Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and

applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.1: Investigates the basic building blocks of information and their
characteristics

Time: 06 periods

Learning Outcomes:

 Defines data and outlines its life cycle

 Recognizes the need of a process to define data and information
 Recognizes the strong inter-relationship between data, process and information
 Lists various forms of data and their characteristics
 Describes the characteristics of quality data
 Illustrates the value of information
 Describes the characteristics of valuable information
 Recognizes big data, their needs and analysis
Contents:

 Life cycle of data

o Data creation
o Management
o Removal of obsolete data
 Data vs. Information
 Definition of information
 Characteristics of valuable information: timeliness, accuracy, presented within the
context, enhanced understandability and less uncertainty
 The need to handle large volumes and other complexities of data
o Introduction
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Data and Information.

 Data life cycle.
 Data and Information can be identified with respect to the processing system. In a
processing system inputs can be identified as data where outputs generated and
presented as information. Information generated by one system would be input into
another system as data.
 Value of Information and qualities of valuable information.
 Introduction to big data and their analysis.
Guidance for lesson plans:

 Illustrate data and information using a data processing system.

 Discuss how the data gathered from student admission are kept and removed when
unnecessary to stress out the life cycle of data.
 Discuss qualities of valuable information and give examples for each of them.

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  Discuss how large amount of data manipulated inside an organization and need of
the technology to overcome the barriers arise when analyzing big data.
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Give an assignment to analyze data and information from the given data processing
systems.
 Ask the student to find examples for organizations that handle big data from the
Internet.
Quality inputs:

 Internet facility, Presentations on Data and Information

30
Reading Material

The term data is used to refer raw facts and figures which are input into a system in order
to process and create meaningful information. Data consists of numbers, words, sounds
and images which neither bear a particular meaning nor have organized in order to make
decisions.

Lifecycle of data consists of data creation, management of data and removal of obsolete
data.

For the purpose of creating meaningful information, data

should be introduced into the system or create inside the
system. Keeping data securely and making them accessible
3. Removal
1. Data
of obsolete
creation
necessarily are done while management of data. Whenever
data
data will be outdated and found to be unnecessary anymore,
it’s the time to remove that data from the system. This is
known as the life cycle of data.
2. Management

Data can be identified as the inputs into a system that intents to create meaningful
information. Information can be defined as the data organized meaningfully. Creation of
information can be identified as processing of data. For the purpose of processing there
should be instructions to follow. After processing data according to the instructions given,
information is produced which is the outcome the processed data. Although information is
an output of a process the same information would be a data for another process. Thus,
data and information can be identified distinctly through examining inputs and outputs of a
particular process.

Data vs Information

Data Processing Information

Individual pieces of data are rarely useful alone. For data to become information, data
needs to be put into context.

Data can be classified into two types as quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is
numerical and acquired through counting or measuring. Quantitative data can be
presented with numbers and which can be arranged in a numerical order or can be
subjected to arithmetic process.

Qualitative data is not measurable, but can be identified their properties.

Examples:

Qualitative data – Goodwill of an organization

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Quantitative data – Marks obtained for ICT paper

Valuable information should have characteristics such as relevance, timeliness, accuracy,

completeness, and understandability. Valuable information assists to make smart
decisions.

Relevance–Value of the information will depend on its relevance for a particular person.

Timeliness–An information should be updated. Timely information is valuable for making

effective decisions.

Accuracy – Accurate information is helpful for making correct decisions.

Completeness – Information presented with the context are useful where incomplete
information is not sufficient to make decisions.

Understandability – Information should be clear and unambiguous

The golden rule of information graphically represents the value of information in its
maximum level at the moment the information is created or the information is released.
The value of the information is reduced gradually with the time and become
less valuable.
Value

Time

Big Data Analytics

Organizations such as private companies and research institutions capture terabytes of

data about their users’ interactions in businesses and social media. The volume of data
that one has to deal has been exploded to unimaginable levels with the time. The
challenge of this era is to make sense of this large amount of data. This is where the big
data analytics is needed to manage the data life cycle. Big Data Analytics largely involve
collecting data from different sources, manage it in a way that it becomes available to be
consumed by analysts and finally deliver data products to fulfil the organization’s data
requirements.

