The Social Impact of Information and Communication Technology www.ICT-Teacher.com

Explain the benefits and drawbacks of the use of information and communication technology in: manufacturing, industry, commerce, medicine, the home, education tele-working.

Computers and Employment Has machinery displaced workers? Steam engine turbines – Industrial revolution. Factory workers and robotics. Have computers replaced workers? Have more jobs have been created by the new technology (computerisation)? What has happened to clerical workers over the last 20 years? How has their skills been lost/changed?

The Changing Nature of Employment What has happened to the Farm and Factory workers? What is the Service industries? How does computers assist employment in the Service industry? Consider: banking, travel, supermarket etc. Has computerisation given greater job satisfaction? Consider: engineering, architecture, accounting etc.

Changing Locations of Work Where did the population move from/to during the Industrial revolution? With Communications technology is this being reversed? Where does data processing need to be done, in the office or at the end of a ‘phone line? Consider British Airways and other companies using call centres, where are these centres?

Tele-working What is Tele-working? What are the benefits of Tele-working? Consider: environment, commuting, working hours, commitments, space saving, team-working in a network. What are the problems with Tele-working? Consider: management, organisational loyalty, social isolation, separation of work with leisure time. Would you do any form of Tele-working? Consider doing school-work at home and e-mailing it to your teacher.

The Other Side What happens to older workers who may find it difficult to re-train to adapt to the new technology? What happens to people that do not have access to the new technology? What about people who try to ignore the new technology? What can happen when people rely on technology? Consider: back up systems for breakdown, fault handling, natural accidents, malicious damage.

New Products and Services Will you need to understand and use Information Technology? What are some of the new ICT products available now? Consider: CD Rom, DVD, mobile ‘phones, barcode scanning, Internet shopping.

Using ICT to Run a Small Business What could the following software packages be useful for? Spreadsheet Graphics Word Processing Desktop publishing Database Accounts E-mail Internet browser

IT in Banking How is IT used in Banking? Consider: telephone banking, Internet banking, ATM’s, Debit cards, Credit cards, MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) e.g. cheque processing, Direct debiting, etc. How is IT used with a Store Card?

Internet Shopping Web sites used for advertising have been developed into a ‘virtual store’. What is a virtual store? How can a virtual store help a business? What is another useful by-product that a web site can collect? Consider a database of potential customers. What could a business do with this information?

Supermarkets Offer on-line shopping for customers unable to get to the shop. What are the advantages for the shop? What are the advantages for the customer?

Internet Shopping

Manufacturing How are computers used in manufacturing? Consider: order processing, stock reports and replacement, progress tracking. Project management – budgets, on-time. What is CAD (Computer aided Design)? What is CAM (Computer aided Manufacture)?

CAD What are some examples of CAD? How can a computer image help with design? How can an animation software package assist with design? How does CAD enhance sales and marketing? What is the difference between Vector based graphics and Bit-mapped graphics?

CAM What are some examples CAM is used for? How is this system of creating products very flexible/individual? Robots are controlled by computers what are the basic components? Consider: a sensor, a microprocessor, an actuator. Give some examples of where robotics are used? Why are robots so useful? Consider: repetition, strength, quality, costs, hazardous environment.

Medicine Give some example where computers are used in the Health service? Consider: records, databases, computerised medical devices, monitoring, expert systems (diagnosis), surgery. What is an expert (knowledge-based) system? Consider: image capture and processing. What is robotic surgery? Consider: operations. How important are computers for the disabled? Consider: blind, deaf, special devices, implants.

Education Why are there so many computers in schools? How do computers assist with teaching and learning? What is an interactive teaching package? How should the Internet be used to assist learning? How can computers help with distance learning?

Can Computers Replace Teachers What can computers do that is better than having a teacher? Consider: pace, repetition, patience, consistency, cost effective. What can a teacher do that is better than a computer? What could the classroom of the future look like? will it exist, will students need to attend school, could they choose what subject to do and when, will they be motivated to take charge of their own learning?

Dependence on IT How are individuals dependant on IT? Routine chores: money, shopping, holiday, Scanners and imaging systems, Traffic control, and car parking, motorway, Flood warning systems, Computer controlled braking, fuel, on cars, Personal use, data, accounts, education, Electrical devices in the home, washing machines, video DVD players, microwaves, etc, Telephone lines for Internet communications.

How are organisations dependant on IT? Consider the type of organisation: Supermarkets, Hospitals, The emergency services, The utility companies, Schools, Air traffic control, Nuclear power stations. What would be the consequences of failure on the organisations above?

Multimedia What is meant by multimedia? What are necessary to run multimedia software? How can multimedia assist learning? What is Authoring software? What help are Internet based services in finding your preferred university degree course?