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, teamworking 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 emailing 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?
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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?