Education in the Information age

Introduction 
Education has changed over the years due to the increase of access to computers for students and teachers. with computers now we can do so much more than we could 10 years ago. For example, schools used to have a few computers only for teachers just to send e-mails or receive work such as exam or mock papers, but now computers are available for every students. In modern day more work has been done even most of the work has been done on computers, not just secondary students but also primary students are now getting use to IT and now primary school students do their homework's on computers and PC's. Now school''s have tablets in most of the secondary schools around the UK, for students to do their class work, most of the secondary school now have IT as a compulsory subject for Gcse's, which shows how much It and technology has an effect in the positive way on people/students.


There are many online and offline resources available for students and other people available at school and outside school which can be used as an advantage for better education.

VLE: Technology has changed education in many ways, as we can see now we have access to everything from internet to our school work, while we are sitting at home we can access to our school work. VLE- ( Virtual Learning Environment) known as frog is a school website that allow students to access to their school work and also do their homework's, every student has their own log in and password which enables them to access to their school work, school email. It is  a big advantage for teachers as well as students, if a students miss a lesson they can upload the work that you have missed onto the VLE network and it's the same with teachers so if a teachers isn't in then they can just set work on VLE.

Online Resources: One of the main internet resource for the school and at home is BBC bite size. It is a  free online study support resource for school students provided by the government. It is a source of help for students both at school and at home to help them with their studies such as exams. it is used mostly by secondary and A-level students, BBC bite size also so have maths games for students so that they can play games but at the same time they can improve there maths. it is the same with every subject they have fun activities for each subjects.

Networks: Most school now have a network set up, which is important part of education. It means that teachers can share their work with students, this is so that students can easily access to homework's or course work that is set up by students as internet is not needed to access to it. also students can share their work with one another.

In modern day, school facilities are a lot more improved, with more computers accessible to every students. In an average secondary school there is about 300-400 computers with Wi-Fi networks available all over the school. most school now have ICT as a compulsory subject for GCSE's, this is because so that students can get used to technology as it can be used in future with things like presentations, writing essays and communication with people through social media i.e. e-mails

Administration: Every school has an admin who saves all the information each students in that school, which include students personal details, parents details, students records and E-mails to parents, it can all be accessed from one computer which makes it easier for teachers as they can see all the information about students whenever it is needed, just by knowing students name, this all information can be seen.
This is all because of the modern technology, school can now keep records of students easier. One of the big advantage is that teachers can monitor and make sure that students are progressing, this also helps teachers to write a reference for future employers.

Scopes and Limitations
Scopes
Teachers can now keep all students record on computers without any paper work.
Teachers can send us work if we have missed a lesson through e-mail.
Students have access to internet and it makes life easier for them as they can do most of their homework's at school.
There is less work for teachers as well as student's, as student's can now their homework's on computers.

Limitations
Some student's don't have computers at home which means they can't do homework's that needs to be done on computers.
Student's are now used to working on computers which means that the writing skills can be very bad.
With social media student's can be distracted while doing their homework.
Student's are getting lazy as they find most their homework's on internet and they don't really look into the book.

My Personal Experience
As a student I think that technology in education is a great benefit for us as we can do most of homework's quickly and easily by just searching it on internet. But at the same time it isn't really a benefit as most student's read less and they just copy and past articles from internet. I think it really is a big advantage for me and other people as we are getting familiar with Ict and learnign to use different things.

  

                                  Employment in the information age
Introduction: 
Some jobs don't require skills but there are some obvious ones that involve the computer such as working in office where you will need keyboard skills, etc. Back in the days people didn't had any computers, they had type writers where they would type on papers on spread sheet and word press program. Further more now in modern day computers are found in all sorts of jobs. computers are now used to save all data and information. With technology things have changed very rapidly, as we see technology or computer devices everywhere an example would be a petrol station so if we are paying for petrol they will have computer. now we are living in the world that even the smallest shops in the UK have computer an technology devices such as self checkouts, CCTV, scanning items.


Technology in offices : There are still jobs that don't have computers or require computer skills such as security guards. But most of the jobs now require some sort of computer skills even in jobs that people would imagine that we don't need computer skills now would need for example: a post men now have electronic pads when delivering a package they would ask you to sign. Now offices have new Pc's (personal computers) for each staff they have their own desk and sometime their own room, back in the days people would use typewriter to write things now computer has made life easier and we can now write things such as reports in matters of minutes. There is now less paper work as most work or data is saved in computers, USB pin, memory cards or little chips where it can save all our data and we can use it whenever we want, back in the days there was more paper work as there wasn't technology devices to save data or work so people had to use papers and they would have filing cabinets where they use to put files in.