32
Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.2:Investigates the need of technology to create, disseminate and

manage data and information

Number of Periods: 06

Learning Outcomes:

 Describes drawbacks of manual data processing methods

 Describes the importance of information in day to day life
 Lists the available technologies related to information dissemination
 Investigates the development of computer networks, the Internet and the WWW
 Describes the development of mobile communication, mobile computing and
cloud computing
 Appreciates the use of technology to create, disseminate and manage, data and
information
 Recognizes the usage of information in various domains
 Investigates the safety issues of human operators in various applications
Contents:

 Applicability of information in day today life

o Decision making
o Policy making
o Predictions
o Planning, scheduling and monitoring
 Drawbacks of manual methods in manipulating data and information
o Inconsistency and duplication of data, possibility for errors and delay in
processing
o Lack of sharing information and reduced user services
 Infeasibility of applying manual methods where it can be harmful to human life
 Emergence of ICT era
o Use of IT to overcome the drawbacks of manual methods of data
manipulation
 Usage of information in various domains
 Availability of technologies related to information retrieval and sharing
 Development of computer networks, the Internet and the WWW
 Development of mobile communication, mobile computing and cloud computing
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Value of a decision depends on the quality of supported information.

 Technology behind the creation of information is known as information technology
whereas technology incorporates with dissemination of information from place to
place is known as communication technology. Together, information technology
and communication technology overcome the drawbacks of manual data
processing and information dissemination methods.
 The Internet and the services of the Internet.

33
  The WWW as a service of the internet.
 Cloud computing and its services.

Guidance for lesson plans:

 Focus on need of information for day to day life.

 Define the Internet
 List the Internet services
 Introduce the WWW as a service of the Internet
 Introduce cloud computing and its services
 Conduct a practical class on sharing files among friends using a cloud service such
as OneDrive or Google Drive.
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Provide MCQ, Structured paper related to this topic.

 Ask students to search and make an article about the Internet, the WWW and
Cloud computing in order to display on ICT notice board.
Quality inputs:

The Internet Accessibility

34
Reading Material

Information is useful for making decisions of day to day life. To make plans, schedules,
and policies information are needed. Today’s information would helpful to predict how it
would be in the future. For an example, present information on currency exchange would
be helpful to predict that for the following month or for the following year.

Data processing and information creation can be done manually. Some drawbacks occur
such as consuming more time in entering and organizing data manually. Also, human
errors in data processing may lead to inaccurate information. Manual methods are
inefficient in sharing information and hard to provide a quality service to the customer.
Data inconsistency may occur in manual methods of manipulating data and information.
Data inconsistency is, occurring the same data in two different files in different formats or
values. When same data exist in different files, updates cannot be done easily.

Automatic data processing in contrast to manual data processing, utilizes technology to

store, process and retrieve data. Automatic data processing handles data more efficiently
than manual data processing and requires considerably less human interaction than in
manual data processing. Some everyday applications in which automatic data processing
outperforms manual data processing are emergency broadcast signals, security updates
and weather advisories. In situations such as bad weather, harmful radiation and in some
scientific or space research and also in war areas in which manual data processing is not
possible, automatic methods save human lives.

With the dawn of Information and Communication Era, it has turned the world into a global
village. Endless connectivity, interactive technologies, information sharing and infinite
access of data by means of networking eliminate drawbacks of manual data manipulation
and make available a fast, easy, convenient and accurate information creation and
dissemination. ICT has emerged as a key tool for influencing the process of organizations
and people around the world catching up with the technological advancement such as the
Internet, the WWW, mobile communication, mobile computing and cloud computing
discussed below.

