Digital Divide

Digital Divide

 

'The digital divide refers to the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all' - wikipedia

 

War, Poverty, Electricity/power

 

War:

Often war can affect a countries ability to join in with the current technology state. There are countries that will find themselves involved in wars often and others were the people will see one war in their life time if that. This means that these countries who are always facing wars have to constantly buy equipment and pay money to rebuild there country after a war. The money the country has is being put into this and so they do not have the money to supply everyone with technology as they are not in a financial state to.

 

 

Approaches to tackling the divide:

 

New forms of enterprise, new types of skills, new sources of wealth and new forms of social interaction - these are among the benefits of the "Information Society". Businesses and governments alike promote the new technologies for the benefits they will bring.

Many people, mostly those already poor or socially disadvantaged in some other way, cannot or do not have access to the new technologies and the opportunities these bring. And this basically puts these peole on the wrong side of the ‘digital divide’

Arizona state has contracted with 9 leading telecoms providers to develop the service.  In this way the network is being "pushed" out to the communities. The "pull" factor comes from the state encouraging, and financially supporting, local authorities, tribal governments, health and education providers and the not-for-profit sector to aggregate demand.

 The first step consists in providing access. Income is the decisive variable in this challenge.

Projects like One Laptop per Child and 50x15 are nevertheless a positive steps in reducing the divide, since they started a competition for the provision of cheaper access equipment. They tend to rely heavily upon open standards and free open source software.

One of the main challenge in overcoming the digital divide is to widen the influence of the respective policies from those carried out by telecommunications authority, to the entire public sector.

 

Education:

 

 The parts of the world that have a large amount of internet access is the western world, the United States, Europe and Northern Asia, where as access is more restricted in the poorer less developed parts of the world such as Africa, India and southern parts of Asia.  These poorer nations are unable to afford the initial start up cost to be able to invest into technology to allow their nation to be able to have and maintain internet access. By a country not having internet access, it means that schools are unable to teach IT skills and take advantage of the vast amount of information available on the web.With a lack of IT skills people from these countries are unable to compete at an international level. The lack of available teaching equipment in schools also means it is harder for the teachers to give the students all the possible research and knowledge, and it also creates the problem of students not being able to do indepedant research. 

One area of focus was school computer access. In the 1990s, better resourced schools were much more likely to provide their students with regular computer access; and, at the end of the decade, these schools were much more likely to have internet access

Technology offers a unique opportunity to extend learning support beyond the classroom

Given that developing countries do not have access to extensive educational opportunities, there is still a great need for technological education. Technology has the potential to greatly contribute to the building of developing areas. By bridging the digital divide, it is possible for poverty-stricken regions to enhance communication with other countries, therefore offering economic, social, and political opportunities.

One school of thought holds that, as the internet becomes progressively more sophisticated, the digital divide is growing, that those to whom it is least available are being left behind. Countries with a wide availability of Internet access can advance the economics of that country on a local and global scale. In Western society commerce, and social interaction generally, is almost entirely Internet dependant to a lesser or greater extent.

 

Divide between young and old:

 

 The internet is growing at a significant rate.  Many companies are moving their activities onto the internet, and new businesses are being developed that operate purely on the internet.  There is a vast amount of information available on the net and social networking sites allow friends and family to keep in touch.  There is a significant divide present between the older and younger generation.  “Only 34 percent of the 34.5 million Americans over age 65 use the Internet compared to 89 percent of 18 to 28 year-olds and 86 percent of 29 to 40 year-olds.” The older generation didn’t have the internet through their education, so where never taught IT skills.  This leaves senior citizens out of touch with society, friends and family on the internet, businesses and information for a large proportion of the population

 

One laptop per child:

 

A small machine with a big mission. The XO is a potent learning tool designed and built especially for children in developing countries, living in some of the most remote environments. It’s about the size of a small textbook. It has built-in wireless and a unique screen that is readable under direct sunlight for children who go to school outdoors. It’s extremely durable, brilliantly functional, energy-efficient, and fun.

