E-communications
MODULE 2.3
E-communications
MODULE 2.3
Content
• INTRODUCTION
• USES OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
• USING THE WEB EFFICIENTLY
• NEW TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES
• TEST AND IMPROVE
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Introduction
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Strengths and advantages of digital
communication
• EASY TO COMMUNICATE DIGITALLY
• CONNECT AND COMMUNICATE WORLDWIDE
• USED WHERE YOU ARE ON MULTIPLE DEVICES
• FASTER THAN CONVENTIONAL METHODS
• CAN SAVE YOU MONEY ON TRAVEL
• CHEAPER THAN OLDER FORMS OF COMMUNICATION
• CONTENT TO VAST AUDIENCES
• MULTIPLE MEDIA TYPES IN COMMUNICATION SESSION
• A RECORD’ OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
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Weaknesses, disadvantages and limitations of
digital communications
• DEPENDS ON INTERNET COVERAGE AND INTERNET SPEED
• REQUIRE OTHER PEOPLE TO BE CONNECTED DIGITALLY
• RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT AND HIGH DATA COSTS IN SA
• HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY ISSUES MIGHT OCCUR
• DEPENDS ON THE SKILL AND CONFIDENCE OF THE USER
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Good practices when using digital
communications
• KEEP TIME ZONES IN MIND.
• KEEP DIFFERENCES IN BANDWIDTH (COST, SPEED AND CAP) IN MIND.
• DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE LARGELY IMPERSONAL AND FACELESS
(EXCEPT VIDEO CONFERENCING).
• YOU CANNOT ‘UNDO’ SOMETHING YOU HAVE SAID OR TYPED.
• INTERNET IS A VERY PUBLIC PLACE.
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Uses of
digital communications
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E-mail
• THE COMPOSING, SENDING AND RECEIVING OF MESSAGES
ELECTRONICALLY OVER A NETWORK INCLUDING THE INTERNET.
• SENDING AND RECEIVING OF E-MAIL MESSAGES.
• GMAIL AND OUTLOOK HAVE A CALENDAR, CONTACT LIST, TASKS LIST
AND ARCHIVE FEATURES TO HELP YOU TO BE ORGANISED.
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E-mail - Calendar
• REMINDERS ABOUT EVENTS,
BIRTHDAYS OR APPOINTMENTS
• SYNC THESE WITH YOUR
SMARTPHONE OR TABLET
• YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR
SCHEDULE WHEREVER YOUR ARE
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E-mail - Tasks
• ADD TASKS TO A ‘TO-DO’ LIST.
• ASSIGN A DUE DATE.
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E-mail – Contact list
• ADDRESS BOOK OR CONTACTS LIST
• WHERE YOU STORE EMAIL ADDRESSES AND OTHER CONTACT DETAILS
• IT CAN BE CONFIGURED TO AUTOMATICALLY ADD EMAIL ADDRESSES TO
THE LIST WHEN YOU USE THEM
• CONTACTS CAN BE ORGANISED INTO GROUPS (DISTRIBUTION LISTS)
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E-mail – Archiving
• TIDY UP YOUR INBOX BY MOVING MESSAGES FROM YOUR INBOX
TO AN ARCHIVE FOLDER WITHOUT DELETING THEM.
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Social networking sites
• PEOPLE, INSTITUTIONS AND COMPANIES USE SOCIAL
NETWORKS TO
• STAY IN TOUCH AND COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS
ALL OVER THE WORLD
• ADVERTISE AND MARKET PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
• NETWORK WITH PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS
• COMMUNICATE NEWS ABOUT AN ORGANISATION
OR CLUB
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Creating a profile on Facebook
• GO TO THE FACEBOOK WEBSITE (WWW.FACEBOOK.COM) AND
FOLLOW THE EASY INSTRUCTIONS TO SIGN UP.
• SUPPLY AN E-MAIL ADDRESS.
• ONCE YOU HAVE SIGNED IN, YOU CAN START ADDING YOUR
PROFILE INFORMATION.
• NOW YOU ARE READY TO ADD ‘FRIENDS’.
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Managing your Facebook account
• SETTINGS – CHANGE YOUR
USERNAME AND PASSWORD AND
THE WAY YOU RECEIVE
NOTIFICATIONS, ETC.
• PRIVACY – LIMIT WHO CAN VIEW
YOUR INFORMATION, POST TO
YOUR WALL, WHO CAN TAG YOU
IN POSTS AS WELL WHOP CAN
SHARE YOUR POSTS.
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Blogs/vlogs
• WEBLOGS OR BLOGS ARE WEBSITES THAT ARE UPDATED OFTEN WITH NEWS
AND EVENTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL OR SEQUENTIAL ORDER.
• A VIDEO BLOG (VLOG) IS A FORM OF BLOG WHICH USES VIDEO AS THE
MEDIUM.
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Blogs are used by people and organisations
for:
Sharing personal experiences
Citizen Journalism
News blogs
Corporate information blog sites
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Publishing a blog
• THERE ARE DIFFERENT BLOG PROVIDERS OR HOSTS AVAILABLE.
• THESE ARE WEBSITES THAT ALLOW YOU TO CREATE AN
ACCOUNT, SET UP YOUR BLOG AND HOST YOUR BLOG.
• OPTIONS INCLUDE WORDPRESS, BLOGGER, WIX, SQUARESPACE,
TYPEPAD AND WEEBLY.
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Publishing a blog
• CREATE AN ACCOUNT / SIGN UP FOR A BLOG ON THE WEBSITE OF A
BLOG PROVIDER.
