Education

In this 21st century, education has become very compulsory for many people who wish to gain more money or the work place which they wish to work in requires them to have some sort of certification of their qualification. since these kind of rules apply to everyone, there have been various ways in which IT has helped develop people's academic qualification, as well as make education a lot more interesting compared to the way it was in the past, when there is a certain period of time when people are suppose to be in education. That has now changed thanks to the development of IT, it has enabled many people of all ages to access any type of qualification at any time, there is no boundary for anyone of any age, gender, etc.      

Chalkboard

Back in the times of when there were chalk boards, it was the only way teachers could makes notes on the boards for the students to copy. Although this method for the time was very good, is will sometimes build costs up because they will constantly be needing to buy chalk to write on the board, and if the board rubbers get worn down they will constantly need replacing. In addition to that we need to bear in mind that if all schools taught in this way, all classes will need the same thing, therefore a lot of money from the schools fund will be going towards buying these stationeries. This example shows how IT has changed the way people in this informational age teach as well as interact with their students. One of the ways that they have done this is the use if the Whiteboard interaction. This is basically when the laptop is connected to the projector, this then enables the teachers to show documents or presentations that they teacher may have done on advance. This saves time from having to write it all on a board when it has already been done, and all the students have to do is copy what has been typed. The next feature that the whiteboard has is being able to control what is on the board via on screen keyboard and mouse; this is a very easy way to navigate through pages without the use of the laptop. This makes the life of many teachers easier because they can interact better with the students, they can ask them to write the answer on the screen to involve them more, and it creates a different way of learning for students. This type of interaction is also used in lectures because since there are almost hundreds of people in one lecture room, having an interactive Whiteboard means that the university can have a bigger screen for the many students to see, and the lecturer can talk through very presentation. This feature is also in seminars, when students make a lot of presentations to report back to the class, this essentially can be done using different devices such as the Ipad, which is good for doing presentations in front of small groups of people.

Video of the Ipad on Education 

Due to IT there are new way that kids, teenagers as well as adults can access information, as well as handing in the work online which can make it a lot more convenient for a lot f the users and teachers.   

In this informational age, using IT is one of the fundamentals of education in the 21st century. It has helped make a lot of people's lives a lot more efficient and practical. There is a website called Fronter, which has been made especially for a number of reasons. Firstly students and teachers can communicate to each other at any time very easily thanks to Fronter because it has built in email service which allows this to happen, so it s very easy to ask the teacher a question and they can reply back in confidence. The next feature about Fronter the students are able to hand in work via Fronter, or they can easily send it. In this new age this is one of the features that will take over from written work as well as printed. It makes it easy for the teacher to mark the work online instead of having to flick through papers. In addition to that when the marking is over, the teacher can post it onto the students Fronter without having to say it in person, and the only people who will know the marks is between the teacher and the students, so there is a lot of confidentiality involved. a good thing about this is the student does not need to worry about being able to read the teachers handwriting and the marks will always be in their area if they choose to come back to it. Moreover the students can also check what the next topic they are doing, this makes it easy for the students to know what they need to revise for as well as checking their progress, and seeing if they need to redo a few topics based on the marks that have been given to them. Fronter is just about handing in work, but also for finding any resources that their teacher has put for them, there are many exam past papers that the students can look it, as well as blogs which help inform the user about what they may need to know. IT has helped a lot in this category because the students do not need to search for any resources when everything they need is one are on Fronter. Lastly Fronter has a test option which enables the students to try out what they're tests are like (multiple choice), the system on Fronter will then mark the test automatically. I feel that this kind of software will make other tests be done online due to the efficiency. 

There are various reasons why a lot of universities especially have decided to have lectures online. Many students find it easier, and much more productive to just listen to their lecturer wherever they are instead of having to come to the lecture room. The good thing about this is when the students are listening to their teacher they can easily record what they are saying or they can jot down a few pints since they can easily come back to the video. another method of doing this would be using the Livescribe Digital Smartpen, this is kind of pen records any speech, and it also remembers what the user is writing using its special paper which come with the pen, all they need to do is plug it into the computer and whatever they wrote, or what the pen recorded will be saved in the user’s PC or laptop etc.  

Another good thing about video conferencing is that it is a different way of learning and it’s a lot more productive. Another reason would be if the teacher chooses to they can also publish what their lecture has been about on the Internet, this allows many people from around the world to access this kind of information, and can make a greater understanding of the subject than what they already knew. So the use in IT does not only benefit people within their school, college or university, it also has a global effect on many people who want the same kind of information. The next reason for video conferencing is that the students can work at their own pace almost, because they have all the information that they need online, and it creates a lot of independence amongst the students.   

The next way which IT has changed education is the way teaching can be done online, all sorts of information about courses or about education can be found on the Internet. In terms of tutoring, some sites may charge the users but some may not, so in some cases it is worth paying for tutoring because the users may be interested in the subject or they they want to further their education. 