 

http://blog.laptop.org/2010/05/15/on-afghanistan-2/

http://www.haitipartners.org/2010/08/xo-laptop-helps-healing/

The effect of ICT on the way we entertain ourselves

The effect of ICT on the way we entertain ourselves

There are many ways that ICT has changed the ways we can entertain ourselves and the many different ways that are now available. With the use of these technologies, the ways in which we can entertain ourselves has dramatically increased. The development of these technologies has meant that many people stay inside, watch TV, play online games etc. Therefore you could say that the amount of leisure activities that people do have decreased, so people may argue that in some ways ICT has disadvantages in terms of the changes in entertainment.

Multi-channel digital television:

This is basically the wide range of chanels that are now available, either from the freeview services or subsribtion to a satellite service. Also included in these services are dozens of 'radio' channels; radio 1,2,3 and 4.

Advantages:  There is a lot of choice, there are so many channels now available, and different interests available, such as sports, science, travel, etc.
Disadvantages: The quality is not always good as with so much air time to fill, it is often hard for braodacaster to find good quality material to fill all those hours of viewing.

Computer games

Computer games are now available for free online or you can buy good quality high definiton games to play. Virtual words, online competitions, and lots more are popular as they allow people to play things or take part in online things that are their common interest. Virtual worlds and games allow people to enter a whole new world when they log in to the site, where they can be a different person and live in an online world, where they can go to virtual weddings, parties, and even funerals.You can buy specialised games machines that hook up to a television or you can use the Internet to play online games with thousands of other people who are also online with you.

Advantages: Very involving and good fun to play with your friends
Disadvantages: Can be so distracting that 'real life' relationships and demands on your time can suffer. Addictive - there have been news stories reporting that gaming can be a very serious problem for some people who are not able to balance this form of gaming with 'real life'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4173396.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4424528.stm

Music

Now we can easily access music and store in a variety of ways. The invention of the Compact Disc made a huge leap in sound quality and now we are able to record our music straight on to a computer. We can pay for a music track in an online music store and download it to our ipod/mp3.

Advantages: Many ways of listening to our music - on the move or through our living room Hi-Fi.
Disadvantages: The music industry is so concerned about illegal copying that Digtial Rights Management (DRM) methods have become common and these can sometimes cause a problem when trying to listen to perfectly legal music.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4750744.stm

Although these are all good things that ICT has done to help us enjoy ourselves, it is also stopping us from socializing, sport activities, hobbies and much more as it has begun to 'take over our lives.'

The effect of ICT on the way we work

The effect of ICT on the way we work

The use of technology has greatly changed the way people work. There are many advantages and benefits that ICT has had on people's working lives.

 

One of the main things that has become popular in the last year, is the invention of the blackberry. This is a relatively new phone, and has become extremely popular in the past year, it is a smartphone and is mainly thought of as the 'business phone.' Many company's give their employees a blackberry as their compnay phone, due to the fact they can check, recieve and send emails wherever they are & they have access to the web, so they can be doing work whilst travelling, while at home and literally wherever they are. The BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone today. This has had an impact on the way people work as it has made working whilst travelling a lot easier, especially for people who commute to work, it means they do not have to carry a bulky laptop. It also means that you can always keep an eye on what is happening in your business and people can easily contact you and alert you of information. The emails are recieved as if you were recieving a text so immediately appear so you know you have one with out signing in on the internet.

 

The new story below talks about how blackberry phones are always developing and how they have become widely used in businesses and are the ideal phone for a businessman to have

http://free-pressrelease-distribution.com/blackberry-phones-the-best-phones-for-your-business-2747277.html

Also the improvements on the way we can communicate via the use of ICT have also affected the way people work. They synchrous ways we have of communicating now mean that a message can be sent to someone and you will get an instant reply. This is useful as it means communcating has been made easier and also the speed of communicating has increased, so a conversation with someone can be fast. This benefits many employees who need to easily contact people, self employed people would probably not benefit from this method as much e.g a builder. Someone like a journalist would benefit from this improvement in speed of communicating, as they could easily send an article or news story to someone quickly and know that it would be there in the next minute. It also means people on the other side of the world can be easily communicated and often businesses have businesses partners or companies they have some relation to in another part of the world.