• DECIDE ON A NAME THAT CAN BE PART OF YOUR BLOG’S URL (YOUR
BLOG’S DOMAIN OR ‘ADDRESS ON THE HOST’S WEBSITE).
• CHOOSE YOUR THEME AND TYPE YOUR FIRST POST IN THE BLOG
EDITOR OF THE BLOG WEBSITE.
• SAVE THE DRAFT OF THE POST. WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE
POST, SELECT PUBLISH.
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Podcasts
• AUDIO FILE (OFTEN IN AN MP3 FORMAT)
• CAN BE DOWNLOADED INDIVIDUALLY /
SUBSCRIPTION
• CAN BE PRODUCED BY PROFESSIONALS OR
AMATEURS
• VIDEO PODCAST (VODCAST) INCLUDES VIDEO CLIPS
OR PHOTOS.
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Podcasts can be used
• TO DOWNLOAD RADIO SHOWS
• FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES: TUTORIALS, LECTURES OR
LESSONS
• FOR TOURISTS AND VISITORS IN PLACES OF INTEREST
SUCH AS MUSEUMS
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Wikis
• ALLOWS FOR THE COLLABORATIVE EDITING AND CREATING OF
THE CONTENT OF WEB PAGES
• TAKE THE FORM OF A WEB PAGE AND ACCESS TO THEM IS
USUALLY FREE.
• WIKIS CAN BE USED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
• CREATING COMPANY INTRANETS
• CREATING COMMUNITY WEBSITES
• MAKING CHECKLISTS AND LISTS OF THINGS TO DO
(WHEN A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE WORKING ON A
LARGE PROJECT)
• CREATING REFERENCE SITES 23
• CREATING EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
GPS technology
• SMARTPHONES, CAMERAS AND OTHER DEVICES HAVE GPS FACILITIES.
• SOME BUSINESSES USE GPS TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW THEIR USERS TO
EARN LOYALTY POINTS.
• TARGETED ADVERTISING IS WHEN BUSINESS SEND OUT UNIQUE
ADVERTISING TO THEIR CUSTOMERS AS THEY ENTER THE VICINITY OF
THEIR SHOP.
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Using the web efficiently
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Web browser
AN APPLICATION THAT ALLOWS YOU TO NAVIGATE, VIEW AND
INTERACT WITH CONTENT ON THE WEB.
• FIREFOX, GOOGLE CHROME, MICROSOFT EDGE.
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Home page settings
• IN ALL WEB BROWSERS, YOU CAN SET A DEFAULT WEB PAGE,
KNOWN AS THE HOME PAGE THAT OPENS WHEN YOU LOAD
THE WEB BROWSER.
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Bookmarks or Favorites
• THE FAVORITES OR BOOKMARKS OPTION ALLOWS A USER TO STORE
SHORTCUTS TO THE WEB PAGES THEY FREQUENTLY VISIT.
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History
• THE HISTORY OPTION ALLOWS YOU TO FIND THE WEB PAGES YOU HAVE
PREVIOUSLY VISITED. WHEN YOU CLICK THE HISTORY OPTION, IT SHOWS
A LIST OF SITES YOU HAVE VISITED. YOU CAN CONFIGURE THE LENGTH
OF TIME THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP THE HISTORY FOR.
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Pop-up blocker
• A POP-UP IS A SMALL WEB BROWSER WINDOW THAT APPEARS ON TOP
OF THE WEBSITE YOU ARE VIEWING. THEY ARE USUALLY CREATED BY
ADVERTISERS AND OFTEN OPEN AS SOON AS YOU VISIT A WEBSITE.
• POP-UP BLOCKERS ARE FEATURES OF MOST WEB BROWSERS. THEY
ALLOW YOU TO LIMIT OR BLOCK MOST POP-UPS.
Blocking of websites
Reasons for blocking websites
Avoid phishing websites
Preventing further targeting by spammers
Parents might want to prevent their children from having access to
content such as gambling and pornography 30
Caching
• WEB BROWSERS TEMPORARILY STORE WEB DOCUMENTS
SUCH AS HTML PAGES AND IMAGES ON DISK – CACHING.
• TO REDUCE BANDWIDTH USAGE AND TO ALLOW
PREVIOUSLY VISITED WEB PAGES TO LOAD QUICKER.
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Browser plug-ins
Adobe Flash QuickTime, Microsoft
Silverlight
Windows Adobe
Media Player Shockwave
plug-in Player
Web pages sometimes contains specialised content. Flash / PDF.
‘Plug-in’ that is usually free.
Increasingly browsers have the capacity to display this ‘specialised’ content
without needing plug-ins.
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Browser add-ons or extensions
Browser add-ons or extensions are useful third-party apps that can be
downloaded (often for free) to extend the functionality of a browser
beyond browsing.
Translator utilities
• To translate content
Ad blockers
• Can block ads that appear in videos and YouTube
Citation add-ons
• Will extract the necessary info from website to be used as
a source when referencing
Video capturers
• Can capture video content from website and save it in 33
video format of your choice
New trends and technologies
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Trends and technologies
• Devices that are small, have a long battery life and are
‘instantly on’
Mobile connectivity • Connectivity not limited to place or time
• Smartphones have many apps – use to access data
‘Always on’ • Access to internet ‘always on’ and always available
connectivity • A part of our daily lives
Increased • Connect at faster speeds and lower costs
bandwidth at a • Connectivity more affordable and increases the number of
lower cost people who make use of the Internet
Digitisation of • Books, magazines, newspapers, music, movies and software are
media sold in digital, downloadable formats
Distributed • Storage and processing power accessed through the internet
spread across multiple servers in different data centres around
processing and the world
storage • Cloud storage the norm: Google Drive, Apple iCloud 35
Test and improve
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