GOVERNOR MARIANO E.

VILLAFUERTE COMMUNITY COLLEGE- SIRUMA

Poblacion, Siruma Camarines sur
[email protected]

MODULE OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, students will be able to know:

1. the definition of Information Communication Technology

2. the components of Information Communication Technology
3. the impacts of Information Communication Technology in the society
4. the occurrences happened in fourth industrial revolution
What is ICT?
When the first computers made their entry into schools in the late 1970s, we used to speak about computers
in education. With computers came printers, floppy disk drives, scanners and the first digital cameras. We
began to use the term IT, or Information Technology, to describe computers and these various peripheral
devices. Then the internet arrived together with computer networks, the World Wide Web, email and search
engines. A new guide term entered the language – ICT. The term ICT, short for Information and
Communication Technologies, embraces the many technologies that enable us to receive information and
communicate or exchange information with others.

Information and communications technology (ICT) refers to all the technology used to handle
telecommunications, broadcast media, intelligent building management systems, audiovisual processing and
transmission systems, and network-based control and monitoring functions.

Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, or
information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. IT system is generally an information
system, a communications system or, more specifically speaking, a computer system – including all hardware,
software and peripheral equipment – operated by a limited group of users. The term is commonly used as a
synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution
technologies such as television and telephones. IT is considered to be a subset of information and
communications technology (ICT).

Components of ICT
• Cloud computing – The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the
Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often have functions distributed over multiple locations from
central servers. If the connection to the user is relatively close, it may be designated an edge server. Clouds
may be limited to a single organization (enterprise clouds), be available to many organizations (public cloud)
or a combination of both (hybrid cloud). The largest public cloud is Amazon AWS .

• Software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks.
Opposite of hardware, which describes the physical aspects of a computer, software is a generic term used
to refer to applications, scripts and programs that run on a device. Software can be thought of as the variable
part of a computer and hardware the invariable part. Software is often divided into application software, or
user downloaded programs that fulfil a want or need, and system software, which includes operating systems
and any program that supports application software.

• Hardware – in the context of technology, refers to the physical elements that make up a computer or
electronic system and everything else involved that is physically tangible. This includes the monitor, hard
drive, memory and the CPU. Hardware works hand-in-hand with firmware and software to make a computer
function. Hardware is only one part of a computer system; there is also firmware, which is embedded into
the hardware and directly controls it.

• Digital Transactions can be broadly defined as online or automated transactions that take place between
people and organizations—without the use of paper. Digital transactions save time and money, resulting in a
better bottom line. Customer experiences are also enhanced (think of the convenience of eSigning versus
having to print a contract, sign it, and then return it by mail or fax). And digital transactions improve tracking
capabilities—which helps reduce errors.

• Digital Data is data that represents other forms of data using specific machine language systems that can
be interpreted by various technologies. The most fundamental of these systems is a binary system, which
simply stores complex audio, video or text information in a series of binary characters, traditionally ones and
zeros, or «on» and «off» values.

• Internet access is the process of connecting to the internet using personal computers, laptops or mobile
devices by users or enterprises. Internet access is subject to data signaling rates and users could be connected
at different internet speeds. Internet access enables individuals or organizations to avail internet
services/web-based services. The internet began to gain popularity with dial-up internet access. In a relatively
short time, internet access technologies changed, providing faster and more reliable options. Currently,
broadband technologies such as cable internet and ADSL are the most widely used methods for internet
access. The speed, cost, reliability and availability of internet access depends on the region, internet service
provider and type of connection.

There are many different ways to obtain internet access, including Wireless connection, Mobile
connection, Hotspots, Dial-up, Broadband, DSL or Satellite.

However, ICT commonly means more than its list of components, though. It also encompasses the
application of all those various components.

The impact of ICT on society, schools, teaching and learning

As it is known from time immemorial that everything in life is like the two side of a coin, there is always a
positive and negative side of every phenomenon. But whether the effect is positive or negative the effects
of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is far reaching and cannot be overemphasized. The Effects
 of ICT lens looks at how our lives have been changed, for better and for worse, by the impact of ICT. It
includes both positive effects and negative effects and looks at how individuals organisations and society
are affected.

POSITIVE IMPACTS OF ICT

ICT CAN HAVE POSITIVE IMPACTS ON PEOPLE
Access to information: Possibly the greatest effect of ICT on individuals is the huge increase in access to
information and services that has accompanied the growth of the Internet. Some of the positive aspects of
this increased access are better, and often cheaper, communications, such as VoIP phone and Instant
Messaging. In addition, the use of ICT to access information has brought new opportunities for leisure and
entertainment, the facility to make contacts and form relationships with people around the world, and the
ability to obtain goods and services from a wider range of suppliers.

Improved access to education, e.g. distance learning and on-line tutorials. New ways of learning,
e.g. interactive multi-media and virtual reality. New job opportunities, e.g. flexible and mobile working,
virtual offices and jobs in the communications industry.