It has also had an affect on the way work is done in shops as it has made their lives alot easier. All tills are automated and often extremely simple to use so the worker only has to push a few buttons for the transaction to happen. Also all items are swiped and have a bar code so that the product is instantly recognised and the price immediately appears, this has meant the process of selling items has become alot easier and far less time consuming making both the employees and customers lives easier. Also at exits in shops they have security alarms on the door so that if you walk out of the shop without paying for an item this will be picked up by the detecors and an alarm will go off. There is now CCTV in most places especially shops often with someone watching the cameras constantly, this means that if they catch someone shop lifting or vandelising they can be caught and there is then proof. This has meant that security in shops is alot tighter making the employees feel safer, which is a big benefit as everyone wants to feel safe when they are at work.

 

 



The effect of ICT on the way we bank and shop

The effect of ICT on the way we bank and shop

Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.

-Wikipedia

Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time, without an intermediary service, over the Internet. If an intermediary service is present the process is called electronic commerce.

-Wikipedia

Online Banking

Online banking helps the majority of people now as it means they can check their bank accounts, make transaction and pay bills wherever they are and without leaving the house to travel to the nearest bank. ICT has made many people's lives easier by providing this 'online bank' from the comfort of their own home. It is a very benefitial use of ICT.

Online banking is convenient - 

-It allows you to perform transactions, pay bills and check balances 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

The bank virtually never closes because it is as accessible as your PC or laptop computer.

-No matter where you are in the country or in the world, you can visit your online bank and handle money matters.

-You can even schedule to pay several payees ahead of time rather than keeping up with paper bills or trying to remember when to visit a payee's web site to make an online payment. Your bank will automatically send the payments on your behalf in the amounts and on the dates you specify.

- Also it is fast, efficient and effective.

-Through the internet, transactions are typically performed and executed at a faster rate than ATM's.

Online banking does have its disadvantages-

-The main issue for most people is that of trust. They may wonder if their transaction went through successfully or if they clicked on the correct button.

-Online banking sites can also take a while to start up and can be difficult to learn at first. 

-It may take a while to learn how to use your banking site. Most if not all banks will offer an online banking tutorial. Some even offer live customer support for online banking via chat, email, or phone.

-Sometimes fraud can happen due to online banking, and this worries many people and banks.

-There are some fraud or proxy websites, which can hack information (user name and password) entered by a person for some transaction, and later misuse it. In such cases, people lose their money without knowing and by the time, they get the bill, huge loses may have been incurred.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100929/tuk-police-question-19-over-online-banki-dba1618.html

Up to £6 million has been taken from online accounts in just three months by a gang of computer hackers.

Online Shopping

Online shopping is a very popular online activity allowing people to order clothes, films, food, games and practically anything you can think of online. The main reason this is so popular as it means it can all be done by the comfort of your home. e.g a mum could do a whole weeks food shopping online via a site such as ocado  which links with waitrose, and this can be delivered the next day, which is alot easier than spending a couple of hours in a supermarket. With regards to clothing many people find it useful as you can easily find your size, colour and favourite item of clothing, that you might see online and have never seen in your local shop before. There are online shops such as 'Asos' which is only available online, which includes designer clothing, clothes from well known shops and their own clothes too with a wide range of prices so it appeals to everyone. ICT has made shopping in general for everyone individual alot easier as it allows you to browse the majority of shops online without the hassle of going to a busy shop. Also by shopping online it also means you can usually get the best deals and sales as a lot of the items online often become discounted and on most sites there are usually on line sales of up to 70% off on clothes. Many food shopping websites also show the best deals on a certain product which is a lot easier as you can't search round the whole supermarket looking for the best deal and online it means the computer does it for you.

Ebay- an online online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide.It  is another form of online shopping and selling which is done through the method of bidding for items. It allows you to sell items online, which you put on at a certain price and then people can bid above this price, it also allows you to bid for other items, but obviously you have no gurante you are going to get this item until the bidding has finished. It is an easy fast and free site to use, the only costs are when you are buying things and when you are selling, as you have to pay a small price of about 50p in order for your item, a description and picture to be posted. This website is very popular worldwide as it allows them to almost go to a 'boot sale' or 'auction' but online from the comfort of them home. It benefits people and the society and it allows them to put items that they no longer need and are not sure how to get rid of them online and sell them for the price they want. The disadvantage is you can't always guarante you are going to sell the item and then in the end you can waste at least £5 putting items on that don't sell and get no interest. It is best to look through the site and see what items are popular and the fast selling items/the ones in demand.