One of the newest ways that IT has introduced education is via virtual learning, which includes sites such as Mymaths which helps a lot of students with their maths. This service provides various ways to help students from all ages learn different topics of maths, because of the way the Internet has revolutionised, many students can do free tutorials and questions, the only thing is that the students need to do is be registered with their school in order to log onto the site. It has changed the way students work as well as the way teachers teach within their lessons. Firstly there are numerous topics that the site offers, and it also shows the levels which they students are, whether it be GCSE or A Level, so there is a variety of choice for the user. There are some aspects of the site that allows the students to choose what grade boundary they want to work from, so the site shows what type of questions are for that particular grade. How this has affected education is that it allows the students to investigate for themselves what kind of questions they need to know in advance, so that they don't need to rely on the teacher so much. Mymaths is also a revision site so it’s a great way for the students to study and gain knowledge in their subject area. This isn't only for the students benefit but for teachers as well.  Teachers are able to give better presentations because on Mymaths the presentations are already made, therefore it saves time for making presentations, and Mymaths is a very easy site to understand. As for students, teachers are able to set homework online, if the students get stuck on the topic they can always revisit the topic online rather than having to read a book. It also makes it more convenient for the students to do their work online because Mymaths automatically marks the paper so the students are able to see if they understand the topic and see if they are progressing, and the pass rate. The teacher also has access to see how their students are getting on in the subject, so in a way the teacher can use Mymaths as a way of assessing the way the students understand the certain subject. one good thing about Mymaths is that the students can cheat, if they get the a low mark on the online test, they are not going to get the same questions the second time round, so it does make it a lot better for them to study using different questions, at the same time it makes online tutoring a better source of finding different questions to answer.  

Advantages of education

The good thing about education is that anyone at any age can have an education, there is no to limitation to what age any one can have a degree. There are various ways of education, which the student can pick from. One of the advantages of education is the many resources that they students have, such as finding information in libraries; the internet has thousands if not millions of recourses that the students can look at which makes it easier for many students to access information. The second reason is that to get education there is no need to be in a classroom, there are different companies that offer home learning, and companies such as ICS offer this kind of service. Home learning basically allows students to learn how to learn about themselves, and they can study in their own time which means that they can take as long as they want and they do not need to keep up with deadlines. it can also be a lot more efficient for a lot of people because they do not need to leave their house in order to have the education that they want. And some people may live far from the schools so it makes it more convenient for the students. In some cases having online education is a good way of saving money because going to university can cost a lot of money, but doing it online, may save costs for many people, and it might be more comfortable for them. And at the end of it all, they can get a higher job title because of the new qualification that they have achieved. 

Disadvantages of education

There are several disadvantages of education that an affect numerous people. One of the first reasons is that because of the way IT has evolved through the years there is too much information that has been distributed over the Internet has made it easy for students to copy some of their work. In addition to that there are sites that actually have essays based on particular subjects or topics; all they have to do is pay a certain amount of money to have the essay worth quite a high grade. Secondly for students who are learning online it is very hard to work on their own, if they do not understand something. There is no class interaction therefore the only points that they will be making will be there's and they won't know how to get higher without any teaching. Sometimes it may not be because they don't understand it, but maybe because of they have family commitments and it will be too difficult for them to look after the family as well as learn at the same time. Another reason why some aspects of education are bad is because of the reliance of technology such as the smart white boards. in some cases, some school cannot afford to get the latest equipment so they end up missing out on a different learning style as well as making it easier for students and teachers to learn better. in addition to that for the schools that have the money to buy this equipment, it is possible for the system to crash, therefore the computers are not all that trustworthy, and it is possible to spend more money on fixing the equipment than what the price was originally when it was bought. another issue with education is that if the learning is being done online, it is not very easy for the teachers to track if they are making progress or not, maybe the students may be asking someone do it for them or cheating in some way, so sometimes learning online can prove quite difficult for teachers to keep track of progress. Lastly it is very difficult to study online if here isn't some kind of interaction between people, take for example if someone has ICS learning, how they can learn if they are the only ones they are dependent on, when it comes to teaching themselves. They have no teacher to give them guidance to what they need to do, or any other ideas from peers to get different opinions, so although online learning is good in some respect, the student may not get the full fundamentals of the course because they are doing it by themselves. 

News stories relating to online eduction

This is a news story about how some countries insist on keeping their mobile phones on during classroom times. the way technology has changed the way we learn in some countries have changed dramatically, in  Bangladesh, thanks to the Janala service, anyone who has a mobile phone has the chance to learn English simply by calling the number and listening to it. Mobile telecommunication is the fastest growing industry in Bangladesh, and the Janala service has already logged over 400,000 calls."We can't carry a dictionary everywhere," said one Bangladeshi             student."But now we can carry a mobile phone which helps us learn."

This story is about how technology is affecting university students. it says that digital technology should be to a priority in the students life, and that they are trying to nurture this new generation to come up with new idea for online business. the aim is to get new ideas for cultivating business in digital industries for the future, so they want to introduce this aspect to them in order to try and get used to the idea.

Working Styles

 The uses of IT in working styles have changed dramatically because of how technology has evolved through the years. all of of jobs require a certain knowledge of IT because of how this informational age is moving with technology. The main jobs that used to be in the primary sector was mainly farming, due to technology most jobs have come from the tertiary sector where careers such as accounting are involved, so the way people work and they way they work has changed. but there are also various other ways in which IT has affected the way people work.  

Many jobs somewhat require some forms of IT because of the amount of work that IT has been put into the workplace. Some examples of this would be accounting, before programmes such as Excel were made the accountants and shop owners would use books to record their information and, using a calculator to work out any calculations. Excel has made it a lot easier for people in this area to do this kind of work because it is less time consuming and Excel has its own formulas to help work out any hard calculations, instead of a calculator. If a business is on the Stock Exchange where accounts need to be updated very often Excel is a programme which makes it easier for information needs to be updated and well as stored. The good thing about this programme is that it is accessible and it isn't one of those programmes that not many people can have, Excel can be bought which means that it is very easy to have this software. In addition to that because the worker has Excel, this means that any work that they have to do, they can easily do it at home and finish it at home rather than in the office. Moreover the worker can have his business at home; all they need are the right programmes on their laptop or home computer. jobs such as consults do not need an office, because all they need is at home, therefore IT has made a lot of entrepreneurs save money on getting an office for their business when they can easily make an office at home to make it more convenient for customers to come into the house.  

