ICT student textbook/Introduction

Society today is called the information society. Ability to gather information, methods of gathering information, processing it, analyzing it, communicating and making decisions to act on it are very important skills. Computers, cell phones, tablets - these are all words that are being used everywhere. As students, you have been introduced to some of these terms in your school, in your family or in your neighbourhood. The cell phone tower, your nearest ATM, your mother's mobile phone, games, whatsapp chats, email, the selfie, internet, videos and songs on your computer - all these are examples of a new kind of technology - a technology that has changed the way we are accessing information, the methods we are communicating and the ways we are working. The computer is becoming like a television, the phone is becoming like a computer, you can use the computer to make voice calls, you can speak to your phone- these and many such innovations are taking place rapidly. All these technologies - mobile, television, computers, tablets - are together called Information Communication Technologies (ICT). ICT refers to those set of technologies that help us create information, access information, analyze information and communicate with each other. This current set of technologies are also called Digital Technologies.

When it was first discovered that chimpanzees can make tools, which had been considered an activity restricted to the human species, Dr Louis Leakey, a noted primatologist said " We have to define what is a tool, or we have to define what is a human being or we have to accept that chimpanzees are human beings!". With the way ICT are evolving with robots, driverless cars and artificial intelligence systems, we could ask a similar question about computers and human beings.

Computers are no longer mere output devices but rather devices that can help us create, draw, compose music,communicate and do so much more; the idea of ICT has moved far beyond the mere computer. ICT and broadly digital technologies are changing the way we talk, we learn and we work.

This textbook will introduce you to the various possibilities of learning and doing and communicating that are possible now with ICT. As students, you are encouraged to explore this new area and make connections to your own daily life, the impact these ICT have on your life, how you would like to interact with this technology and how you can equip yourself to understand this new way of thinking, learning and communicating.

This book will present ideas and activities at three different levels to address the classes 6-8 and your teacher will determine the appropriate level of activity. You will be required to work on projects - both individually and in groups - to explore a particular idea or a problem, by using appropriate digital methods, tools and processes.