COMPUTERS

Computers...

"Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable."
                                     -Ralph Johnson

Computer in our daily life...

Science is one of the greatest blessings in modern life. Scientific advancement has led to many important inventions. One of them is the computer. About a decade back, a computer was seen as a wonder machine. A few years later, this wonderful machine came closer to us as the Personal Computer (PC) entered the household scene.

The computer today plays a significant role in our everybody's life. Computers are used practically everywhere. The use of computer in our country in the past two decades has taken a big jump. Today computers do much more than simply compute, super market scanners calculate our grocery bill while keeping store inventory; computerised telephone switching centres play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep lines of communications untangled, and Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) let us conduct banking transactions from virtually anywhere in the world.

The extensive use of computers in all fields of business has improved efficiency of the industry and the economy of the country.

Computers have the capacity to do extremely complicated work in all branches of learning. Computers can be effectively used in solving the most difficult and complex mathematical problems. The other use of computers can be in compilation of information. Thus there will be a saving of time in research works. Computers can provide information to prevent traffic accidents.

They can do such works which make the worker dull to repeat a process hundred times or more. Automation of work through computer will save the time and energy of human life. Thus human beings will get more leisure than they have today.

Computer is the result of human mind exercises. It is a machine. It can help in any physical action. It can be used in progressing a physical work. It cannot think independently. We have to feed it before taking any mental work. We can find the answers based and limited to feeding material. First, we have to feed for a particular field to find some answers related to that field, we cannot find an answer from a vacuum because there is no independent feeling and thinking to answer without any base.

Computers will never be able to replace man as they need detailed instructions from man and can never lead independent lives. In the Armed Forces computers are being widely used for collecting complex data for the aircrafts, missile and guns. The radar system is controlled with complex computers to give early warnings of coming enemy unit. Computers are also being widely used in mass communication and medical science.

Today the police have started storing data on crimes and criminals on computers. Computers now have become a need of the day, in modern life. They are being used in every field of work. Due to importance of computer, its knowledge has been thought an essential qualification for a job.

No doubt computers are capable of doing everything, but it is falling short of thinking. This is still only reserved form of man. So here computers are only machines; it cannot compete with man though they have overcome him in many ways.

Information Communication Technology(subject) 

information and communication technologies in education deal with the use of information and communication technologies(ICTs) within educational technology.

ICT in education means implementing of its equipment in teaching and learning process as a media. The purpose of ICT in education is to generally make students familiar with its use and how it works.

Coverage OF Information Communication Technology :

Computer

Computers were originally used by scientists for calculating numbers, and have gradually become useful in offices and industries. In recent times, simplified models that can be used by almost everybody have become common in schools and homes for accomplishing many varied tasks and applications (Madu 2000)

Fapohunda (1999) lists the uses that computers are now commonly put to: writing letters, and reports, printing books, newspapers, and magazines, drawing pictures and diagrams, doing statistics, mathematics and handling financial records, controlling traffic lights, flying aeroplanes, making and playing music and video, sending messages anywhere in the world.

Internet

The Internet is a global collection of many types of computers and computer networks that are linked together. It is increasingly becoming the solution to many information, problems, information exchange, and marketing (Adesanya, 2002). Eseyin (1997) describes the Internet as a mixture of many services with the two most commonly used being electronic mail (e-mail for short) and the World Wide Web (www). It plays a significant role in education, health, political processes, agriculture, economy, businesses and newsgroups. Woherem (2000) states that with Internet connectivity, one can do business all over the world without physical contact with the buyer or the need for a business intermediary.

E-mail

Electronic mail (e-mail) is the exchange of text messages and computer files transmitted via communications networks such as the Internet (Nwosu, 2004). Fapohunda (1999) sees the e-mail system as the equivalent of postal mailing services, with the biggest difference being the time and cost involved. And not only written data, but all sorts of information in the form of video, audio, or photographs, can be sent via e-mail. Oketunji (2000) describes e-mail as an increasing popular method of communication, especially in the workplace.