One of the main devices that uses IT in retailers or shops have a computerised EPOS system (Electronic Point of Sale), this is used when the customer is checking out of the store and is buying the good that they came to buy. On the products there is a bar code which gets scanned, this then sends a message to the main computer, which then identifies which product it is and removed it from the stock that it has. If there is a shortage of stock the main computer automatically sends a message to the warehouse letting it know if they have a shortage, and there is no need for anyone to check for stock because the computer does it automatically. There is also the EFTPOS (Electrical Funds Transfer at Point of Sale), system which allows the customers to pay with their credit or debit card, it makes it easier for the customer not to carry a lot of money, and easier for the business to get the money into the business, and make better transactions. Having this kind of IT has made transactions in this informational age much easier, for example if a retailer’s warehouse was outside of the country, it would take a long time to send a message to them. However because of the EPOS system this process doesn’t take a long time to do, because the computer has already been programmed to send a message to the warehouse to notify them of their low stock. The development of IT has made such transaction possible, and trading could follow in the same shoes as the EPOS, because they do not need to be face to face to perform the trade.

The main thing which has transformed in the informational age would be computers. The only way people used to type would be using a type writer, and using a type writer required quite a lot of skill because no mistakes could be made. But now since technology has evolved, computers have done nothing but upgrade into a device that people and business can't live without. Without computers, programmes such as Excel, Outlook, Microsoft Word or any other programme would not be invented, and this would make the lives of many people hard especially for businesses. Businesses would use all these programmes for numerous things such as Outlook Access would be used for storing databases, such as names of customers who shop online, Excel as mentioned would be used for calculations, Word used for a number of things like memos, letters, written documents etc. This is why in this informational age we rely on technology because it makes the lives of many people easier, and less stressful. computer are not only for working class adults but aslo for kids as well, in some scenarios kids are told to find out infomtation from the internet becuase it is a fast way of getting infromation as well as there being different sources from different websites which they can choose from. The previous point on how poeple follow technology is how much poeople have relied on computers, therefore generation after generation, more people will rely on diiferent devices to help in their working life.



Apple Mac 2006



Typewriter 1864

Information taken from the book "understanding information and communication technology pg. 38"
the opportunity to work from home.
People who work using conputers need only a telephone and a personal computer, or a terminal, to gain acess to their company's database. this has enabled more people to work from home.

Advantages of Working Styles
The good thing about working styles is that they have made the lives of so many people easy because of the way technology has evolved through the years. The computers that have been built have enabled many people to work a lot faster and have many programmes that suit the way they work,therefore making it a lot more efficient to do work, and to do it to a much greater standard. one of the advantages of a computer than can work a lot faster is that these kind of devices are portable, so as well as the computer being efficient there are laptops which perform the same job, and it make it a lot more convenient for the worker who can be sorting out a presentation whilst on the bus or even on the train. so in term of working styles, many people can now take their work with them where ever they go. on the topic of programmes it is very easy do work because of the programmes that have been made specifically for many organisations as well as people to use. programmes such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, all these programmes were made for a specific reason and that was for to make it easier for the businessmen/women, students, or any ordinary person, to do their work more effectively and without having to struggle to use the programme. another advantage of working styles is that because of IT many countries do not need to worry about checking stock manually since the computers can easily do it for them. computers in this informational age has changed the way people work, there are certain things such as the EPOS system that helps look after stock as well as inform the warehouse that they have run out stock.     

Disadvantages of Working Styles
one of the disadvantages of working style is that because of the way technology has evolved through the years 

many workers, students have become very reliant on computers, as technology keeps upgrading many users find computers very easy to store data as well as any documents. many people do not back their work onto a disk or onto a USB because their computer is the main source of keeping their data, the disadvantage of this is that their data can be lost because the computer can break down or a virus can affect the computer functioning and it may loose all the data on it, if it needs fixing. another reason why working styles has disadvantages is that the for some companies, they need to change their computers every couple of years to stop any problems occurring with it, the only problem with this is, if its a big company many computers would need to be replaced, which would cost a lot of money and many setting will need to be redone again as well as putting the data back very carefully without loosing anything, this can be very crucial for the business. 

system can break down or someone can put the wrong settings.

News stories relating to Working Styles

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3205080.stm
this news story is about how a new software by Microsoft allows users to send emails that will expire after a certain amount of time. this is suppose to create new security measures because no one can access the emails once they have been expired. there are various features on this software such as the user being able to restrict who they are allowed to read certain emails, this is a good idea because of the fact that some emails can't come back to haunt them if the are gone for good.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11119488
This news story is about how a lot of equipment being stolen or are reported missing, which contains a lot of data from the public sectors. The Police, NHS, councils recorded some of the missing items, such as computers, Blackberries, USB sticks etc. this is showing that there if such data is lost it cannot be retrieved and all the information is gone.  

Entertainment and Leisure

The way we entertain ourselves has changed dramatically because of the Informational Age that we live in. There are various things which technology has allowed us to do, including the way we live, the way we plan etc. One of the main ways in which technology has evolved is due to the Internet; there are many features of websites that have made people's lives easier and more entertaining.

