Information and communication technology (ICT) is a broad term for information technology (IT) that emphasizes the unified function of communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) with computers, as well as business software, and audiovisual storage, which allow users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information.
ICT is also used to refer to the combination of audiovisual and telephone networks with computer networks using a single cable or link system. There are strong economic incentives to combine telephone networks with computer network systems using a single-wire signal distribution and control system.
ICT is a general term that includes any communication equipment, including radios, televisions, mobile phones, computer networks and hardware, satellite systems, etc., and the various services and equipment that accompany them, such as videoconferencing and distance education.
Applications of Information and Communication Technology in Education and Government
In the early days of the Internet, ICT education focused on the technology itself, while the government focused on expanding broadband to businesses and homes in rural areas. Today, ICT programs in education and management focus less on the technology itself and more on how traditional and new technologies can be used to improve communication.
Schools and public authorities are encouraged (and sometimes required) to develop ICT policy plans that document how they plan to bridge the digital divide and improve data literacy in the classroom and workplace.
ICT Integration in the Classroom: Use of Information and Communication technology
Today’s society demonstrates an increasingly computer-centric lifestyle, including the rapid influx of computers into today’s classrooms. The evidence suggests that ICT must be fully integrated into pedagogy in order to be effective in education. In particular, teaching literacy and mathematics using ICT in conjunction with the Writing to Learn program has better results than traditional methods or ICT alone. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a department of the United Nations, has integrated ICTs in education as part of its efforts to ensure equity and access to education. It is from the UNESCO publications on ICT in education that the organization’s position on the initiative is explained.
ICTs promote universal access to education, equity in education, ensuring quality teaching and learning; professional development of teachers, and management, management and educational administration. UNESCO takes a holistic and integrated approach to promoting ICT in education. Access, inclusion and quality are the most important issues they can address. The organization’s cross-sector platform for ICT education focuses on these issues, working together in three sectors: Communication and Information, Education, and Science.
Difficulties of Implementing ICT in the Classroom
Information and communication technology greatly facilitates education, because it improves the way of teaching and provides a better educational environment in the process of providing information to students using computers, tablets, interactive whiteboards, etc.
UNESCO implements integrated education; an ICT-driven system, focused on the most important challenges in working together, both in communication and information, science and education.
Despite the potential for computers to improve and reshape educational practice, inadequate implementation is a common problem that goes beyond increased funding and technological development, and there is little evidence that teachers and counselors have successfully integrated ICT in everyday learning. Inherent barriers, such as beliefs about more traditional teaching practices and personal attitudes toward computers in education, as well as teachers’ comfort and ability to use computers, lead to mixed educational outcomes.
Applications of Information and Communication Technology in Other Fields
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used in most fields, such as e-commerce, e-governance, banking, agriculture, education, medicine, defense, transportation, etc. With technological advances, advanced computing infrastructure, sophisticated marketing strategies, and reduced cycle times through robotic process automation (RPA), ICT plays a vital role. Information and communication technologies can be used in a variety of areas.
Next, Information and Communication Technology for Entertainment:
Information and communication technology affects leisure and recreation activities in various ways. ICTs offer a variety of leisure and entertainment activities that allow quick access to readily available movies or music, as well as watching movies and listening to music directly from the Internet. ICTs have added more interactive technologies to television programs. Digital cameras, printers, and scanners allowed more people to experiment with image processing and develop graphical interfaces.
ICT in Medicine:
Modern medical devices and equipment have been adapted to information and communication technology. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) refer to the equipment, resources and tools necessary to improve the access, retrieval, storage and use of health and biomedical information. Therefore, we find that most of the medical equipment available today is based on information and communication technologies for the use, detection, and treatment of diseases. Health informatics tools include formal medical terminology, clinical guidelines, computers, information, and communication systems.
ICT in Financial Activity:
Financial companies use information and communication technologies every day to trade financial instruments, report company earnings, and track personal budgets. ICTs allow rapid calculation of financial data and provide financial services companies with strategic and innovative advantages, such as electronic transfers through credit cards or electronic commerce, including purchases and payments through the Internet, etc. ICTs help address security issues, legal issues, and access to global markets.
ICT in Public Administration:
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are used to facilitate public services, make governance more transparent and accountable to citizens, and promote more efficient and cost-effective governance. ICTs provide society with greater access to information and opportunities for public management, which must meet a series of economic, financial, structural and legal conditions. ICTs also allow people to do many different things through the Internet, such as: pay bills or update official documents, such as driver’s licenses and other documents.
Information and Communication Technology in Home Electronics:
The use of ICT in home electronics is growing rapidly. ICT facilities are used to increase the accessibility of home care. Because the home can be controlled through systems that control lighting, home security, air conditioning, and more.
ICT in Agriculture:
ICT in agriculture contributes to the growing demand for new approaches and focuses on improving agriculture and rural development through better information and communication processes. ICTs also help empower rural people by providing better agricultural technologies, better access to natural resources, efficient production strategies, and digital marketing strategies for agribusiness and financial services.
ICT in Business
The use of information and communication technologies is important for companies to create fluid and secure communication processes and to carry out daily operational tasks. ICT tools help companies analyze, store, process, and share large amounts of data to make better use of products and resources. They also help to increase profitability, reduce costs, and reduce delivery time compared to manual tasks. ICT systems enable managers and employees to make quick and accurate decisions to effectively manage business processes and daily operations, and to quickly anticipate business opportunities or threats.
For companies, the development of ICTs has brought significant cost savings opportunities and conveniences. These range from highly automated business processes that drive down costs, to the big data revolution, in which organizations transform vast amounts of ICT-generated data into insights that drive new products and services, to ICT-enabled transactions such as online shopping, telehealth, and social networks; giving customers more choice in the way they shop, communicate, and interact.
Concerns with the Use of Information and Communication Technology
ICTs have created problems and challenges for both organizations and individuals, as well as for society as a whole. The digitization of data, the ever-increasing use of high-speed Internet, and the growing global network together have led to new levels of crime, where so-called bad actors can hack electronically-enabled schemes or illegally gain access to systems to steal money, property intellectual property or private information, or to disrupt systems that control critical infrastructure. ICTs have also brought automation and robots which displace workers who are unable to transfer their skills to new jobs. Also, ICTs have allowed more and more people to limit their interactions with others, creating a big socialization problem.
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