The Internet

The Internet is defined as a network of networks in which users at any one computer can,
if they have permission, get information from any other. The U.S. Department of Defense
laid the foundation of the Internet with a network called ARPANET. However, the general
public did not use the Internet much until after the development of the World Wide Web in
the early 1990s.

In 1957, the U.S. government formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a
segment of the Department of Defense charged with ensuring U.S. leadership in science
and technology with military applications. In 1969, ARPA established ARPANET, the
forerunner of the Internet. ARPANET was a network that connected major computers at
the Universities and other educational and research institutions later.

35
 In response to the threat of nuclear attack, ARPANET was designed to allow continued
communication if one or more sites were destroyed. In the beginning ARPANET served
only computer professionals, engineers, and scientists who knew their way around its
complex workings. Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility
accessible to millions of people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the
total resources of the currently existing public telecommunication networks. The Internet
uses a set of protocols called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). A
protocol is an agreement or law behind the data transmission over networks. TCP is a
reliable transmission protocol.

Services provided by the Internet are World Wide Web (WWW), File Transfer (FTP), email,
Video conferencing, Telnet, File sharing, Internet Relay chat, IP Telephone and IPTV.
Electronic mail (e-mail) has replaced the postal letters. Live conversations can be carried
out with other computer users, using the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and more recently, the
Internet telephony hardware and software allows real-time voice conversations. Real time
voice and video can be transmitted over network with the use of video conferencing
technologies. WWW allows users to view web pages distributed over the Internet and
reach to the information they wish to find from anywhere anytime. File transfer allows
users to transfer files over the Internet and Telnet facilitates remote login.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web came into being in 1991. Tim Berners-Lee is the developer of the
WWW and at the moment who directs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a group of
industry and university representatives that oversees the standards of Web technology.

HTTP is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other
multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. Hypertext is the documents that make content
on the web and it is possible to connect hypertext documents by means of hyperlinks. To
view files on the Web, it is needed a web browsing software. This software is used to view
different documents on the Web, which are known as Web pages. A collection of one or
more web pages is a Web site. The first page of a Web site is often called as the home
page. Each web site in the www has a unique address which is called the Uniform
Resource Locator (URL).

Mobile communication and mobile computing

Mobile communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the
help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors. Initially the mobile
communication was limited between one pair of users on single channel pair. To
accommodate multiple users Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and their hybrids
are used.

Mobile Computing is a technology that allows transmission of data, voice and video via a
computer or any other wireless enabled device without having to be connected to a fixed
physical link.

36
Cloud Computing

The term Cloud refers to a Network or Internet. A Cloud is present at a remote location
and provides services over a network. Applications such as e-mail, web conferencing,
customer relationship management (CRM) run in clouds. Cloud Computing refers to
manipulating, configuring, and accessing the applications online. It offers online data
storage, infrastructure and application. Cloud Computing provides access to applications
as utilities, over the Internet.

There are reference models on which the Cloud Computing is based. These can be
categorized into three basic service models as listed below:

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - provides access to fundamental resources such as

physical machines, virtual machines, virtual storage, etc.

Ex - Customer Relationship Management, games, virtual desktop applications

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS) - provides the runtime environment for applications,

development & deployment tools, etc.

Ex - Database, web server, deployment tools

3. Software as a Service (SaaS) - allows to use software applications as a service to end

users.

Ex - Virtual machines, servers, storage, networks

37
Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.3:Formulates an Abstract model of information creation and

evaluates its compliance with ICT

Number of Periods: 02

Learning Outcomes:

 Identifies the components of an abstract model of information creation

 Defines a system
 Analyses various systems using the system definition
 Relates the abstract model to information systems
 Matches the abstract model of information creation to the main functions of the
computer
 Recognizes the role of ICT in the abstract model of information creation
Contents:

 Abstract model of information creation

o Input, process, output
o Its appropriateness to Computer and ICT
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 System concept
 Computer as a system
Guidance for lesson plans:

 Define a system
 Introduce ‘Abstract model of Information’
 Introduce computer as a system and match functionalities of computer system
related to ‘Abstract Model of Information’
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Provide MCQ paper and structured paper related to this topic.