The newest ways that the Internet has done this is by Iplayers. Iplayers are within websites such as the BBC or ITV, the main function of the Iplayer is to catch up on shows or movies that have been missed. Any programme that has been previewing on TV will be shown on the Iplayer. That’s not the only reason why the Iplayer was made, but for the reason of giving entertainment to its viewers, if the user is going on a journey this type of entertainment can be very convenient for them, because the users have constant video access where ever they go, it’s almost like a portable TV. Another reason would be if the user does not have the channels, they can easily make their computer, laptop or Ipad their TV because the exact same shows that are on the TV are ideally on the Internet. This form of IT has affected the way we live because we have found various ways of watching TV without having access from the TV itself, and this kind of service happens to be free unlike the entertainment boxes such as the Sky or Virgin Box. In addition to that Iplayer also offers free entertainment, unlike some movie sites where the user has to pay to watch the movie online, the Iplayer allows the user to watch movies for free so long as the video has not expired, and it offers a better quality of picture such as HD. This shows that in some cases free products sometimes offer better quality than those that the user has to pay for. Another good reason why the Iplayer has evolved through the years is because of the services that the Internet offers. The Iplayer has TV shows that come with the website, for example the BBC iplayer offers all programmes that are associated with BBC such as BBC2 and BBC3. The Iplayer can offer the user various shows, one thing that the user can do is they can set up which shows are their favourite simply by making a user name to store all the options that the user has made. so this makes it a lot easier for the user to find their favourite show without having to search for it time and time again, this has just made searching for things a lot easier and a lot more convenient. In addition to the point about having a log in name, as well as being able to store the user’s favourite channels, the site will see what the user likes and will tend to make suggestions on which videos the user might find interesting. if the user has saved a video in their area, the Iplayer shows which videos are expiring on a certain day, because the Iplayer does not keep the videos for a long period of time, therefore sometimes it would be a better choice for the user to download the video before it expires, and again there are no payments when it comes to downloading.

The next form of entertainment that people enjoy doing is watching films. Through the years the cinema experience has grown from just watching black and white TV to, having a big screen that can capacitate hundreds of people. How this has changed the lives of people is that there is a different feel to the way a movie is watched at home compared to watching a movie in a big room full of people with the same interests. Being in a cinema adds more features during the movie compared to watching it at home; these features include the sound system, lighting, and the picture. Sound systems have a great impact on the way people watch movies because, the way sound projects in a in the cinema creates a certain effect. Because of IT the movie makers can emphasis which parts need to be heard, and the speakers contribute a lot to this. The second is lighting, during a 4D movie, the lights can make the viewers feel like they are in the movie, and they add certain elements such as if it’s windy there will be a certain gust to make the audience feel like they are part of the movie. So IT makes the audience go into a virtual world of entertainment. There are many ways in which the users can create a replica of the cinema experience (maybe not as much as 4D) with the technology that has been brought in this century. In some houses the users may wish to have a house projector, which can portray the exact setting that the cinema has, and of course just having a big screen to add to the entertainment. Once they have that they can also get a cinema remote control which controls all the setting and movies that are watched, in some cases it can control the entire room, if the room has specifically been made for the projector, the remote can control the blinds to close them, dim the lights to have a full cinema experience. How this has affected the lives of people today is that it has upgraded the way we watch films, and it has reduced the many people who go to the cinema to watch a film, when it can be done in their own home.

DVDs are another form of entertainment that many users can find very useful in some circumstances. A DVD is an optical disk storage, this means that it can store a lot of media. (Digital Video Disc), has affected the way people live by travelling. DVDs can be watched whilst on a long trips on the train or in a car (apart from the driver), DVDs are very portable which means they can be taken everywhere, and the size of the DVD player is not that big therefore it makes it much more convenient to carry, unlike the old videos which is impossible to make portable, so logically different forms of entertainment can be taken anywhere so long as they have the right device, e.g. music with an Ipod. Another form of DVDs is Blu Ray, which has the same properties as a DVD apart from the fact that it makes movies much clearer and the colour is much viewable. This is good for entertainment purposes because it makes the movie a lot clearer and a lot more modern. in addition to that it has a lot more storage in the disc than most DVDs, therefore for movies sake, there can be extra features that the viewer is accessible to, such as if the film put the cast talking about the movie in the disc or put deleted scenes, that adds to the entertainment of viewers because it may be something that is not shown on TV.      

DVDs are not just for watching movies, some DVDs are created for educational purposes, take for example the learning DVD Muzzy, that helps kids to have fun whilst learning at the same time.  Although it is educational it can also be classed as entertainment because the kids are interacting with the DVD and most importantly enjoying it, therefore IT in this area has helped a lot of kids learn outside of the classroom. DVDs do not have to be specifically bought from the shops; the users can also make DVD movies by burning them via their own computer. Due to the development of IT it has been made possible for users to put anything on the DVDs from pictures, which can be made into a slide show, they can put music files on the DVD because it holds more than any ordinary CD, and of course they can have their own movies on the DVD. In some cases it has been made possible for user to have more than one movie per disc because of the amount of space that the DVD has, so many videos can be all in one place.  