General changes in Employment: whenever any changes occur in employment industry, people suffer IT has a very high impact on employment people have been put out of work because of computer as computers can do human jobs and offices than need less staff.  people now have been losing jobs because of the information age if we look at car companies they now don't need many staff as they have robotic machine where they can check what problem a car has and then a mechanic can easily fix it. Another really important thing that IT has overtaken is skills, skills can now take people jobs if we look people who had skills in sewing, now machine can do their jobs more quicker and cheaper which means that there is no work for sewer and he/she has to find another job. Things can be produce by computers incredibly beautiful then human and this is where human's jobs are not needed, computers can do things that human's can't do i.e. computers can check weather updates, check volcanoes, so human can monitor things through computer that are dangers where human can't go.

Positive impacts of IT on Employment: it's bad that computers take over human job's not just for those people who lose their jobs but also for society. However  there are new jobs created by computers for humans such as computers programmer, there has to be people who would want to be a computer engineer or programming. There also other jobs that created by computers, they are as follows:

• Repairing computers
• Amazon where things are bought online, these jobs are there because of IT
• App developer
• software and hardware engineers.

Scopes and limitations
Scopes
We can now communicate easily with other businesses whether it's through emails or phone calls.
Business can pay employee their wages through bank, which makes it easy for business and employees.
We can now buy things quick and easy with the help of computers.
We can save all our work on PC's or USB pin, which means there is less paper work.
people now can use satnav such as "Tom tom"  to deliver products or if someone is going on a journey.
There are jobs that are created by technology such as repairing computers.

Limitations
Computers has taken over human jobs.
People now can easily hack business computers or work because of the new computers and technology devices.
People are getting lazy day by day because of the technology as they can do things now more quicker and easily such as shopping online rather than shopping on high streets.
There is less face to face communication between business because of technology as they can just drop a text or send them email.

My personal experience: As I am currently working at Tesco, I have experience few things which are related to computers. My job is around scanning products on the till and sometime reducing prices of some products, and I can see how it has impact on all the businesses. so from my job I can see how IT is taking over most of jobs, as we know have to learn things that we didn't had a few years back.

 

                                                       Life in the information age

life in the information has changed through out the years. Now In the UK nearly every house has a technology  system i.e. computers, television. computers has a very huge impact on modern day as they are used everywhere or we could say that technology is involved everything for example in Schools, Offices industries. Technology have had a huge impact to the businesses and industries, its has made everything easier not just that but everywhere in the world, if we look at communication people can now easily communicate with each other with the help of technology. Mobile phones with the best features such as iPhone, now everyone has a mobile phone in the Uk.

General changes in the information age
Knowledge is power the more you know something, the more individual power you can become. when knowledge and information comes together this is where society changes. knowledge and information has changed in the 21st century. so for example if we look back  in 1830s telegraph was invented where we could send messages without any physical interaction and then in 1895 we had radio  as a sort of communications between people where we could listen to world news, entertainment. by 1920s we had television where we could see the pictures and hear it and that was the biggest changed in the society .
The invention of calculators, the first calculator was bigger than tables that we have in classrooms and then people worked on it and made it small that now we can fit them in our pockets. Then we had computer, the first proper electronic computer was produced in the second world war. computer known as compute to calculate, back in the days people would call an accountant a computer as he would calculate money or data.

The Jet Age
The first jet fly was invented in 1930s, it made it possible for people to fly in jet. In 1950s we then had proper aeroplanes we it carried 36 passengers from London to Johannesburg on the de Havilland Comet, a four-engine aircraft. so then people would travel easily with jet aircraft and they didn't had to travel through cars etc.

Telephones/ Mobile Phones
 Alexander Graham Bell was  the inventor of telephone, he invented telephone on March 10, 1876. The first words that were spoken through telephone were “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you”  by
Alexander Graham Bell. so then it become possible for people to talk through a device known as telephone and communicate with each other. Then we got mobile phones which was invented on April 1973 where people were able to carry a device with them and talk through it anywhere. Mobile phone was first made only for phone calls and now the iPhone was the first telephone that could connect to internet easily, to the extent now that any phone you buy now could be called a smartphone.
Where we are now?
Technology has changed society, we have better internet and mobile networks which allow us to approach anyone from anywhere. one of the first invented source of communication was Emails, we can easily communicate with people who live in another country or far away from us. we now have satellites in the space which help us to know all the information's around the world. we now have credit and debit cards which makes life simpler as we can withdraw money for ATM machines or pay our bills, now people don't have worry about going to bank and withdrawing money or paying our bills by post we can pay our bills online.
Scopes and Limitations
Scope
The advantages of the information age are that now we can save time, on things such as talking to people we can just pick our phone and call them rather than going to their office or home, or we can just drop a text to them. Another advantage is that now we can communicate more easily with people, if we look at social media we have so many ways to communicate with people i.e. Facebook, Skype, what's App. Lastly "online shopping" as technology has made it possible to shop online form anywhere anytime, we can buy anything we want and it can be delivered to our house.

