance barrier across
the geographies and world being called a global village. Social
networking is a byproduct of this. Introduction of broadband has
accelerated this evolution.
Phase V
The fifth phase of ICT evolution is related to the development of
wireless, which refers to the present phase. This phase began
with the invention of the mobile phone. The initial mobile phones
were large and bulky. Reduction in size has been accompanied
by a greatly expanded range of functions. Now mobile phones are
used for talking, transmitting messages, pictures and music,
browsing, navigating. Satellite phones have allowed us to get
connected even in the absence of telephone and cell phones.

EVOLUTION OF ICT IN
EDUCATION
Application of ICT in Education has precedence of development of
Educational Technology. Since the present day ICTs have all the
strengths of erstwhile, education technology, even the field of
educational technology has renamed itself as ICT. In this sense,
ICT includes both traditional as well as modern educational
technology.
This integration of ICT in the field of education has been due to two
major reasons. The first one is the paradigmatic change in the way
we started looking at the process of learning and consequently the
teaching practices. The second one is the evolution of new
technology which could meet the needs from the first change. Let
us look at each of them in detail.
The paradigm shift
The major part of the 20th century was dominated by
behaviourism as a central theory which governed the principles
practised in educational practice. The result of practices guided
by behaviorist principles lead to educational practices which could
be broadly termed as "instructivism". In this form of practice,
teaching models predominantly believed in "information transfer".
The last decade of 20th century onwards educational practices
started getting influenced highly by a theoretical position namely
"constructivism". Constructivist paradigm of educational practice
believed in knowledge creation by the learner. This necessitated
the active involvement in the knowledge re-creation process i.e.,
learning. One of the variants of constructivism, social
constructivism positioned that knowledge creation while learning

is a social process. Social interaction was identified as a
necessity for learning to happen. This theoretical position took
learning beyond the walls of the classroom. All these together
opened up new pedagogic possibilities in and outside the
classroom. The pedagogical practices changed from lecture mode
to interaction mode.
Convergence of technology and
telecommunications
Parallel developments in the field of technology lead to
convergence of technology and telecommunications. We saw, as
mentioned earlier, the way we got connected with each other.
Social networking became a virtual reality. Interacting with people
who are hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, especially, in
real time became a reality. The barrier of distance to
communicate dissolved. There were new avenues to express
oneself in the form of blog and microblog. Digital revolution made
data processing very easy to handle. In other words, ICT provided
an ideal platform for learning in the new paradigm.

The following figure traces a trajectory of evolution of various
technology tools that are popularly used in the educational
practice.
Figure displaying evolution of various technology tools (Graphic courtesy:Dr. M. U.
Paily, RIE, Mysore)
You would notice, from the above figure, that the evolution of
technology is parallelly resulted in increase in speed, reduction of
size, less expensive, and also more versatile. For example,
mainframe computers occupied a room, but modern computers are
as small as our palms. The speed of computers has increased
exponentially. Earliest televisions were exorbitantly expensive but
present ones are affordable. Earliest display boards were only
output devices but modern display boards are input as well as
output devices.

NATURE OF ICT
Having learnt that ICT has penetrated every walk of our life, it is
important to understand why ICT has such a penetration? Some
features of ICT have facilitated this widespread use. Let us see
some of them.
 Speed: The innovations in internet and broadband have
made the communication instantaneous. Modern mobile
applications have allowed people to communicate with each
other in real time. There is no time lag between two places
which are thousands of kilometers apart.
 Precision: The information that is communicated through ICT
is very precise. Since there is no time lag in the
communication, there is less chances of miscommunications.
 Versatile: ICT can help in doing multiple tasks. Data can be
gathered, verified, processed, and managed. Information can
be communicated. ICT provides a multi-media platform for
such communication.
 Cost: ICT tools seem very expensive. But when we account
for their reach, they come out to be very cheap. For example,
the cost involved in printing text books is very high
economically as well as environmentally. On the other hand
preparing and using digital form of the book need high one
time investment in creating. But once created, it can be used
by any number of users without incurring additional cost.
Though, ICT provides us with so many options of utilizing it, there
is also growing concerns associated with it. Some concerns are
listed here.

 Digital divide: Digital divide refers to a large difference
between two or more groups in a population in the distribution
and effective use of ICT resources. For example, the internet
penetration in urban and rural India is quite different. From
one perspective, ICTs are considered to bridge the gap
between subgroups of a population. But off late, it has been
said that ICT is contributing towards widening the gaps.
 Hacking: The access to our various accounts is through user
ids, and these services are provided through internet.
Through internet people steal and gather security passwords
of others, get access to others’ accounts. This is termed as
hacking. Hackers also get into users’ banking accounts and
inflict financial losses. Not sharing password with others and
frequent change of password has become a necessity for safe
internet usage.
 Unauthorized content use: Internet and digital form of the
data has allowed easy duplication of the content without
attributing/acknowledging the source of the content. High
speed internet and high capacity storage devices have made
it easy. Appropriate attribution needs to be done as an ethical
ICT use.
 Trolls and abuses: Internet is also a platform to express
personal enmity in the form of trolling and abusing people
online. Since it is easy to conceal identity in internet, people
resort to this practice more frequently.
 Pornography: A lot of adult content is accessible through the
Internet. This is in digital form in various media that can be
easily stored in storage devices. Child pornography is a
criminal activity mainly happening through the internet
medium. There is a pressure on government from religious
and parent groups to ban all pornographic material available
in the internet. Alternatively, there are also many who claim
that banning such materials is against the spirit of internet
freedom and democracy.

 Viruses: Viruses are relatively simple program written by
people and designed to cause nuisance or damage to
computers or their files. They are also responsible for
corrupting data and data loss.
 Privacy concerns: Internet is also a hub of lot of personal
data. It is possible to track individual activities in the internet.
Such data on user behavior can be misused for the marketing
purposes. Many civil rights activists fear the danger of
authoritarian governments to monitor and manipulate freedom
of movement, speech, political activism and social and
personal behaviors. Similarly consumer-rights advocates fear
that close monitoring of data of an individual's buying habits
will allow businesses to share market information on spending
preferences and capacities.
 Health: Internet and social networking addiction is a popular
and identified side effect of emergence of ICT. Excessive
internet usage is also associated with low attention problems.
ICT, as any other technology, is only a tool to be utilized. How it is
to be used is in our control. Rest of units in this Block, will take a
look at how to make best use of ICT in the educational practice so
that every stakeholder involved will make informed choices.

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