Why study ICT?
ICT is an acronym that stands for Information Communications Technology ICT education is taking the world by a storm. Companies are becoming more and more aware of the need for employees the keep up to date with the most current IT skills.
However, apart from explaining an acronym, there is not a universally accepted defininition of ICT? Why? Because the concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Its difficult to keep up with the changes - they happen so fast.
Lets focus on the three words behind ICT:
- INFORMATION
- COMMUNICATIONS
- TECHNOLOGY
A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations use information.
ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots.
So ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other.
IT capability at school
IT capability at school age includes :
- understanding of how information is structured in a database;
- skills in carrying out a search on the World Wide Web with sensitivity to meaning, accuracy of data and reliability of sources;
- understanding of how computers can simulate real processes e.g. predator-prey relationships;
- skills in using software e.g. word processing or e-mail to communicate effectively;
- understanding that ICT can be used to control things;
- knowledge of how to use ICT securely, with consideration of the feelings of other people, their rights to privacy and ownership of material.