Movie trailer on the quality of picture Blu Ray DVD offers to the viewers  

The next device that enables a lot of people to find entertainment would be the Sky box. The sky box has made the world of entertainment much broader than most other boxes provide. Sky offers hundreds of channels that the user can pick from, it all depends on the users interests. In some cases some Sky viewers might just want the sports and movie channels, sky is able to provide that kind of service, it also saves costs on the channels that they pick, instead of having all the channels and paying for all of them, picking the ones that interest the viewer makes it a lot cheaper. the good things about this service is that if the viewer want to add a new category of channels to their Sky box, they are more  than eligible to do so, likewise if they want to remove some channels. so in terms of how how IT has made the sky box give us the entertainment is by numerous reasons:

Thanks to IT, the Sky box has got one of the most successful services for programmes in the UK, not many Broadcasters offer this kind of service, although they are trying to catch up with Sky, but Sky is always one step ahead of them offering new programmes that haven't been made yet or are almost releasing, such as 3D channels. Part of the entertainment about Sky is that there are various ways that that they can catch their entertainment. Recording programmes is one way of storing entertainment, if the user is not at home and want to record something; it is very easy to do so with Sky+ not the ordinary Sky digibox. The user can record all the programmes that they want and the digibox will record regardless if the box is switched off. The good thing about the way IT has evolved in this process is the the fact that Sky can record numerous series of TV shows, this is good for the user because they know that their favourite entertainment shows are recorded. Another way in which IT has contributed to entertainment is by the use if the Live Pause, this significantly helps the user because if they are in the middle of doing something, they can easily pause what they're watching or they can rewind what they've missed. on the subject of live pause, one of the ways that Sky adds to the viewers entertainment is having channels that show live shows, such as football or the X factor. The use if IT has enabled the satellites to have these channels ready for the viewers to watch them, and shows them in very high quality picture. to add to the sensation of watching the live shows, the Sky box has various ways to add to the entertainment, there is the Sky HD box and soon to come the Sky3D box. both these boxes make entertainment worth while because the picture is very clear, each aspect of the screen is clear, and any fast motions are viewable. As for the 3D TV,  seeing it right in front of the user adds to the excitement of the entertainment. This is how IT has managed to make entertainment more exciting and making it is adding to the value of the channels.                

Questionnaire on Entertainment 

Click on pie chart to Enlarge 

Advantages of entertainment and leisure
the advantages of entertainment is that it is one of the household needs that almost everyone would want to have, products such as the SKY area great way of entertainment because of the amount of channels that it has as well as the amount of genres that it covers, and the audience that it captures are endless, there is almost a channel for everyone. The next reason why entertainment is an advantage is because of the fact that many viewers to not need to go out in order to find entertainment, having their own home cinema is one of the ways on how it saves costs on going out to watch a production. It also allows the viewers to make their own effect on their cinema life, the can have a big projector, and they can control the sound system, and choose any movie that they want, so having a cinema at home allows the viewers to enjoy and choose from a variety of movies without any costs attached. another reason about entertainment is that technology is going to have continuous updates, so there is always going to be continuous updates on how to improve the way people view television such as from HD TV to 3D TV, technology is constantly improving to make the viewing experience much better by the years.


Disadvantages of Entertainment and Leisure
There are several disadvantages of entertainment, one of the common ones is having entertainment rather than doing work. If there is something interesting on the Television or the viewers are watching a movie, it can become very distracting for a lot of people, and that can cause them to loose track of time, and therefore not allocating enough time to their work.  secondly for television lovers, it does become very hard to come off the TV because of the amount of channels that are being offered, and there is always something to watch, this again can affect work very much, since there are so many shows available it is very easy to find something else to watch, and can get the viewer side tracked. the most crucial thing that can happen in terms of entertainment is addiction, it is possible for the viewers to get addicted to just sitting around and watching television, online shows, or movies. it is possible for the viewers to think about nothing but their own entertainment. in addition to that from the effects just wanting to watch something can cause a lot of viewers can become anti social because they won't need anyone to entertain them, they will have no need to go out with friends, and there is a possibility of loosing friends. 

News stories relating to Entertainment and Leisure

 http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2010/08/25/dodgy-dvd-seller-in-birmingham-faces-deportation-97319-27129619/
This news story is about how a DVD seller is facing deportation because of the 20,000 fake DVDs that he had made. Although DVDs are a great way of entertainment, people go through lengths to get the movies illegally to sell them to many customers. the worst thing about this story is that this person is an illegal immigrant, so he isn't suppose to live in the country and he is selling fake DVDs the the people.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8035125/BBC-iPlayer-best-catch-up-TV-service-in-the-UK.html
This story is about how the BBC Iplayer is the best catch up TV service. it says that the BBC offers the best usable video on demand offering. this shows that the BBC has attracted many viewers because of the many videos that they preview.

Banking and Shopping

IT in the informational age has changed the way customers buy their goods, in some cases sell, it is also made the jobs of banks easier because of the services which they are able to provide over the Internet. This kind of service has made the lives of businesses very effective because the customers do not need to move out of the house to shop or to go to the bank to ask for an enquiry, this is the kind of feature in the informational age, enables customers to do transactions online. In addition to that the way technology has upgraded through the years has made the customers more dependent on themselves, without the use of assistance.