Another type of popular site is amazon which is an American-based multinational electronic commerce company and is America's largest online retailer. Amazon is a site which sells everything you could need, everytype of electrical item to every type beauty item, both new and used, and at a range of prices. It is another site where it allows you to both sell and buy and it differs from ebay as you cannot bid for items, the price you see is the price you pay. This is a site which has become extremely popular as it allows students and adults to purchase old and new books and cheaper prices, which is great for students studying as they will easily find the book they need and at a cheap price. Amazon buy alot of items of other businesses/companies and share the profits so this benefits both amazon and the company as they are both earning a profit and the comany is becoming known as Amazon is such a well known site.

 This image shows a list of books on amazon, this a search for AS books, and a list of 13,000 books covering all lessons/subjects. e.g in this list there are books for biology, maths and pyscology. For the pyscology book there is a list of 17 new from £10.28 and 8 old from £12.68. So as you can see the site offers you a wide range of selection on books aswell as price, so you are guaranteed to find the book you are looking for.

There are also now uses of ICT in stores to make the shopping easier, such as tills and chip and pin machines, these make life easier for both the cashier and the customer. Chip and Pin machines mean that a customer can easily pay by card, so doesn't always have to have cash or a check book on them as the money is taken straight from their acount. There are also the self checkout services which allow people to check and and pay themselves without going to a cashier, as they scan the items themselves, and then pay by cash or card, the whole method is computerized. This is a useful system to both the supermarket and customers as it means less employees would be needed if the system is all computerized and it is a quicker and more efficient way. The issues with this service are you cannot purchase alcohol or cigarettes without checking with a member of staff where they will scan their card in order to give the machiene permission to accept you, this can often take time as you need to be able to find a member of staff to do this for you.

Computer systems are used in a variety of ways in the modern, large supermarket,from stock control to maintaining temperatures in fridges and freezers.

The bar codes on products are read by the EPOS tills at the checkouts. This isachieved by using a scanner, which sends out infra-red laserbeams via a set of mirrors, enabling the bar code to be read at most angles.

The latest in store development has been the arrival of smart card readers at the EPOS. A debit card with a smart chip is placed in the reader and the customer then enters their PIN to authorise the money being taken out.In terms of stock control There are, in fact, six branch computers linked to the EPOS terminals at the checkouts. They all record information about items sold and provide backup for each other. If only one computer was used and it broke down, the supermarket could not function. These branch computers are linked via the satellite links to a large main compute at the supermarket's head office elsewhere in the country. 

Located at each checkout is an epos till:

Epos- Electronic point of sale. They are found in almost all major retail stores, businesses, restaurants etc, they are popular because they give businesses a fast and convenient way of transacting a sale, while at the same time recording vital business information. They handle the calculations involved in sales and issue receipts these have been the main function of normal tills. EPoS systems, do this and a lot more.

There are many types of epos hardware the main ones including:

Barcode Scanners , Cash Draws, Chip and Pin, Customer Displays, Keyboards, Mobile PDA's (for mobile EPoS integration), Printers, Tablets, Weighing Scales

Advantages of Online Shopping- 

-Online shopping is accessible round the clock. You can buy whatever you want even at 3 a.m. in the morning.

-You can choose from a wider variety of things available for you to shop which may not be available in your local stores.

-You also have the benefit to do all from the comfort of your own home.

-In addition, unlike local stores, you can avail discount coupons and get a thing at a lower rate when shopping online.

-Also, when you are buying gifts, online shopping is the perfect way to send your distant friends or relatives the gift you wanted to send.

-When it comes to payment, you can use anyone's credit card when shopping online.Websites are secure these days with powerful encryption procedures that keep your identity safe and secure.

-Overall it is simple, easy, and hassle free to do

Disadvantages of Online Shopping-

-Although online shopping is 24/7 available, you cannot feel or touch items rather can just see what is present on a webpage

-This also means that you can order a size and if it is the wrong size or doesn't suit you, you have the hassle of sending it back.