limitations
The disadvantages that people might face with information age could be "Hacking", as we have new technology software's people can use them to hack other people  computers and steal all their data, t could even happen with big companies sot his one of the biggest disadvantages of the information age. secondly people can download music illegally through online services. lastly now there is less face to face communication between people and most communication between is done through social media or phone calls.

My Personal Experience
I think that it is good that we are moving forward and that we now have more technology devices because it  makes life easier for people, as they can just save data on computer rather than on writing them on paper. but it could also effect the way we communicate with people as in the UK most teenagers now communicate with each other  through social media.

                                                                      Entertainment


The online world has taken off because of entertainment. it is generally accepted that a lot of people seem to waste time on entertainment, people just waste their time on things like Facebook, Instagram and watching videos on YouTube. Films, videos and music are forms of entertainment as they form a part of entertainment. Entertainment is slightly more than that as you can play games online and communicate with other people so you can play in games in group such as Mine craft. 

I will be talking about few of the entertainments sites that have a very high impact on people and that are used by people in their everyday life.

Download: With entertainment downloading things such as software, upgrades, films and movies also become possible . After downloading music we got MP3 where it made it easy for people to listen to music anywhere, and after some time we got IPod where we could watch anything from music to movies and games. now people can just download these things and it is a lot more convenient.

There is also a huge problem with illegal online download, which means that Some people are downloading things for through illegal website, when they really should be paying for the content. this has a very high affect on the music industry as more people download illegal music more than anything.
Scopes and Limitations
Scopes
It is easy to access, we can download things in matter of minutes.
You can download that one song rather than downloading the whole album.
Some website offer free download services which could save your money.
Limitations
Illegal downloads has a very high effect on music industry as most people download music illegally.
While downloading software or music you can also get viruses from them.
Some downloads contain viruses which can hack your computer.

EBook: The other  thing that has changed with Entertainment is paper books as now we have EBooks. More people now buy EBook’s than paper books. Amazon also has high impact on high street book stores as now they have introduce Kindle. With Kindle we can now shop for eBooks, download and read eBooks, newspapers, blogs and other digital media, but to use all of them we need a Wi-Fi or wireless networking. The first kindle that was released from amazon was on November 19, 2007.
Scopes and Limitations
Scopes
It's save time and money.
Easy to access, available 24/7 and 7 days a week.
You can download them directly from internet.
Limitations
You need a computer or tablet to read eBooks.
You need internet connection to access.
It can hurt your eyes when you read the book for a long time.

Streaming: streaming online videos is a part of entertainment, as we watch online movies and others videos. Netflix is a website which has range of movies and TV shows. In case to use the website user have to pay for subscription, and then the user can watch all the movies as the website has wide range of movies available on their website. the user can use the website everywhere i.e. train, as long as they have internet access.
Scopes and Limitations
Scopes
Its very easy to use.
Its available 24/7 and 7 days a week.
Streaming online videos requires slow internet connection.
You can always watch the programmes/movies you want to watch whenever you want.
Limitations
You have to pay for the subscription which is  £5.99 a month.
It requires internet connection.
You cannot download any movies or TV shows
It doesn’t have all popular TV shows like The Walking Dead

 

Online Games:
William Higginbotham created the first video game in 1958.his game was called "Tennis for Two,". An online is a video game played on computer, laptops, ps3 and Xbox. Now day’s people use their mobile phones or tablets to play games. Online gaming is very popular between teenagers as most of the teenagers in the Uk play online game on Ps3, Xbox and computers. Videos games are very popular in today’s generation, people are able to play against their friend’s online games and at the same time they can communicate with them, while sitting at home playing games on things like Xbox live.
  