IT in shops has made the job of the managers and staff a lot easier because of IT. Devices such as the self check are one if the main services that have changed the way people shop. Firstly if a customer does not have a lot of shopping to do or if they are in a hurry, the self check out service is a fast way of buying products, mostly foods. The self checkout is an experience that enables people to use the modern day technology, self checkout can accept money and well as credit or debit cards, and guides the customers on how to use it without having a supervisor teach the customer how to use the check out service. On the point of credit and debit cards, there are also cards which have been made to help save money for the customer. Shops such as Sainsbury’s have a Nectar card, when customers buy their products and have a Nectar card, depending on how many times the customer has bought goods from the shop, they get Nectar points which allows them to get reduced prices on their goods. So the more they shop the more nectar points they get, and the more reduced prices that they get. IT has made a great impact in this area because due to IT, customers are able to save money on their shopping, which makes it a lot easier to keep track of their expenses. Another good reason behind it is that the card doesn't have to be used just for buying their products, these cards also enable car holders to use this nectar card to pay for their fuel (so long as it is the Shops petrol station). it's not just fuel that the customer can buy but, the nectar card can also be used on online e-Nectar stores online such as Amazon, what happens is the customer will shop as normal, at the end of the shopping the nectar points are added to the customer’s account. This is how IT has progressed from being in store buying with the card to being able to use the card online, which anyone can access.

In this age of technology IT has all become a self service type of economy. This is mainly because some of the devices that have been made have enabled people to adapt to new software that has made lives easier and a lot quicker. Online shopping has made customers do just that. The internet has evolved into a place where all the customers need to have is a computer and their card. Online shopping has indeed turned into online shopping literally, IT has made customers have do things for themselves, and in this case being able to shop is one of them. There are quite a number of features that have been added to websites throughout the years that has made shopping a lot easier for customers to buy what they want. This is why most competitors have gone online because if the audience that online shopping has made.

Here is a brief video about how online shopping has changed from then and now and the new alterations that have been made in order to suit the customer.

Going online has enables IT to grow into another field of self services by the people. The customers can easily choose what they are going to buy, just like they would if they were in the shop. This kind of feature of the Internet is meant to give the customers a much broader choice of what they want than what they can get online, it also gives better offers than it does in store as well as having the goods delivered right to the customers door instead of having to go into town just to buy something new when it can be done right inside the customers home. the good thing about buying online is that, there are a number of discounts that online shops offer rather than in store, and the customer can get lower prices for buying online e.g. if the customer buys an item for £50, they can get free delivery. In addition to that there are more products that that the customer can choose from, because there are a number of retailers that are online, therefore it gives the customer a wider choice of what they want, than going in store. another way in which online shopping has changed the way we live is that, since retailers have gone online, they are able to be accessed from a broader audience, this means that people who have Internet access from quite remote places can shop online instead of having to travel just to shop. An example of this would be the Tesco delivery service, all the customer has to do is shop for whichever product(s) they want, give them their address and pay online with their card. Tesco will get this information and will deliver the products right to the customer’s door. So the internet has change and improved the way people shop because it has made their life much easier.

One of the ways in which IT has made the lives of banks and bankers easier is the way people are able to handle money and the way transactions are made between banks and people. New features that IT has placed into banks are machines which are able to accept cheques and transfer them straight into the account. Usually to clear a cheque it would take about three days for it go through, the use of IT has enabled bankers to transfer cheques much quicker and it is much more reliable because it is not going through anyone but the machine. In this informational age this kind of service is very good for business or people who do transactions abroad or within their country. Instead of having to wait for the cheque to be transferred it us very instant and the business knows that as soon as the cheque is through the machine, the money is safe in their account. One of the top reasons why IT has made a difference in the way people are in society is because it has gone online. Due to the way everyone is accessing the internet more, banks have also moved with the trend of having online presence. Online banking has made life a lot easier for a lot of people just like the way online shopping has, the difference is that with online shopping it is more about checking accounts to see if they have enough money to shop, sending money to people, such as business sending money to their employees. Banking also enables bankers to pay for their bills online, instead of having to go to places like the Post office, it makes it a lot easier because they could set up a setting which enables an amount of money, to be sent to a certain account every month without the banker having to intervene unless they want to stop the transaction. Another way in which IT has been involved with online banking is the ability to apply for a credit card online, rather than having to fill out the form at the branch. Applying for a credit card can be very fast rather than having to wait for the workers at the branch to process it, doing it online makes it easier for the workers to read hard names, and don't need to worry about handwriting problems, it's just like a copy and paste situation, once the details are online all the worker has to do is copy the data rather than have to type it. In addition to that the user does not need to go to the branch to ask for a new card replacement, which can be done online, just as I said before being online has enables people to do things by themselves. The next reason why IT has helped this informational age is by allowing the user to be able to pay for their bills online, it is very easy to organise where any money transactions are taking place. therefore if the user sets up an automatic transfer whenever they get paid, they do not need to do it themselves, when the settings automatically sends the money to the right account whenever the user gets paid or receives money. The good thing about this is that he user is able to track where they money is going at all times, whether the money had reached its destination, or if the cheque bounced. They can also check the transactions of money coming into the business, as well as any other pending transfers that haven’t been received yet.

Advantages of banking and shopping

There are several advantages of banking and shopping, one of them happens to be making easy interactions, for online shopping, the users are able to buy their groceries online, and the site delivers the food straight to the customers door.this is a great advantage because the customer does not need to go anywhere just to order food, and they can do this on any device such as phones, a laptops or the Ipad, so the customer can buy their food online from any place at any time. it doesn't just need to be with food this can also be other things such as clothes, products such as furniture etc, it saves a lot of time for the customer as well as the business because having it online, they can see visually everything in one place, rather than them having to type anything, and being lets the business automatically know any orders that are being purchased. As for online banking it doesn't have the same effect and job, online banking allows the user to pay numerous things such as bills online rather than having to go to the post office, it is also a good way of tracking where they're money is coming from, and where it is going, so that they know that their transactions are complete. Another advantage of banking is the main reason why it was made and that is to store money safely for the customer, and for them to withdraw from it whenever they want and from different countries as long as they have the bank which holds the money. another feature of banking is ATM machine which withdraws the money that the user wants, instead of asking for assistance they can do it manually for themselves, and it is a very fast way of getting their money. for shopping having the nectar cards is a good way on saving money for a lot of items because using the card lets them have discounts on numerous things such as food, petrol etc.  