-The most common grumble people have with online stores is regarding warranties and some sort of guarantees, which they fail to offer in most cases

-It very normal that many online stores don't accept cash or checks, although some sites do, you still have to use the credit cards. When purchasing online, billing errors are the common things you may encounter whereas in local stores these errors are nearly impossible.

-Also sometimes your computer or the site may freeze and you can't work out if you have purchased the item or not until you check your bank

-Sometimes the orders are not always accurate and you don't get all the items you required wether it be food, clothes, games or books

Effect of ICT on our personal and social life

The Effect of ICT on our personal and social life

ICT has made socialising with friends a lot easier and cheaper, it has also added a great deal to what we do in our free time, and how we now share our personal life with the internet.

The internet is one of the main ways we now socialise simply because its easy and basically free, wether it be the internet on our phone or via the internet on computers/laptops we can talk to our friends wherever we are. Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Blogs, Skype are all methods of how we socialise with friends online.

In a way it has taken over people's lives as a lot of people find it hard to go a day without checking their facebook/emails or blogs.

The rapid increase in the use of computers is having an enormous impact on our lives. Our modern way of living simply could not exist if this modern technology were removed. We almost rely on ICT as our way of living, wether it's employment/work, education or socialising.

Facebook is a very popular social networking site and has had a big impact on both our social and personal life. We can easily communicate with friends and family aswell as making new friends, for free via the internet on our laptops, computer, ipads, ipod, phones, etc. This has had both benefits and disadvantages. Many people spend a lot of time on facebook wether it be socialising, updating their profile, contacting someone, but a lot of people would say they waste time on facebook and often stops them doing their work. The majority of students/teenagers asked would say they spend most of their evening on facebook instead of doing work, and at the same time as watching t.v. In terms of privacy it is not as private as people may think and it is not a safe site to use as facebook are not concerned with keeping our information private, they sell our details to their commercial partners so that we can then be identified with relevant information/ advertisments relating to our age/gender/personality.

The news story below describes this and tells us about what facebook is really interested in.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/12/schneier_rsa_keynote_facebook/

Because of the lack of privacy many things that people post on these social networking sites can be seen by friends, family, employees, this has lead to arguments between people, and it can even lead to be loosing their jobs as a result of their manager or a colleauge seeing something inapropraite they have posted. Due to facebook being easy to use and free it means it is popular but is this a good thing? it has had a big impact on our lives as it has almost taken over our lives in terms of how much time we now spend on the internet. Especially now it has become available and phones and ipods it means these sites can be accessed wherever you are, being able to speak to people and updating their status's to let people know they are 'currently in town' which really nobody needs to know but it has become a habit and a way of life

The article below talks about how facebook is 'a waste of time'

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23414075-facebooks-a-waste-of-time---get-used-to-it.do

The issue with people spending more and more time on the internet and these sites means they are spending less time actually communicating face to face, doing their work or just reading a book. If this carries on which it most likely will as ICT develops further then who knows what the future holds.

On the right is a questionnaire asking questions about facebook in order for me to get peoples opinions on the site. I surveyed 10 people which included both family and friends so i got a range of results.

-On average 6 people surveyed said they spent 3-5 hours on facebook a day, 3 people said 0-2 hours and 1 person said 5+ hours. Gernally the people spending the most time on facebook were younger.

-I also asked wether the privacy issues bothered them 2 of them said no, 2 said yes and the rest said they didn't realise there were risks involved and their information wasn't safe.

The survey was interesting as it proved my point that facebook has become a big part of our lives but it is also quite worrying that the majority of people don't realise their are risks involved.

Ipads have made it possible for people to read books via this as apposed to reading a hard back book, this is very popular as it means one light thing can contain 30 books instead of carrying 30 heavy books on holiday which would take up the whole of your suitcase weight. Aswell as being able to read books you can also access newspapers, so it means all you really need to carry on a day out is your ipad. It allows you access to emails, the web, vidoes and pictures, so there is no need for anything else if you have one of these. There are many advantages to this use of ICT. In future books will not be needed and everything could be controlled by the use of ICT.

GPS-  the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information in all weather and at all times and anywhere on or near the Earth when and where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites

GPS has made travelling from one place to another alot easy, wether it be by car, bike or foot, you will be told where you are, where your destination is and how to get there. Many new cars now have a GPS fitted in the car and a lot of other people will buy one that you can easily fit into your car. No matter how far you are travelling you will be guided by a voice via the device.