Quality inputs:
 Computers, Presentations

38
Reading Material

A system can be defined as an interrelated components work together to achieve a

common objective. A system is made up of inputs, processing and output. A school, a
vehicle or a bicycle can be introduced as a system. A system consists of interrelated
components / sub systems and system should be analyzed to identify inputs, outputs,
subsystems and their individual responsibilities. In an information system data input into
the system is processed using processing instructions given and information is produced
as output. This is called an abstract model of information.

Data Processing Information

Input Output

Abstract Model of Information

A digital computer carries out the following five functions:

1. Takes data as input.

2. Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses them as required.
3. Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
4. Generates the output.
5. Controls all the above four steps.
Though a computer system follows data input, processing data into information and output
results, the basic functions of a computer system are well overlapped on the Abstract
Model of Information.

39
Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.4: Selects and classifies the basic components of a computer
system

Number of Periods: 02

Learning Outcomes:

 Defines and classifies hardware and software components

 Distinguishes proprietary software and open source software
 Describes the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary and open source
software
 Identifies the role of human operators in the ICT enabled information systems
Contents:

 Hardware
o Classification of hardware components
 Software
o Classification of software
 Human Operators
o Need of human operators in information systems
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Hardware as physical components and software as instructions to control hardware

of a computer system.
 Importance of using open source software and their freedom to use, edit or
redistribution.
Guidance for lesson plans:

 Define hardware
 Classify hardware
 Identify hardware devices.
 Define software
 Classify software
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Give an assignment to classify components of a computer system.

 Divide class into groups and assign each group to make a presentation on
hardware devices and present them on a particular day.

Quality inputs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware

40
Reading Material

Computer System consists of four major components called Hardware, Software,

Firmware and Live ware.

Computer Hardware

Hardware components can be categorised into Input Devices, Output Devices, Processing
Devices, Networking Devices and Memory Devices. In addition to those types of hardware
there is a circuit board located inside a computer system called mother board by means of
which every hardware component are connected to each other.

Input Devices

Input Devices correspond to input data into the computer system. Mouse, Trackball,
Joystick, Touch pad, Touch screen and Light pen can be considered as pointing devices
which are related to point out and select pixels on the screen. Keyboard is the most
common and very popular input device which is used to input data to the computer. The
layout of the keyboard is similar to that of traditional typewriter, although there are some
additional keys provided for performing additional functions. Scanner is an input device
that captures images from the source which are then converted into a digital form that can
be stored on the disk. These images can be edited before they are printed. Microphone is
an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form. In addition to the
devices mentioned above MICR, OCR, Barcode Reader also can be considered as input
devices.

Output Devices

As its name implies output devices are the devices support to present information out from
the computer system. Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the
main output device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are
arranged in a rectangular form. The resolution of the image depends upon the number of
pixels.

There are two kinds of viewing screens used for monitors named as Cathode-Ray Tube
(CRT) and Flat-Panel Display. The flat-panel display is divided into two categories as
follows.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) – These are emissive displays that convert electrical energy
into light.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)–These are non-emissive displays which use optical effects to
convert light into graphics patterns.

Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper which is called a
hardcopy. There are two types of printers

41
Impact Printers - print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed
on the paper. Dot Matrix Printer is an example for impact printers.

Non-Impact Printers - Non-impact printers do not physically strike the page. These printers
print a complete page at a time, thus they are also called as Page Printers. Laser printers
and Inkjet printers are laid on this type of printers.

Memory Devices

A memory is used to store data and instructions. Computer memory is the storage space
in the computer system, where data is to be processed and instructions required for
processing are stored. The memory is divided into large number of small parts called cells.
Each location or cell has a unique address.