New tools, new opportunities: The second big effect of ICT is that it gives access to new tools that did
not previously exist. A lot of these are tied into the access to information mentioned above, but there are
many examples of stand-alone ICT systems as well:

a) ICT can be used for processes that had previously been out of the reach of most individuals,
e.g. photography, where digital cameras, photo-editing software and high quality printers have enabled
people to produce results that would previously required a photographic studio.

b) ICT can be used to help people overcome disabilities. e.g. screen magnification or screen
reading software enables partially sighted or blind people to work with ordinary text rather than Braille.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF ICT ON PEOPLE

Job loss: One of the largest negative effects of ICT can be the loss of a person’s job. This has both
economic consequences, loss of income, and social consequences, loss of status and self esteem. Job losses
may occur for several reasons, including: Manual operations being replaced by automation. e.g. robots
replacing people on an assembly line. Job export. e.g. Data processing work being sent to other countries
where operating costs are lower. Multiple workers being replaced by a smaller number who are able to do
the same amount of work. e.g. A worker on a supermarket checkout can serve more customers per hour if
a bar-code scanner linked to a computerized till is used to detect goods instead of the worker having to
enter the item and price manually

Reduced personal interaction: Being able to work from home is usually regarded as being a positive
effect of using ICT, but there can be negative aspects as well. Most people need some form of social
interaction in their daily lives and if they do not get the chance to meet and talk with other people they may
feel isolated and unhappy.

Reduced physical activity: A third negative effect of ICT is that users may adopt a more sedentary
lifestyle. This can lead to health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Many countries
have workplace regulations to prevent problems such as repetitive strain injury or eyestrain, but lack of
physical exercise is rarely addressed as a specific health hazard.

ICT CAN HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON ORGANIZATIONS

There are three main areas in which organisations are affected by the use of ICT, communications,
information management, and security. The three areas have considerable overlap.

Communication: By using ICT has brought a number of benefits to organisations, such as: Cost savings
by using e.g. VoIP instead of normal telephone, email / messaging instead of post, video conferencing
instead of traveling to meetings, e-commerce web sites instead of sales catalogues. Access to larger, even
worldwide, markets. Web sites can be seen from all parts of the world and orders can be taken wherever
there is a compatible banking system to process payments, e.g. credit / debit card, Pay-Pal, bank transfer
facility. Web sites also have 24 hours opening and are available every day of the year. Flexible response.
Organisations with good communications can respond to changes quickly. This may mean better customer
relations, an improved supply chain for goods and services, faster development of new products to meet a
new opportunity, etc.

Information management: Organisations can benefit from using ICT for information management. e.g.
Data mining of customer information to produce lists for targeted advertising. Improved stock control,
resulting in less wastage, better cash flow, etc. Managers are better informed and will have more reliable
and up-to-date information on which to base their decisions.

Security: Although the use of ICT can bring its own security issues, see next section, it can also solve or
reduce some security problems, e.g. Encryption methods can keep data safe from unauthorized people,
both while it is being stored or while it is being sent electronically. This is important for reasons such as
data protection legislation or commercial secrecy. ICT enables physical security systems such as fingerprint,
iris or facial recognition.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF ICT ON ORGANIZATIONS

a) Cost: the cost of using ICT may cause a number of problems for organisations. A lot of ICT
hardware and software is expensive, both to purchase and to maintain. An ICT system usually requires
specialist staff to run it and there is also the challenge of keeping up with ever-changing technology.
These extra costs should be offset by the poitive effects of using ICT, but if an organisation gets its cost-
benefit analysis wrong it may lose money.

b) Competition: this is usually thought of as being a good thing, but for some organisations
being exposed to greater competition can be a problem. If the organisation is competing for customers,
donations, or other means of funding nationally or even internationally, they may lose out to other
organisations that can offer the same service for less money.

c) Security: this is always a problem for any organisation that uses ICT. Data must be kept
secure, Internet connections must be protected from attack, new viruses and other forms of malware are
released nearly every day.

Organisations will usually have legal obligations to protect data such as customer information. Even if the
organisation does not have to comply with a specific data protection law it will usually be in the
organisation’s interest to protect data from rivals.

ICT CAN HAVE POSITIVE EFFECT ON THE SOCIETY

Probably the largest effect that ICT use has on on society is allowing members of society to have greatly
increased access to information.This can have numerous positive effects, such as:

a) increasing opportunities for education

b) improving communication

c) allowing people to participate in a wider, even worldwide, society.

In quite a short period of time, ICT have had a marked effect on schools, on teaching and on learning. At the
institutional level, schools have similar needs to any small business and use the same kinds of computer
software for such tasks as accounting, inventory control, communicating, document preparation and printing.
Schools also use specialist software for tasks like timetabling, electronic reporting, behaviour tracking and
student profiling, monitoring attendance and library management. In a whole number of ways, then, ICT
tools are proving indispensable in making school administration more efficient and responsive to community
needs.

