Information Technology

Information Technology

Index.

1. CDROMs as a Learning Resource.

2. Microsoft PowerPoint.®

3. Digital Cameras.

4. Videoconferencing.

5. Speech Recognition.

Preamble.

Information Technology, (IT ) is now a widely used tool in education,

business and leisure. This project describes some of the facilities

listed above which are used with varying degrees of success in

education. As a tool of teaching, they have values which are

discussed, but their widespread application in commerce and leisure

makes having experience of them a requisite part of wider education.

However, they can easily be construed as the way the learn, or as the

only tool needed. With the exception of very mature and able people

this is a fallacy, as one has to be very dedicated to learning and

have developed considerable discipline to attain success by this

method alone. Even the Open University which uses mainly distance and

more recently online learning realises that periodic face to face

meetings with tutors and other students is essential to get the best

understanding out of any teaching program.

It is interesting that the new ECDL (European Computer Driving

Licence) which is likely to become the standard broader qualification

for basic IT in the future, has been devised so it can be studied and

tested by distance learning from CDROM. Time will tell how many people

can do this right through with minimal tutor or lesson contact.

Currently both class, and distance learning with tutor support are

being tried by different local colleges. It seems likely to be

attractive as a qualification for people who have perhaps have had

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keyboard. So the likely strings of words punctuated with “ums” and

“ahs” and “ no change that to…” will not work in such dictation. As

current text recognition of scanned images (OCR) is well advanced,

this seems to be the way straight written text will be entered. It

would be a special skill that people would need to acquire to be able

to dictate a new document directly in well composed speech. Certainly

in view of the general ‘dumbing down’ of standards of English, many

people currently in the workplace would be unable to do this

effectively and the keyboard will probably still be the major input

device for most applications.

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1 See project – IT in education …etc. Task 9.

2 Rick Maybury. Boot Up Projects. Daily Telegraph Publications