Memory is classified into three types -

1. Cache Memory - Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which
can speed up the CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and the main memory.
It is used to hold those parts of data and program which are most frequently used
by the CPU.
2. Primary Memory/Main Memory - Primary memory holds only those data and
instructions on which the computer is currently working. It has a limited capacity and
data is lost when power is switched off. It is generally made up of semiconductor
device.
3. Secondary Memory - This type of memory is also known as external memory or
non-volatile. It is slower than the main memory. These are used for storing
data/information permanently. CPU does not access these memories directly
instead they are accessed via input-output routines. The contents of secondary
memories are first transferred to the main memory, and then the CPU can access it.
Processing Devices

Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the most common processing device of a computer
which has the control of all other components. Arithmetic and logical operations take place
inside the CPU. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit
designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a
frame buffer intended for output to a display. GPUs are used in embedded systems,
mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles.

Networking Devices

Computer networking devices are physical devices which are required for communication
and interaction between devices on a computer network. Specifically, they mediate data in
a computer network.

Ex - Hubs, Switches, Bridges, Routes, Gateways, Network Interface Cards (NICs)

42
Computer Software

Computer software is classified as system software and application software. System

software (systems software) is the computer software designed to operate and control the
computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software. System
software can be separated into three different categories as follows.

1. Operating Systems –Windows, Linux, Mac OS

2. Utility Software– Virus Guard, Device drivers
3. Language Translators – Compiler, Interpreter
Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need of a particular
environment. Application software may consist of a single program, such as Microsoft's
notepad for writing and editing a simple text. It may also consist of a collection of
programs, often called a software package, which work together to accomplish a task.

Software can also be classified as ‘open source software’ and ‘proprietary software’.

Open Source Software –source code is available and it is free to use, modify or
redistribute these type of software.

Proprietary Software – source code is not available and user should have the permission
given by owner of the software to use this type of software.

Firmware

Firmware is a computer program that is "embedded" in a hardware device, that is, an

essential part of the hardware. It is sometimes called embedded software. In computers
firmware embedded in ROM and which handles booting up process of computers.

Liveware

Liveware refers computer users. According to user commands generally computers are
functioning.

43
Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.5: Analyses the activities of data processing

Number of Periods: 04

Learning Outcomes:

 Lists and briefly describes the data processing steps

 Identifies data gathering methods
 Identifies data validation methods
 Lists data input methods
 Describes data processing methods
 Lists data output methods
 Describes data storage methods
Contents:

 Steps in data processing:

o Data gathering
o Data validation
o Data processing
o Data output
o Data storage
 Data gathering methods
o Manual methods
o Semi-automated and automated methods
 Tools - (OMR, OCR, MICR, card/tape readers, magnetic strip readers, bar code
readers, sensors and loggers)
 Data validation methods
o Data type check
o Presence check
o Range check
 Modes of data input
o Direct and remote
o Online and offline
 Data processing
o Batch and real time
 Output methods
o Direct presentation to the user
o Storing for further processing
 Storage methods
 Local and remote storage (cloud)
 Short and long term storage
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Data processing cycle

44
  Advantages of each manual data gathering method
 Importance of automated data gathering methods
 Importance of data validation prior to processing
Guidance for lesson plans:

 Advantages and disadvantages of each data gathering methods

Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Let students to find examples for batch processing and real-time processing.
Quality inputs:
 Data Gathering Tools - (OMR, OCR, MICR, card/tape readers etc.)

Reading Material

Steps in data processing are Data gathering, Data validation, Data processing, Data
output and Data storage.

Data gathering

Data gathering methods vary as manual methods, Semi-automated and automated

methods. Tools used in automated methods.

Interviews, questionnaires and observation can be done in order to collect data manually.
Using interviews detailed questions and answers may helpful for making the discussion
fair enough to capture deserved data. It’s a fast method to use of questionnaires which is
most suitable for gathering quantitative data and answering anonymously, may helpful to
gather fair and confident data.

In semi-automatic and automatic methods OMR, OCR, MICR, card/tape readers, magnetic
strip readers, bar code readers, sensors and loggers are popular.