At the instructional level, too, the primary focus in this Guide, the use of ICT in classrooms, lecture theatres
and teaching labs across the Asia-Pacific region is bringing about change in the way teachers teach and how
students learn. An important and forward-looking book from UNESCO, Teacher Development in an E-Learning
Age (Resta and Patru, 2010), describes how teachers’ roles are changing as a result of implementing ICT in
their classrooms. (see table 1.1)

The changing role of teachers is aptly summed up in the quip that Teachers have moved from being “sages
on the stage” to becoming “guides on the side”. The teacher is no longer the all-knowing authority. The new
role can perhaps be likened to that of a team coach or the conductor of an orchestra who tries to bring out
the best performance in all players.In the same way that teachers’ roles are changing as a result of
the use of ICT, so are the roles of students changing, as seen in Table 1.2.

Students in classrooms where ICT are regularly found are likely to participate in virtual excursions
and be active researchers, searching the web for information to complete individual or group
projects, communicating via email, blogs and social networking with students and teachers in other
schools, and reaching conclusions on the basis of evidence gathered.

FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Fourth Industrial Revolution heralds a series of social, political, cultural, and economic
upheavals that will unfold over the 21st century. Building on the widespread availability of digital technologies
that were the result of the Third Industrial, or Digital, Revolution, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be
driven largely by the convergence of digital, biological, and physical innovations.

Like the First Industrial Revolution’s steam-powered factories, the Second Industrial
Revolution’s application of science to mass production and manufacturing, and the Third Industrial
Revolution’s start into digitization, the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s technologies, such as artificial
intelligence, genome editing, augmented reality, robotics, and 3-D printing, are rapidly changing the
way humans create, exchange, and distribute value. As occurred in the previous revolutions, this will
profoundly transform institutions, industries, and individuals. More importantly, this revolution will be guided
by the choices that people make today: the world in 50 to 100 years from now will owe a lot of its character
to how we think about, invest in, and deploy these powerful new technologies.

It’s important to appreciate that the Fourth Industrial Revolution involves a systemic change across
many sectors and aspects of human life: the crosscutting impacts of emerging technologies are even more
important than the exciting capabilities they represent. Our ability to edit the building blocks of life has
recently been massively expanded by low-cost gene sequencing and techniques such as CRISPR; artificial
intelligence is augmenting processes and skill in every industry; neurotechnology is making unprecedented
strides in how we can use and influence the brain as the last frontier of human biology; automation is
disrupting century-old transport and manufacturing paradigms; and technologies such as blockchain and
smart materials are redefining and blurring the boundary between the digital and physical worlds.

The result of all this is societal transformation at a global scale. By affecting the incentives, rules,
and norms of economic life, it transforms how we communicate, learn, entertain ourselves, and relate to one
another and how we understand ourselves as human beings. Furthermore, the sense that new technologies
are being developed and implemented at an increasingly rapid pace has an impact on human identities,
communities, and political structures. As a result, our responsibilities to one another, our opportunities for
self-realization, and our ability to positively impact the world are intricately tied to and shaped by how we
engage with the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This revolution is not just happening to us—
we are not its victims—but rather we have the opportunity and even responsibility to give it structure and
purpose.

As economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, this revolution could yield
greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. As automation substitutes for labor
across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between
returns to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it is also possible that the displacement of workers
by technology will, in aggregate, result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs.

All previous industrial revolutions have had both positive and negative impacts on different
stakeholders. Nations have become wealthier, and technologies have helped pull entire societies out of
poverty, but the inability to fairly distribute the resulting benefits or anticipate externalities has resulted in
global challenges. By recognizing the risks, whether cybersecurity threats, misinformation on a massive scale
through digital media, potential unemployment, or increasing social and income inequality, we can take the
steps to align common human values with our technological progress and ensure that the Fourth Industrial
Revolution benefits human beings first and foremost.

We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge from this new revolution. However,
I am convinced of one thing—that in the future, talent, more than capital, will represent the critical factor of
production.

With these fundamental transformations underway today, we have the opportunity to proactively
shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution to be both inclusive and human-centered. This revolution is about
much more than technology—it is an opportunity to unite global communities, to build sustainable economies,
to adapt and modernize governance models, to reduce material and social inequalities, and to commit to
values-based leadership of emerging technologies.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is therefore not a prediction of the future but a call to action. It
is a vision for developing, diffusing, and governing technologies in ways that foster a more empowering,
collaborative, and sustainable foundation for social and economic development, built around shared values of
the common good, human dignity, and intergenerational stewardship. Realizing this vision will be the core
challenge and great responsibility of the next 50 years.
Using your own words, minimum of 6 sentences. Answer the following questions.

1. How do you define Information and Communication Technology?

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2. List down the components of ICT. Describe the functions of each component.

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3. As a student, how does Information and Communication Technology affect you?

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 4. What are the industrial revolution occurred in history. Explain each and differentiate it from one
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Thank you and God Bless!