Disadvantages of banking and shopping

There are also some aspects of banking and shopping which has a few disadvantages attached. one of the serious disadvantages is that is some cases accounts can be hacked into. Although online banks banks have great security, it can be possible for someone to access all the data that comes into the site, or it can be someone who works from the inside who can take all the details of names and card details. In addition to that many people can make fake sites that may look genuine but are actually fake to get card details and is some cases the users identity, how the users usually access these sites are by when they read spam mail from all these sites. thats's the next disadvantage many false companies can send emails urging the users to use their website, or what many usually do is make a site that the users are familiar with, so of they are asked to pay for something it would look genuine. another disadvantage is that if the user has an enquiry about something they will have to wait for a long time before they reply back to the user, this can cause quite a lot of frustration if they do not know how to use the website.   

News stories Relating to Banking and Shopping

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/2787746/Hi-tech-tills-register-with-small-stores.html
This story is about how many small supermarkets are starting to use the EPOS systems, many of them are starting to raise money to buy this equipment. they say its to manage their businesses better it will help them make better profit.


This news story is about how the the computerised tills broke down. knowing these companies, they do not expect something like this to happen, so many customers were left not being able to pay for their groceries. Sainsbury's wasn't the only store many others were also affected, the ATMs were not working, nothing could be paid for.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8038833/Chaos-in-supermarkets-as-computerised-tills-crash.html

Communiction

ICT has changed dramatically through the years. Today in the 21st century, communication has been one of the biggest improvements as well as changes in the way that we communicate. They way that most businesses, young people, and most working adults communicate today is different from when our grandparents communicated during their time. There are many new devices that have enabled us to communicate quite easily with each other. When phones were first released they were not able to do half the things that that phones are able to do today.

Take for example the Brick phone, which was the first handheld cellular phone, that was released on March 6 1983, the only thing that the phone could do is let the user talk for half an hour, and it could last for eight hours before it will need charging. The other features that the phone had was an LED screen, and memory that could only hold thirty contacts. These phones at the time were very high on demand because of the personal wireless communication and that resulted to the cost being £2,523.42. This phone affected society in quite a bad way because they were not the most convenient phones that a lot of people would like. The brick phone was very heavy to carry therefore not many people would want to carry a briefcase, because it is a lot effort. The next thing about the rick phone is that the range that the phone can get through is not that much, therefore it is not that much to call someone from a long distance away, so although the phone is meant for calling, it is not very useful if the user cannot call anyone who is not within their range. the next point is that there aren't many features on the Brick phone, all it can do is call, even if it is calling, the user can't talk for a very long period of time. I can imagine the people not finding this phone very interesting, and quite boring. Lastly the phone is a ridiculous price, especially at the time when only the rich could afford such a phone, therefore quite a lot of the working class would not buy such an expensive product

But if you take one of our latest phones such as the Nokia N8, it has a variety of ways in which we can communicate, compared to the Brick phone. These include, SMS (Short Message Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), this allows media such as pictures to be send via texting. This is good for users because some people may not want to call, and in terms of how texting makes life easier for the user, it is a simple way of sending something important or sending messages abroad. For business this is a bonus feature because although it costs more to send the message it is much cheaper than calling, and at least the user will know that the person they are sending the message to, will receive the text. In modern phones there are many features which phones of today have, one of these happens to be having internet access on the phone. This is one of the newest and easiest ways in which people of this informational age communicate with each other. Going on the Internet enables the users to access sites such as Facebook or Twitter to communicate to people. This has affected society in different ways, one of them being a big business opportunity for phone networks because they can make deals that include having free Internet for as long as the contract specifies. The second is business are able to make quicker transactions because they can also access their email to, so they constantly know if anyone has sent them any mail regarding their business. The next of phones that there is of course calling, but not just ordinary calling, the phone has video calling which means the users can see each other while talking.  It would mostly be teenagers and working adults who would want this kind of phone because teenagers can easily find a lot of entertainment on the phone; social networking has become very important in the lives of teenagers so they would want such as feature. As for adults since they do a lot of communication between companies this phone does become very ideal for them.

Video on how the Blackberry has affected different people's lives 

Iphone

There are various other ways in which we can communicate. one of then being instant messaging, which is talking to someone at the same time on a messengers such as Yahoo or MSN, or within phones like the Blackberry or Iphone. Instant messaging is chatting to someone who is online at the same time, and they can receive it in normal time, this is a fast way of communicating because it is instant and it is free. In this information age, technology enables features such as instant messaging to be put on day to day basis devices such as phones. New phones of today such as the Blackberry have its own messenger on the phone, as well as the Iphone which allows the user to download the application onto the phone without any costs attached. This has become much easier for business men and women because deals are made constantly, and its makes it easier to talk to people who are abroad for faster transactions, and faster deals, it is also a quick way of sending data, such as news journalists who will need to send a story to their news company as soon as possible. it may not just benefit those who are working, but also for people such as teenagers who just enjoy talking to their friends. messenger as mentioned is free, so why should people have to use credit to call someone when they can easily send them an instant message when they are online, or just leave an offline message so long as the receiver gets it in the end. so in terms of the way IT has affected communication in this area, it has improved the way we are able to communicate with each other on a day to day basis, and it makes it easier to talk to more than one person at a time because there can also be group discussion on instant messaging, so this adds to the fun as well as to the interaction between users. it is also a good way of communicating outside of the country, usually calling someone from abroad would cost a lot of money, but having instant messaging, so long as they are online at the same time, it is possible to talk to someone who is in a different time zone.     