An Optical Mark Reader (OMR) is a scanning device that reads carefully placed pencil
marks on a specially designed form or document. Most popular use of OMR is marking of
MCQ answer sheets.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is done by Optical Character Reader which allows
us to identify written or printed characters and extract editable text from it.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is done by Magnetic Ink Character Reader
which supports to input data written in special magnetic ink under cheque.

Magnetic strip readers use to read data stored in a magnetic strip attached on credit cards
and bank ATM cards.

Bar code readers use visible light to scan and read barcodes which contain data to be
input into computer systems.

45
Sensors may helpful for collecting data from different places in to a single data center fast.
Sensor networks are consisting of variety of electronic sensors. Each node in a wireless
sensor network is equipped with one or more sensors in addition to a microcontroller,
wireless transceiver, and energy source.

Data validation methods

Data type check – Check whether correct data type (numeric/text/date/currency etc) is
input into the system
Presence check – Presence of data (i.e. data entry field is not blank) is checked. It is
compulsory to input important data
Range check – Check whether the data is in allowed range (i.e. Marks have to be between
0 and 100) commonly used when working with data which consists of numbers,
currency or dates/times
Modes of data input
Direct and remote - In direct data input, data is input into the system directly without direct
user interference. In remote entry, system is designed specially to store data. Data storing
and transactions are taking place in different geographical places.
Online and offline – In online data input, the data is input at the same time transaction
taking place, where data of different transactions input after a specific time period as a
batch in offline method.
Data processing
Data input and processing occur as a batch in batch processing. It is easy to handle huge
amount of data as a batch. So, data stored until the system comes online to process the
data in one 'batch'. Batch processing is done in billing systems and pay roll system.
In real time processing of data, input, processing and output as well as data storing occur
simultaneously. Any type of monitoring system, any type of booking system, computer
controlled systems such as automatic production line, an aircraft auto-pilot, the system
controlling a nuclear power stations uses real time processing.
Output methods
Direct presentation to the user can be done by using a monitor, multimedia projector or a
printer. Soft copies are presented with monitors and multimedia projectors whereas printer
output printed copies which is said to be hard copies. Storing methods are used to store
data securely for further processing needs.
Storage methods
Local storages such as Hard Disks Drives, Compact Disk, Digital Versatile Disks and Tape
Drives can be used to store data inside the local computer. Remote storage such as cloud
space can be used to store data securely. To get remote data when needed it is required
the access to the internet.

46
Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.6: Investigates the application of ICT in different domains

Number of Periods: 04

Learning Outcomes:

 Lists and briefly describes the data processing steps

 Identifies data gathering methods
 Identifies data validation methods
 Lists data input methods
 Describes data processing methods
 Lists data output methods
 Describes data storage methods
Contents:

 Application of ICT in:

o Education
o Healthcare
o Agriculture
o Business and finance
o Engineering
o Tourism
o Media and journalism
o Law enforcement
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Focus on the fields where ICT is used

 Highlight the contribution of ICT in national development

Guidance for lesson plans:

 Divide the class into groups and assign each group a field where ICT is used and
ask them to prepare a presentation on usage of ICT in the given field
 Ask students to identify how ICT contributes to national development
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Ask students to prepare and submit an assignment on following aspects

 The fields where ICT is used
 The usage of ICT in that field
 Contribution of ICT in national development

Quality inputs:
 Internet facility, Presentations

47
Reading Material

Education

The computer helps in providing a lot of facilities in the education system. The computer
provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer Based Education). CBE
involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning as follows.

1) Simulations:
Computer simulators and prototypes can be used to perform the rather impossible
experiments on the subjects which seemed impossible to be done in the labs especially in
the field of medicine and engineering.

2) Distance Learning and E- Learning:

This is the trend in 21st century education where the obstacles arise due to distance are
being eliminated. One can attend classes and access learning materials remotely, without
having to travel to the learning center.

3) Better Content Delivery:

The motivation effect that comes about due to embracing ICT in teaching and learning is a
common factor. For instance, multimedia and interactive content on interactive boards
remain quite engaging and motivating making students pay more attention in class.

