What is ICT?

When I was a pupil myself, the first task every Year 6 class were given at the start of the year was to produce a project all about how Information Technology was used to assist in any particular aspect of life of their choosing. Whilst many took this as an opportunity to research about robots in car manufacturing plants or the growing use of word processors on desktop PCs at home, I ended up doing a piece on the role of IT in an exam board (since a relative worked at one and insisted it would be an interesting topic to do). In the end, I did learn a lot about the use of different software applications in the organisation and got quite a good grade for my work. About a year ago, I discovered that I had kept this project in my loft and on flicking through it, came across this wonderful quote about the emerging use of the Internet at the time:

"Now with the Internet and e-mail, I.T. becomes C.I.T. (Communication and Information Technology). People can send messages all over the world and receive messages from all over the world via the computer instead of via the phone, the fax or letters."

Quite an interesting quote, isn't it? Well, it got me thinking about how exactly the role of ICT (as it eventaully became known) has developed since then and in particular how the communication aspect has become ever more important in society. Have a look at these Wordles I created to illustrate some of the key words that I associate with the acronym: 

               

At first glance, it would seem that these three words are quite mutually exclusive, however, I believe that on closer inspection, that they are actually very much interlinked, with the boundaries between them becoming more blurred as ICT is embedded more and more into everday life. For instance, consider how often multimedia information is now shared over the Internet onto portable devices like mobile phones, or how frequently people now collaboratively research topics over the Internet with others using emerging technologies like cloud computing services.

Once upon a time, IT was seen to be an indpendent subject which mostly involved children sitting infront of a computer using either word processing or spreadsheet software to present information or data, with the ocassional opportunity to program a simple floor turtle. Today, the Internet has transformed those experiences by allowing the communication and sharing of the work with the entire planet. Communication, it would seem, is therefore the key part of ICT nowadays as it facilitates more and more people to access the information and has spawned a huge investment in mobile technologies to make this possible wherever you may be (although not on the Tube network yet I don't think).

Looking back to the exam board I first wrote about in the 90s, it would seem that nowadays videoconferencing and the ability to send scripts online to be marked has completely revolutionised the organisation and that my prediction has indeed come true.

Ask a child of the 90s what IT they did at home and the majority would say 'type stories and paint pictures.' Ask a child of the noughties what ICT they do at home and the majority would say 'chat with friends on the Internet'. 

Information technologies I reckon have reached their peak now and will only adapt and take on minor improvements in future to further take advantage of communication networks like the Internet. Therefore I firmly believe that communication is, and will now continue to be, the driving force behind the subject. 

(Read more about the impact of ICT by looking at this chapter on my Junior ICT Companion website.)

Comments

[Jan Webb]

Really interesting ideas, SImon - I love the wordle and the idea of changing around the letters to become CIT - communication is the way that tech will impact on learning throughout the curriculum - I'm not sure about having reached a peak, as I am without my crystal ball this morning and time is bound to prove us wrong on that!

[Michelle Hill]

Nice one Simon! As usual, you're spot on with your thinking. Did you see @Baggiepr's tweet last night where he suggests that assessing ICT skills may become less important than assessing the literacy skills used when writing a blog. Your post is related to this idea. It will be the 'Communication' aspect of ICT that we will measure more of in the future - especially know that more and more children are capable of making several years ICT skills progression in a single lesson.

[Phil Bagge]

It's a good thought provoking article and you might be right about communication being biggest part of ICT, it is certainly the part that impinges on most of our lives the most. Still there is a part of me worries that we will drop other less funky parts of ICT and ICT will become just C. I have definitely seen this in some schools, which in my opinion would be a pity.