There are many advantages to a GPS, It is fast speed, leads u in right direction, helps improve mapping skills, makes navagation easier, you can be found easier if in danger or in accident, plugs into your car cigeratte lighter, it tells you if there are speed cameras and it lets you know what roads are closed. Also there are disadvantages cellular devices can track other cellular device users, not very cheap, people focus on GPS more than road = accidents, should be used as backup map but used as 1st resource, needs good care and handling, external power and some need batteries (handheld ones)

Effect of ICT on the way we communicate

Effect of ICT on the way we communicate

ICT has had a big impact on the way we communicate in every day life. It has effected how the majority of businesses and young people now communicate. SMS, email, chat and digital voice and mobile videophones have now become the way to communicate. Because of ICT and these communication devices it is now possible to keep in touch with people anywhere aswell as being able to work & play anywhere aswell.
ICT has improved and devloped so much and we are now very forunate because of the amount of ways we can easily communicate with people all over the world.

Phones are one of the biggest effect ICT has had on the way we communicate. The mobile phone allows you to communicate with people wherever you are. All phones can now easily send texts because of sms and mms, and the majority will take videos and pictures. Most phones will also now connect to the internet, you will be able to use video calling, and things such as skype. Other apps such as IM on phones have also become very popular as you pay a certain amount to get the app, and then can talk to your friends as much as you like for free.

The 'blackberry' has become the phone for businesses to give their employees, they are a revolution in smartphone technology, making staying connected in business and personal lives easier than ever before. It allows people to check their emails and reply to them whereever they are, whether its travelling to/from work or just at home. Other phones such as the 'iphone' allows people to commuicate with others via the internet, facebook chat, whatsapp, ping, video call and lots more wherever you are. This use of ICT has meant that many people can easily talk to family and friends and most of the time this is for free as these apps come free with the contract you pay for.

 Important dates for mobile phone history:

The first commercial telephone calls were made in 1912

1946- The first mobile phone weighed 76lbs (34kg).

1985 saw the emergence of shoulder phones which operated with more than 20kg worth of batteries… which is why they were used mostly in cars.

The first call ever placed on a commercial GSM (Global Standard for Mobile) phone was on 1 July 1991

SMS - the Short Message Service - was launched in 1994

April 1999 saw the emergence of the first mobiles able to send email and use the web.

Today we have picture phones, multimedia video messaging and 3G handsets. Mobile phones have become a massive part of our lives, so much so that you sometimes wonder how you got by without one!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-463162/MPs-log-laptops-sit--Commons.html

This article talks about how MP's are allowed to access their blackberrys or laptops to send e-mails and texts while in the Commons chamber.

Computers are used by most people everyday, and have become a part of our everyday living, they are used for so many things that living without them now would be bascially impossible. There are many different ways that the internet on computers makes communication possible, it can be done via email, IM chats such as msn, social networking sites, e.g. facebook, blogs e.g. twitter being a main one for communication and many more. This wide range of choices means that it is possible for anyone and everyone to talk to people via the use of computers/internet. The advantages of this is that it allows you to speak to family and friends in countrys abroard, whether they live there or are on holiday, it means you can keep up to date with what people are doing, and it saves alot of money that you would normally spend texting or via phone call. Via the computer Skype and chat rooms can be used, skype allows you to video call people and chat via a live webcam, chat rooms are where you can be involved in a chat with a group of people. Skype has also now become available on the iphone as one of the new apps available.
The first electronic computers were only constructed around 50 years ago and were used during the war to calculate firing tables for field guns and to crack German codes. They used glass tubes called valves and the machines filled large rooms. They consumed huge amounts of electrical power and their processing power was tiny by today’s standards.

Laptops are now extremely popular especially for businessmen or travellers, they are small and easy to cary and their are many bags that now mean your laptop will fit easily inside. Laptops are another way that people communicate with others, and it is sometimes easier as you can take your laptop wherever you want. Laptops mean that communication with people is possible wether you are on a train, in bed, watching t.v or away at a hotel. ICT is making communication easier all the time as new things are being invented, smaller laptops are always being invented, and apple are always developing new ideas- apple mac and now even the ipad.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1229106/The-week-I-tried-unfriend-Facebook-Could-log-entire-online-life.html

This article is about how Lily Allen tried to leave her 'online life' for a whole week to spend more time with her boyfriend, which was hard as it meant she could no longer easily connect with the whole world.