4) Individualized Learning:
ICT help students with individual needs to have better suited assignments and making it
easy to organize their learning.

Healthcare

Computers have become an important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. They are
being used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is also used in
scanning and diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, ultrasounds and CT scans are
also done by computerized machines.

Following are some major fields of health care in which computers are used.

 Diagnostic System - Computers are used to collect data and identify the cause of
illness.
 Lab-diagnostic System - All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by
computer.
 Patient Monitoring System - These are used to check the patient's signs for
abnormality (ECG)
 Pharmacy Information System - Computer is used to check drug labels, expiry
dates, harmful side effects, etc.
 Surgery - Nowadays, computers are also used as a supporting tool for surgery.

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Agriculture

ICT is applied in the field of agriculture, animal farm houses and fisheries industries. ICT is
used to control light, moisture and air inside the greenhouses. Robotic machines are used
to monitor plant growth levels, record them and harvesting in large scale farm lands. Crop
harvesting and seedling planter robotics are also useful to keep efficiency of agriculture
industry. Automatic weed removers and insect control devices protect the crop from weed
plants and insects respectively. Monitoring devices are used to monitor factors affect crop
production such as weather, climatic changes, rainfall, wind direction, soil fertility and
water content.

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) helps in identifying and counting the number
of animals in farmhouses. Automated milking and examination of cows can be done with
computer controlled systems which is helpful in monitoring the health status of the cows
and the quality of milk.

Business and finance

A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility

which has made it an integrated part in all business organizations.

Computer is used in business organizations for payroll calculations, budgeting, sales

analysis, financial forecasting, managing employee database and maintenance of stocks
etc.

Today, banking is almost totally dependent on computers. Banks provide online

accounting facility, which includes checking current balance, making deposits and
overdrafts, checking interest charges, shares, and trustee records. ATM machines which
are completely automated are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.

In marketing, advertising and home shopping, computers are widely used today.
Advertising professionals use graphics, and animations fascinatedly to get customer
attractions. Home shopping has been made possible through the use of computerized
catalogues that provide access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to
be filled by the customers.

Engineering

CAD (Computer Aided Design) that provides creation and modification of drawing.

3D virtualization also can be done in engineering industry before development of buildings,

machinery, and vehicles also. Some machinery can be developed virtually and can be
monitored functioning animations on screens.

Computer Aided Software Engineering tools (CASE) supports software engineers for
designing, coding, testing and debugging of software.

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Tourism

Internet has facilitated prospective tourist services, communication, and information

access. Bringing a better quality of service to the tourism industry, the Internet has pulled
down prices, made information widely available, and allowed sellers and buyers to connect
more easily and make transactions.

Media and journalism

ICT is effectively used in media and Journalism which helps in designing of articles
interactively as well as organizing information. Content sharing between broadcasters, and
reaching global news fast have become easy with the use of the Internet and Internet
services such as www, email, video conferencing and so on.

Law enforcement

ICT is applicable in law enforcement which facilitates information recording and storage,
investigations, reporting and statistics. ICT supports the investigations carried out to
apprehend criminals. Today CCTV systems, GPS, and telecommunication services
provide severe support on criminal investigations.

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Competency 1: Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and
applicability in today’s knowledge based society

Competency Level 1.7: Evaluates the impact of ICT in the society

Number of Periods: 04

Learning Outcomes:

 Explains the benefits of ICT in terms of social and economic aspects

 Explains briefly the issues caused by advancement of ICT in terms of social,
economic, environmental, ethical and legal aspects
 Investigates the legal situation connected with the usage of ICT.
 Explains the environmental issues associated with ICT
 Explains safe disposal methods of e-waste
 Explains briefly the ethical, Legal and social issues in the usage of ICT
 Briefly explains the role of ICT in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
 Investigates the approaches to eliminate digital divide
Contents:

 Benefits provided by ICT

o Social benefits
o Economic benefits
 Issues caused by ICT
o Social
o Economical
o Environmental
o Ethical
o Legal
o Privacy
o Digital divide
 Confidentiality
 Stealing / Phishing
 Piracy
 Copyright / intellectual property laws
 Plagiarism
 Licensed / unlicensed software
Concepts and terms to be highlighted:

 Focus on ethical and legal issues and security

 Focus on precautions in using the Internet
 Focus on ethical and legal issues in social media
 Focus on safe use of ICT

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Guidance for lesson plans:

 Demonstration and discussion on ethical and legal issues, ethical and legal issues
in social media, security
Guidance for assessments and evaluations:

 Divide the class into groups and assign each group one of the above topics and ask
them to prepare a presentation and present it.

Quality inputs:
 Documents related of copy rights, Internet facility

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Reading Material

Social and economic benefits of ICT

Benefits provided by ICT such as social benefits and economic benefits would tend people
to embrace the information communication technology.

ICT impact in entertainment and leisure industry has improved the way in which we can
entertain ourselves by enhancing and providing people with different ways of entertaining
ourselves such as online games and chat with friends etc.

A growing ICT sector can contribute to aggregate increases in productivity, GDP and
trade. As people continue to embrace ICT with an aim of making their life better, it may
also affect how productive they are. Increase in the size and productivity of the ICT sector,
it associate growth in labor productivity, manufacturing productivity and ultimately the
economy.

ICT has bridged access to information from anywhere anytime which improves information
dissemination around the world. Cloud computing activates better application, services,
security, reliability and availability of information.

Social, economic, environmental, ethical, legal and privacy issues caused by ICT

ICT adoption in industries causes thousands of job losses. This is because computers
reduce the number of people needed to perform a particular task.

Negative impacts of entertaining using ICT are time wastage, health issues. Continuous
use of ICT for entertainment such as playing games brings health issues. For instance,
constant use of thumbs, wrists and eyes can lead to problems such as eyes strain, RSI
and other physical problems.

“Digital divide” is an economic and social inequality with regard to access to, use of, or
impact of information and communication technologies. Access to appropriate
technological resources similar and improvements in ICT education will helpful to
overcome digital divide.

Electronic waste or e-waste is becoming a severe problem around the world. The major
problem with e-waste is that the toxic chemicals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium can
leach into the soil over time and contaminate the drinking water.

Green computing, the study and practice of efficient and eco-friendly computing resources,
is now under the attention of not only environmental organizations, but also businesses
from other industries. As a result, most countries in the developed world have introduced
regulations to prevent e-waste being dumped into landfill. The majority of components in
electronic goods now have to be recycled.

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Intellectual property rights, patents on academic material, music and software difficult to
be protected as how fast they are distributed over networks. Net etiquette/internet ethics
are not kept by all of the Internet users.

Confidentiality of data or information

Confidentiality of information can be kept with the use of password protection, encryption
techniques and digital signatures.

Stealing / Phishing

Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords,

and credit card details for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in
an electronic communication. To protect data or information against stealing or phishing it
is necessary to setup firewall, use of password, apply updates and not opening suspicious
emails and clicking on links of untrusted senders.

Piracy

Software piracy is the illegal copying, distribution, or use of software.

Copyright / Intellectual Property laws

Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with protecting the rights of those who
create original works. It covers everything from original plays and novels to inventions.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the stealing of someone else’s thoughts, ideas, expressions or work and the
representation of them as one's own original work.

Licensed / unlicensed software

A software license is a legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software.

Two common categories for software under copyright law are proprietary software and
free and open source software (FOSS). FOSS software licenses both rights to the
customer and therefore bundles the modifiable source code with the software (open-
source), while proprietary software typically does not license these rights and therefore
keeps the source code hidden (closed source). License grants the licensee specific rights
to use, edit or redistribution of software.

Unlicensed software outside the copyright protection is either public software or software
which is non-distributed, non-licensed and handled as internal resource of an organization.

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