Scopes and Limitations
Scopes
PC gamers and PlayStation users can play online for free
You can communicate with all friends at once.
It doesn’t require a very good internet connection
You don’t have to play online to play with friends, you can play on a LAN(local area network) party as well
Limitations

Xbox users have to pay a monthly subscription to play online

You have to buy a microphone or gaming headset to communicate with your friends.
You need internet connection in order  to play games with your friends or online.
If someone has bad internet this affects the other players experience in the game

 

 

                                                                Download Services

When the internet first became useful it was still time that you had to buy a cd and put it in to your computer to listen to music or watch a movie. if you wanted to listen to music you had to go to shop and buy  a cd to listen to it, as there was no online music services. It was same with movies you had to go to shop and rent out a cd or buy it.

But after a few years  it became possible to  download music, films and games. downloader only became possible because of broadband. Now with download services you can download games, software and many other things.

Movies: You can now watch movies online without you going to the shop and buying it. Netflix is the best example of online movies, you can get subscription and then watch movies whenever you desire.

Streaming videos: There are some common things that people can download such as streaming videos, it was also one of the first form of downloading that you could stream videos.

Music: it is been used by most of the people around the world, now people can download music to their computer and mobile phones, iTunes has been used by most of the people to download music.

Games: You can download games but you are not playing those games online in fact you download them which means you can paly it offline. you can download games through big companies such as "steam", they allow playback without a disk and they are cheaper than buying them in the shops.

Satnav: you can download other things such as if you have a satnav you might have to update your directions at some point, so you have to download the software direct to your satnav machine to update your directions.

Updates: Now computers and mobile can updates your apps and software by itself without you doing anything. So when you turn off your computer it will automatically update your computer programs etc. Mobile phones such as IPhones can update your games, and apps by itself.

EBooks: now people can download books  and can read them on their computers, which is a sort of communication between you and your computer. they are also cheaper than that of paper and some of them are more informative and helpful.

Scopes and limitations of Download service

Scopes

• You don't have to go to shop to rent or buy movie and music.
• It is quicker and easy.
• It saves your time and money as downloading online could be free but if you had to go to shop then you had to pay for the movie.
• With download, the file is saved in to your computer so you can play it offline  i.e. games.
• It is available 24/7 and 7 days a week, so you can use it anytime you like.

Limitations

• For some movies and apps you have to pay for the subscription which could be same as buying it in the store.
• some site can not be trusted while downloading music, movies or games as strangers can hack your computer.
• if you pay for a software and then your computer crashes and your downloading is cancelled, you have to pay for it again as you don't have a CD.
• Many online music stores only offer music in audio format.
• Sometimes you don't want anything top update but it does it by itself.

 My Personal Experience

I do use online services a lot of times, I mostly use it watch online streaming videos, listen to online music on site such as YouTube. I also use iTunes to download music but I have to pay for music like £0.69. I also pay online games sometimes at school an I think it is a great way to pass your time. with my iPhone I don't have to update apps as it does by itself I like it but some people might don't want t update their phone or apps and this is could be one of the disadvantages.

                                                       E-Government


E-Government mostly commonly know an electronic government which consist of online interaction between the government and the society i.e.: citizens. it is now used by most people around the UK and thanks to the technology it is now easier for people to communicate with the government. E-government can be used by people for any propose such as reporting for a lost bin, paying your tax, bills, and even applying for a university through UCAS points.

There are different types of E-government I am going to be talking about few of them and how do they work. With E-Government you can now pay online for your insurances, taxes your bills. For students they can apply for loans and admissions on UCAS. E-Government has made life very easy for people as they can now use all the resources that the government has made available for people.

DVLA: It is a driving and vehicle agency in the UK, where you can apply for your driving licences online or you could just download a form and then send it by letter to the DVLA office. On DVLA website you can  apply for your theory test, change your driving licences address which wasn't first available a few years ago. the government has change rules about vehicle tax disc, form 1st October car  drivers don't have to display paper tax disc. so if someone wants to buy a  car they have to get new vehicle tax before they can drive that car.

GOV.UK: It is a UK government site to help and inform citizens things that happening around the Uk. they have information about all resources such as jobs, tax and pensions, driving and transport and many more. with gov.uk citizens can pay their income tax payment, tax payers can pay online rather than paying by cheque which is a lot easier and quicker. You can also apply for job, apprenticeships, and look at university loans, gov.uk have provided all the information for people with forms so it they want to apply for a loan they can just fill the form and sent it off to the address given by Gov.uk.

UCAS: It s a government provided website. when applying for university students has to use UCAS. it is through this website that you apply for different university. UCAS website provide you all information about university and courses that are offered in universities, and the entry requirement that you need to have to apply for that university. You can also apply for student finance through UCAS site.