ICT has given us the internet which is the main form of communication, it can be used via phones, computers, games consoles, ipads and now virtually everything we can think of. Where ever and when ever it is not possible for you to access the internet easily. Internet on phones and hand held devices has made it easy for businesses, employees and friends to chat, it is a device which now means people spend even more times on their phones as they have everything they need- the ability to text and use the internet: facebook & emails being the most popular uses.

Games devices have become extremely popular especially since people can now use the internet to either chat with friends or to play against friends or anyone who is online.

ICT has had mainly a positive effect on the way we communicate, as it has made it easier & cheaper. The only drawbacks would be that now because there are so many different ways of communicating without meeting face to face, a lot of people tend to just communicate over the internet or by texting as this is now easier than arranging to meet up.

Topics

the effect of ICT on:

-the way we communicate
-the way we bank and shop
-their personal and social life
-the way people work
-the way we entertain ourselves

Online Education

There are many types of online education now available for students which makes independant studying, revision and all work easier because of the range of sites.

Mymaths

Mymaths is an online maths site providing you with resources, including online tests and lessons, and maths games. Often schools make set online homeworks that can be done on this website and you also have your own 'portal' where you will find the work you've been set. This site includes the four main headings 'Number' 'Algebra' 'Shape' & 'Data' which will include all of the work covered in GCSE and Alevel maths.

The picture on the right is what the site looks like once i have logged into the site using my schools login.---->

<---This picture shows what my 'portal' looks like and shows the homework i have got left to do and the amount of days left i have to do it.

This is the type of site that can be used in everyday life as a way of learning and revising maths as well as testing yourself using the online tests/homework. It is a good site to be used often because it offers such a range of maths resources and useful exercises.

When clicking on 'results' it comes up with a list of all the tasks i have recently done and how long i have left on them and what percentage i got when i did them. A green face means i scored a good percentage, an orange face, means i did well but should try again and a red face means i got less than 50% and i need to try again.

The site offers a newsfeed where any news about courses, games, worksheets and just about maths is posted for students, parents and teachers to read about. This offers helpful notices as it is useful for the students to check to know any extra points about the website.

The games on the website are useful as they are a fun way of learning and often help make you understand a certain topic more. The are a great range of games to choose from, ones that both girls and boys would enjoy.

The image on the left shows the list of games that are offered and for each subject there are about 3/4 games.

The image above shows 'bearings snooker' one of the games used for the algebra topic

There are many advantages to this site mainly as i've said it offers students many maths resources all relevant to what they are learning. The lessons are useful as they take you through step by step on how to do something as if you are being taught by a teacher. It is good to use if you have missed lessons or didn't understand something in a lesson. It is one of the most popular online maths resources. There aren't any disdadvantages to this site that i have come across as it does and offers everything you would expect it to, the only thing is sometimes the lessons aren't as detailed as they could be.

BBC Bitesize

BBC bitesize is a very popular site for online education as it offers revision, tests and games for all of the subjects studying KS1 up to higher levels including GCSE and A-Level revision.

This is an example of a 'test bite' for practising geography

For some subjects there are also videos and audio clips available, for english they offer summarys of plays in video clips to help you learn. These are very popular as students often find it easier to watch and listen to something rather than just reading it.

This is a view of a few of the available audio clips for english

The games and activities for the subjects are also popular as they allow the students to learn by doing, which often helps people to learn easily. It offers games for both boys and girls and they are fun and easy to understand but relevant to the given subject.

This game 'bingo' offers 6 differnet subjects that you can learn whilst playing a game

Another thing bbc bitesize now offers is the application to get revision and tests on your mobile so that you can learn on the go, whilst traveling, or at night in bed. This is popular amongst students as they get to revise whilst using their mobile phones.

This type of website is used in everyday life as a revision and learning tool both at home and school and has become very popular with both teachers and students.

