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In this unit you will get familiar with the ICT environment, learn how to use different tools for accessing the internet and for communication with one another.  You will learn how to create your own personal digital library of resources.  The unit will introduce you to the history and development of ICT, the importance of Free and Open Source Software, Open Educational Resources and ethical practices in the use of ICT.

In this unit you will get familiar with the ICT environment, learn how to use different tools for accessing the internet and for communicating with one another.  You will learn how to create your own personal digital library of resources.  The unit will also introduce you to the history and development of ICT, the importance of Free and Open Source Software, Open Educational Resources and ethical practices in the use of ICT.

===A brief history of ICT===

===A brief history of ICT===

The term 'ICT' refers to those set of technologies that help us create information, access information, process information and communicate with one another.  Many of you may be using a cell phone to communicate, which even fifteen years ago would not have been the case with most students. The cell phone is a digital information and communication device, a part of the recent ICT revolution. Yet ICT are perhaps nearly as old as humanity itself, as human beings needed to communicate with one another, beginning with symbolic (non verbal) ways, before [[wikipedia:Language|language]] was invented.   

The term 'ICT' refers to those set of technologies that help us create information, access information, process information and communicate with one another.  Many of you may be using a cell phone to communicate, which even fifteen years ago would not have been the case with most students. The cell phone is a digital information and communication device, a part of the recent ICT revolution. Yet ICT are perhaps nearly as old as humanity itself, as human beings needed to communicate with one another, beginning with symbolic (non verbal) ways, before [[wikipedia:Language|language]] was invented.   

Language can be seen as the first 'ICT', it enabled (oral) communication amongst human beings. [[wikipedia:Writing_system|Script]] was the next ICT, invented around 5,000 years ago, which enabled information to be held distinct from the communicator and be made available  beyond the limitation of space and time that oral communication imposed.  You would be learning more about the processes of speaking and listening (comprising oral communication)  and  reading  and writing (comprising written   communication) in your courses on language learning. Writing also enabled easier recording of human history. Invention of [[wikipedia:Printing|printing]] technologies scaled up the 'writing' process and enabled mass production of books. The invention of radio and television created the 'mass media' in which simultaneously the same message could be transmitted to thousands of people. Each ICT invention enabled the processes of information creation, sharing, storing and communicating to be easier, quicker, more efficient, enabling greater reach; communication processes evolved leading to an explosion in human interactions, causing significant changes in societal processes.  While human beings have always accessed information and communicated, what makes the present ICT special, is their digital nature, hence we can even refer to ICT, the subject matter of this course, as '[[wikipedia:Information_technology|digital technologies]]'.   

Language can be seen as the first 'ICT', it enabled (oral) communication amongst human beings. [[wikipedia:Writing_system|Script]] was the next ICT, invented around 5,000 years ago, which enabled information to be held distinct from the communicator and be made available  beyond the limitation of space and time that oral communication imposed.  You would be learning more about the processes of speaking and listening (comprising oral communication)  and  reading  and writing (comprising written   communication) in your courses on language learning. Writing also enabled easier recording of human history. Invention of [[wikipedia:Printing|printing]] technologies scaled up the 'writing' process and enabled mass production of books. The invention of radio and television created the 'mass media' in which simultaneously the same message could be transmitted to thousands of people. Each ICT invention enabled the processes of information creation, sharing, storing and communicating to become easier, quicker, more efficient, enabling greater reach; communication processes evolved leading to an explosion in human interactions, causing significant changes in societal processes.  While human beings have always accessed information and communicated, what makes the present ICT special, is their digital nature, hence we can even refer to ICT, the subject matter of this course, as '[[wikipedia:Information_technology|digital technologies]]'.   

A brief history of ICT is provided in the table below.

A brief history of ICT is provided in the table below.

|Physical

|Physical

|Not possible

|Not possible

|Share knowledge across space and time, but in a limited manner

|Shared knowledge across space and time, but in a limited manner

|-

|-

|Print / Printing

|Print / Printing

==== Digital ICT ====

==== Digital ICT ====

We are now perhaps in the middle of the next epochal movement in the history of ICT - the use of digital methods for accessing, creating, modifying sharing, storing information as well as for communication. Most of you would have been born after the beginning of the use of cell phones (the second generation or 2G cell phone technology was available for mass use from 1991), while many teacher educators would have been born before this period! This phenomenon creates an interesting inversion in the learning environment: in almost all other areas, the teacher (teacher­ educator) is more familiar than the learner (student­ teacher), while in case of ICT (more specifically in the skill of using ICT devices and methods), it can often be the opposite! Younger people may often pick up a technology quicker than older people. However, digital literacy includes both skills and deeper understanding of digital ICT. While student teachers may take to the learning of digital skills more easily, the experiences and insights of teacher educators can help student teachers develop a critical perspective towards digital ICT. This is essential, since digital ICT have a huge potential for doing harm as well as good.  

We are now perhaps in the middle of the next epochal movement in the history of ICT - the use of digital methods for accessing, creating, modifying sharing, storing information as well as for communication. In the era of digital ICT, it became possible to encode information in "1"s and "0"s, called "bits" or binary digit, which could be read as a series of electrical signals.  This allows different kinds of information to be captured without an elaborate physical device.  An example of this can be seen how storage of music albums moved from gramaphone records, to cassettes to CDs to pen drives and to the mobile. Or in the case of photographs, where we have moved from images captured on film to digital images.  The possibility of encoding information in the form of bits has made it possible for editing (and creating) to become easier, storage to become less cumbersome and transmission to become faster. 

 

Digital technologies have been the most rapidly evolving technology in recent times and has brought about some very interesting scenarios in an educational context. For example, most of you would have been born after the beginning of the use of cell phones (the second generation or 2G cell phone technology was available for mass use from 1991), while many teacher educators would have been born before this period! This phenomenon creates an interesting inversion in the learning environment: in almost all other areas, the teacher (teacher­ educator) is more familiar than the learner (student­ teacher), while in case of ICT (more specifically in the skill of using ICT devices and methods), it can often be the opposite! Younger people may often pick up a technology quicker than older people. However, digital literacy includes both skills and deeper understanding of digital ICT. While student teachers may take to the learning of digital skills more easily, the experiences and insights of teacher educators can help student teachers develop a critical perspective towards digital ICT. This is essential, since digital ICT have a huge potential for doing harm as well as good.  

You will learn to use digital ICT for two purposes in the first year - 'connecting and learning' and 'creating (generic resources) and learning', in the two units respectively. Before 'connecting and learning' you need to have a basic familiarity with the ICT devices and tools.  

You will learn to use digital ICT for two purposes in the first year - 'connecting and learning' and 'creating (generic resources) and learning', in the two units respectively. Before 'connecting and learning' you need to have a basic familiarity with the ICT devices and tools.