Video on instant messaging 

Here is a questionnaire that I have made on mobile phones

Click on the pie chart to enlarge the result, the question is on the pie chart

 



The next form of communication is emailing, although this type of communication is dying out, it is still a great way of sending formal and informal discussions. One way which email has made life easy is attaching documents, media, music etc. This is one thing that social networking sites haven't been able to do yet, it is a quick way of sending documents such as memos, or agenda's to everyone who is involved, email is a great way of storing important emails (Gmail is currently the only server that does this). Email is basically a letter but is written on the computer, therefore most of the characteristics of the letter are found in an email. So it can be said that emails are a fast and easy way of sending messages, so it could be that if a person was on holiday instead of using a postcard, which will end up arriving late, and by the time the receiver has it, whatever the writer wrote is what they felt at that time so the receiver won't feel like they know what is recent. Unlike an email where the user can actually customise a card in the form of a postcard can send it the same day, and the receiver can see it the same day, so they know that the person did the event on the same day, so it’s almost like they are up to date with what is going on. So the way that IT has affected people in this area is that emails that are sent and received are recent so the users know that any email that they send or receive will not take long. IT has also made emails are way of organising the important from the not important as been mentioned, it is a good way for businesses to know if they have received any documents concerning their interactions, and in such cases IT has also made a way of protecting these emails by the HTTPS, this enables any important messages or private information concerning the user to be protected from any hackers.  

Video conferencing is one of the main concepts of entertainment that has become one of the main fundamentals of communication. having video conferencing has great features as well as advantages, one of the first reasons is that it can be accessed from numerous environments as long it has internet access and they have a webcam of some sort in order to see the face to face communication. the good thing about video conferencing is that it is in real time, so its just like having a conversation with someone apart from the fact that the users are seeing the other person from a computer screen. in this age of technology, video conferencing can also reach out to people who are in remote places, this is an advantage for some people because they are able to exchange cultural differences between each other as well as gain a new pen-pal just by video conferencing. in business terms, video conferencing is what makes some business gain a better global recognition, and since its video conferencing is almost like talking face to face it is very easy to get acquainted with the new business partners. it is also good for hosting meetings with people within the business without having to book a large room, it is very easy to communicate to them. it also saves time on having to send them emails when they can easily tell the person what they need at that time, in addition to that it is very easy to organise meetings in the short notice because i would presume that everyone would have a computer in their office, therefore all they need to do is to inform them that they are having a quick meeting at some point, and all the staff involved can be online at the same time. lastly it does save quite a lot of money for a lot of people, instead of paying a lot of money to fly out to a country to meet the person, meeting online does save a lot of costs for the people, this is why some phones such as the Iphone 4 which has a camera, are able to do such jobs because they would want to video call someone to save costs.     

Advantages of Communication 

One of the main advantages of communication is that it can be reached by someone in another country, which makes it very convenient for many people to either talk to friends or business partners. In this informational age it has allowed calling to be done a lot quicker than usually, sometimes to call internationally a card with money within is what would be needed, but now thanks to instant messaging and video conferencing that has all changed, it is easier quicker, lot more efficient and it doesn't cost a thing. so communication is constantly improving and making it a lot more interesting, such as using devices such as the Ipad, Blackberry, and Iphone, to make the calling experience much more entertaining. the Blackberry has its own messenger which makes it much easier for the user, the ipad can access social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and the Iphone can pretty much do both. another advantage about communication is that the user can work from home, thanks to video conferencing its does make it a lot easier to make transactions from their ownthome rather than going to an office which adds to a lot of costs. 

Disadvantages
of course there are some disadvantages of communication such as spam mail by emails, some companies will send a lot emails to millions of email addresses to try and advertise their business, or they will act as though they are a the users bank, insurance dealer etc. and will try and persuade them to use their card in some way in order to take their details and use them however the hackers please. another disadvantage is that in terms of social networking and instant messenger, there are thousands of people on the network, and since its about meeting new people, the user can receive random requests from some people, the only problem with this is that some people can pose to be someone that they're not, so if the user befriends this character it can be a big problem for times to come. the next disadvantage is that since in this infomrational age people talk on the go, everyday minute of the day, it can prove to be tiring at times because many people rely on this person, or they are a entrepreneur who needs to make sure that the business is running to its full potential so this can cause quite a lot of strain having emails, calls being sent to one device.
adding people user may not know. it is also very easy to get side tracked from communicating a lot, its very easy to forget about plans that they may have made, or about any appointments which they were meant to do because of the amount of communication that they need to do during off and on working hours. in addition to that if the user if one of the main family members, they won't be able to spend quality time with the family which can be quite a problem for them as well as the family.

News stories on Communication

This news story is about how Saudi Arabia is blocking instant messaging services from Blackberries. they fear that using Blackberry sources may cause something bad to happen because, the Blackberry is very hard to track texts and emails.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/aug/05/saudi-arabia-blackberry-ban-snooping

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11374632
this news story is about how technology is evolving phones, and how they could soon replace high tech lab equipment. in some countries where they lack scientific equipment, they possess mostly mobile phones.