There are many advantages to this site mainly it being free, easy to use, and offering a huge range of revision resources on all lessons. The only problems can be that it may not cover a particular topic in a subject and it does not cover all the examining boards so you can end up looking over the wrong sylabus.

Social Networking

Social Networking. . . It's the way the 21st century communicates today.

Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online. Social networking is used my the majority of people and there are many types of popular sites: 'facebook' 'myspace' 'bebo' and many more.

Early social networking communication began in 1994 and this began in the form of generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com.

Facebook

Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.

It was launched in 2004 and is the world's largest social networking site with more than 500 million active users which is about 1 person for every 14 in the world. It allows you to view other friends page, chat to them, write on their 'wall' and chat via IM on the website. This site is very popular as it allows you to easily communicate with friends and family for free, this can either be done by posting a comment on their 'wall' which is there profile page meaning it will be public for everyone to see, you can instant message them via the chat application in the right hand corner, and you can also send private messages if you do not want people to view what you say. Facebook also offers a range of games you play via facebook, there are simulation games such as 'farmville' where you can run your own farm, by looking after the animals and cutting the crops.

This shows how you can comment on someones 'wall'

                             This is how the IM chat appears.

This is what the private message looks like

It is used by people in every day life as a way of communicating, as it is free and very simple, it is also now a popular way of socialising online. Also people can keep up to date with what other people are doing via people's status updates, which is where you can write anything you want about what you are doing, your feelings, or anything you like. 

There are many advantages to facebook, it allows you to search for new and old friends, it could be that you are trying to get in contact with someone from your primary school. It can be used as a way to make new friends, to find someone to be in a relationship with so as a form of online dating, or just keep in touch with friends and family. Can make it easy to find people with similar likes and dislikes as you can join groups on facebook, this can be a good way of meeting people with similar personalities. The best advantage is the fact it is a free easy way of communication. With any site as well as advantages there are always disadvantages, stalking is possible on facebook as people can see what you are doing, and even now can see where you are via certain applications. Your account can also be hacked and people can pretend to be you, security on facebook is getting stricter but it is possible for this to happen or for people to impersonate you. The fact people can see what you are saying and doing means that it can often cause arguments and conflict between people and groups of people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1189143/Facebook-forced-lift-ban-theyd-imposed-breast-cancer-victims-sexual-abusive-mastectomy-scar-photos.html

This story is about  how a women had talked about how fight against breast cancer and had also uploaded photographs of her scar, but these photos were later removed as facebook claimed they were 'sexual and abusive'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/.../Teacher-killed-boyfriend-post-naked-pictures-Facebook.html

This story is about how a teacher killed herself due to her boyfriend posting indecent photos of her on facebook.

Bebo

Bebo is another type of social networking site, it is a free easy way of communicating with people, and was set up in 2005. Sign up to Bebo is easy and only takes seconds, you have the chance to edit your profile saying about yourself and adding photos. Their are many similarites between Bebo and facebook like you can easily to talk to people by message, but it does not have an IM application on the page but you can link your windows messenger, aim and skype to your bebo page so that people can add you and talk via one of those services. On bebo you can create a timeline where you add pictures from each month adding comments about them and it creates your own personal timeline. Overall on bebo you can create your 'life story' using this timeline, talking about yourself, adding photos and lots more!

 Bebo is used in everyday life as a way of communication between people. Some people also

like using it everyday so they can update their profile as a sort of way of blogging. It is a very popular way to communicate and it because part of peoples daily lives as it is something they need to always check like you would your emails.

The picture above shows your profile and will talk you through how you can edit it and write about yourselves.
The picture on the right shows the 'timline' that can be created.

There are advantages and disadvantages to Bebo as with all sites. One of the main advantages is that it is great for socialising and it is a free way of communicating with friends and family all over the world. It is an easy site to use and there are many different applications to use including games, music, viewing people's sites. It is also an easy site to maintain and is a secure and safe site, which means you don't have to be worried about your information. The disadvantages of this site are that it can be quite slow, and sometimes things don't always work. Also people have said that sometimes strangers do add you to their friends lists without your permission, which can be quite scary. Some say that it is trying to turn into facebook but have more to do but at the moment it is found by some quite boring. Overall it seems like a good and interesting site to use and an easy way to communicate and share & view photos and profiles.