Information communication technology (ICTI)

Information communication technology (ICTI)

          It is widely accepted that Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can transform the development of any sector. ICT plays a critical role in enabling inclusive and sustainable human development by providing people not only with access to information and services but also with opportunities to participate and contribute to the knowledge economy. ICT infrastructure, human resources, content development and system enhancement are the four pillers of ICT on Education. ICT can lead to improved student learning and better teaching methods.

CONCEPT OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

          Information and communication(s) technology is after used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses that role of  unified communications and the integration of telecommunications, computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middle ware, storage and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.

        The phrase ICT had been used by academic researches since the 1980s but it become popular after it was used in a report to the UK government by Dennis Stevenson in 1997 and in the revised National Curriculum for England, Wales and North Iceland for 2000.

        The term ICT is now also used to refer to the convergence of audio –visual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives (huge cost savings due to elimination of the telephone network) to merge the audio –visual, building management  and telephone network with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution and management.

Meaning of information and communication technology

Globalization and technological changes have created a new global  economy powered by technology, fuelled by  information and driven by knowledge. The emergence of this new global economy has serious implicational institutions. As the access to information continues to grow rapidly, schools cannot be contented with the limited knowledge to be transmitted in a fixed period of time. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) which include ratio and television as well as a newer digital technologies such as potentially powerful tools for educational change and reform. When used appropriately, different ICTs can help expand access to education, strengthen the relevance of education to the increasingly digital workplace and raise educational quality by helping make teaching and learning into an active process connected to real life.

Definitions : “ICT stand for information and communication technologies and is defined as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate store and manage information”. “ICT implies the technology which consists of electronic devices and associated human interactive materials that enable the user to employ them for a wide range of teaching learning process in addition to personal use : “ICT is that technology which uses the information to meet human and or purposes including processing and exchanging” “Information and its communications technology in education facilities and features that variously support teaching learning and a range of activities in education”. All these definitions combine communication technology and information technology that have thin line between them but cannot do away without each other when these technologies are applied as ICT in education. The term too can be used as the connotation to the term Educational Technology because it also uses any hardware and software approaches that can enhance yield better learning outcomes. In the era of computer technology the term ICT mainly focuses on the infrastructure, devices and sources of computer technology and thus it is imperative to discuss about the use of ICT in education by focusing mainly on computer based technology.

Characteristics of ICT in education

          ICT in education is any hardware and software technology that contribute in the educational information processing. In the context of present era, ICT mainly comprises of computer technology with its hardware, like personal computer machine, infrastructure required for setting up Internet facility and also software like CD ROM including various programme packages, E-learning strategies etc.

        ICT in education is any Information Technology that focuses on the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, transmission or reception of data required for the educational purpose. For example, the information about students’ records, there admissions, updates of their curricular and co-curricular activities.

        ICT in education is any technology that deals with the exchange of information or in other words communication in the teaching learning process. Uses of Electronic learning technology likes Teleconferencing, PowerPoint presentations, CD ROM are communication Technology which is the part of ICT .

        ICT in education is any educational technology that is applied in the educational process. It encompasses Hardware approach like use of machines and materials, software approach like use of methodologies and strategies of teaching, learning and system approach that uses the management technology that deals with the systematic organization of the hardware and the software. Different software packages for the use in different department of education; e.g. library software, administration software; software related to managing the entire teaching-learning process.

          ICT in education to the support material in the hands of the human resource involved in the educational process in order to enhance the quality of education. It comprises of the application of science of on-line, offline learning with the help of the Computer Technology.

          So ICT has now become one of the basic building blocks of modern society. Many countries now regard understanding the meaning and characteristics of ICT and mastering the basic  skills and concepts, as a part of the core of education. ICT applications in education, whether it be in educational management, administration, teaching, learning, evaluation, research etc.

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