Scopes and limitations of E-government:
Scopes:
It saves money and time for everyone who wants to contact the government.
Now days people use more online services so it is becoming more easy for everyone to access to government.
It is available for everyone 24/7 and 7 days a week.
It is simple and easy to access as long as you have internet connection available.
It's also save people time so if someone has to pay their tax they can just pay it online while they are in the office.
Limitations:
It could be difficult for some people such as people aged 50-70 to find the right information that they are looking for as the gov.uk website has provided a lot of information.
Government can loose the face to face interaction with people.
Creating E-government cost a lot of money to the government.
Sometimes you might not find the information that you are looking for.
you need internet or Wi-Fi to use the website or to pay for tax.

My Personal experience: I have used UCAS site to apply for college because I thought I might not make it to get in to St Gregory's school. so I used UCAS to apply for west Kent collage and I have also used Gov.UK website to practice for my driving theory test, by doing mock test. it was a great experience as every step was pretty straight forward and it was also free.

                                          Education
As technology increase day by day, online education also increase. There are many online education website available 24/7 for students as well as for other people. secondary schools have an account for each student on many website such as "My Maths" and "Sam learning", this opportunity is offered to help them do their homework online and revise for their exams.

Online education has become very easier over the few year this is because younger generation know  about computers and technology, and it is use now much easier to use computer than it was a few years ago. Now days kids can just set in front of computer and do what they want, we don’t have to teach them.

I am going to explain to you different types of online education (service) that are available for students and other people.

Bite size is run by the BBC, it is used practically by everyone. It is used quite a lot by people especially by students, and it is limited. Bite size  which has all subjects available. they also have fun activities on their website such as  maths games or puzzles games. Bite size have notes/information on each subject and topics.

My maths: the use of my maths has been increasing over the years. people now use my maths more often and even in school teachers set homework/task for students on my maths. My maths also have maths games so that students take or kids take more interest and that they don't get bored. my maths is all based on maths and it is offer free for students in school and collages. 

Sam Learning: SAM learning works in a similar way as My Maths, but the difference is that SAM leaning has all subjects/ courses available and my maths only provide maths. SAM learning is one of the best ways to study online as it provides revision sessions for every subject, they also have games and fun activities around different subjects so that students take more interest and that they use it more often.  Sam learning has different resources for every year so for like year 10/11 they have Gces's test, mock exams and other revision guides that help students do their homework and revise for tests.

Student Room: This is a different type of online service. it allows user to make account and then post their question and then in seconds or in minutes your question is been answered by someone. it is mostly used by A levels and university students as they have harder question and they need help from other people. you don't have to make account to see the questions and answers, which means that if you are looking for some sort of information you can just search for it and it will give you the information.

YouTube: was first created for people so that they can watch, listen to music and watch other clips, but as online education/services increase people looked in to YouTube and started making educational videos that could benefit students and people. YouTube is a good source of learning because it is a worldwide site which allows everyone to post about any subject/topic they know. YouTube is easy way to study for your exam as if you miss a lesson at school you can just search it in YouTube and find information about the specific topic. there are some privacy rules on YouTube, one of them are that people under 18 are not allowed to view explicit videos.

Scopes and limitations

Scopes

• Students can study anywhere they have access to a computer and Internet connection
• some of the sites are free for revision so, you don't have to pay for tutor you can do at home for free.
• you can study any topic you like.
• you can watch videos on some site such as YouTube which are good source of learning.
• you can also reply or pause videos which you don't get in school.
• you can study for any subject you like.
• you can use it 24/7 7 days a week.
• Most of the website are secure and have the right information about all the subjects.

limitations

• Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind.
• There is no tutor or help provided on the website, so its all independent work.
•  For some sites you have to pay for subscription like Sam learning, my maths.
• Inaccessible if you do not go to a school.
• Some sites might give you the wrong information or answers such as "The student room".
• It could be boring as their is no communication with other people.
• you might get distracted by your phone, or from adverts while watching videos.
• you don't really learn much because you just copy and paste information provided on the site.

My personal experience
Personally i do like online education because it is the easiest way to do homework, complete task and revise for your subjects. I use most of the online education site like Sam learning, My maths, BBC bite size and recently i have been using You tube as well. they have very useful information and i can do my homework when ever i feel like it. For some people it could be a problem using My maths and Sam learning as they have to pay for subscription but for me its free because i have got an account from my school. lastly you do independent work which build your self motivation and no one else has to encourage you do your work.