The Role of Information Communication Technology in Education

Introduction

Providing the quality education is the top priorities of the universities especially in developed countries. The administrators and teachers believe that the traditional teaching is never been the same in the new generation of learners. This idea gives rise to the idea that the education should be a subject in development. Unlike the development in curriculum, the system that the pedagogical settings are attempting to build is the use of computers in teaching.

Background and Problem Statement

The introduction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in schools is proposed to change the learning and teaching techniques in the schools. The reality-based type of teaching promotes the learning of both teachers and students in which they can use in the future. Since the areas of education is evolving based on the needs and preferences of the students it is appropriate for the schools to turn in the teaching and learning technique through the ICT? Aside from the learning and teaching strategies that can be gained in the application of ICT, what is the role of ICT in the entire education and building the confidence among the students?

Research Aims and Objectives

The main aim of the study is to investigate the role of ICT in education. In order to gain the necessary information regarding the topic, there are four objectives that should be considered. First is to determine the level of understanding of the teachers and the students regarding the application of the ICT among the schools. Second is to identify the impact of ICT in teaching proficiency and the effectiveness of it in learning by reviewing the pedagogical settings that uses the principles of ICT. Third is to recognize the perception of the students in terms of innovative teaching. And lastly is to identify the constraints or barriers that might affect the successful implementation of ICT in education.

Literature Review

Generally, young people of today are aware about the importance and uses of computers. At an early age, a child can learn to use the computers and his experience in using the technology might be continued until he reached the university level (Loveless & Dore, 2002). However, many educators argued that the use of ICT in teaching is a crucial resource. This is true upon the comparison between the developed and developing countries as based on their educational level. For example, New Zealand identified the potential in ICT application and therefore the government has identified a number of success factors for local economic development. Due to economies of scale and scope, central government can reduce transaction costs and add value by acting as a catalyst and facilitator for the formation of economic development networks for capability building and for ensuring the provision of quality information. This includes the strong Internet access and ICT penetration, and electronic commerce which make New Zealand to be a country with very high rate of engagement with new technology (Toland & Yoong, 2005). However, when these facts are compared to the educational level of South Africa and other African countries, the education seems to be less important because of the high position of economic and political depression due mainly in part on the imposition of the foreign model. In addition, there is a slow pace of development in Africa like the means of communication were not constructed as traced back in colonial period. The colonization has negative effects in the country which affects the economic and political lives of the people. Faced with problems such as poverty, poor infrastructure with regards to electricity and telephone lines as well as low education levels and computer skills, the South African government decided on focusing the ICT in education. However, the plan is not that strong unlike the other countries (Langmia, 2006).

Methodology

The applied method in the study is the use survey and interview. In the survey, the students will be the participants and will answer a questionnaire in a Likert Scale form. Through that, the researcher/s will determine the openness of the students as well as the perceived outcome in the application of ICT in education. On the other hand, the interview will be held among the group of the teachers and will be asked about the activities that might involve in teaching through the use of ICT. The answers of the educators will be the basis of the study is the ICT is an answer in achieving the quality education or it is just another burden and workload for the educators. Both results will be analyzed and at the end, the role of the ICT in education will be assessed and concluded.

References:

Langmia, K., (2006) The Role of ICT in the Economic Development of Africa: the Case of South Africa, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 2(4):144+

Loveless, A., & Dore, B., (Eds.) (2002) ICT in the Primary School, Open University Press, Philadelphia

Toland, J., & Yoong, P., (2005) Learning Regions in New Zealand: the Role of ICT, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 1(4):54+

Effectiveness of Database Processing and Application

Introduction

Because of the influential aspect of globalization, the banking industry’s services and products are now in a more advanced phase. The technological and systematic approach of the banks are also identified to be the most beneficial and efficient banking transactions. For the past years, the transactions held by the banks changed. Significantly, there is an introduction of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in which an individual can withdraw the money without going to the bank and wait for the line. Next to this approach is the creation of credit cards or debit cards in which an individual can pay their expenses even without cash. The banks are also now offering various loaning services that aimed to improve the lives of the people. Because of this multi-functions of banks in serving the clients, how did the banks manages all the transactions in an organize way? Furthermore, how effective does their application of technology help their ongoing transactions and services for the people?

Maybank with Databases

The paper seeks the effectiveness of utilization of databases in most of the banks and in order to gain the appropriate information, the study will look on the internal function of one of the most accredited banks – Maybank.

Maybank is a well known organization that consistently provides their shareholders with a superior returns and exerting services for their customers that can deliberately meet their demands. Moreover, the bank is more focused on the sustainable and superior growth of their business through the guidance of their sound financial discipline and applied strategies. The bank maintains its operation in a most efficient and effective manner that is why they are trusted by the biggest corporations and managed to operate in diversified countries (Maybank Annual Report, 2004). Aside from the performance of people, Maybank is also using the database to properly organize their everyday transactions, in which can create a significant impact in the bank’s good financial performance.

The systematic and quick search and retrieval of information is important for the bank to serve the people with accuracy and quality. The databases address the issues of security, accuracy, and consistency among the records the organization holds. The processes involved in the databases include the use of computers through the networks. The application of all the data are inputted in the computers in which the databases collected, organized, stored, and retrieved if needed. To secure all the information, the databases have a limited access and allotted for the authorized people.

Reliability

The various transactions and activities of the banks include the collection of deposits and guaranteeing the loan applications. All of the information coming from the transaction is not only organized through the use of paper but also through storing them in the database with wide memory capacity (Feyzioglu, 2009). In addition, the bank’s procurement system enables the integration of the organizations data to perform quality management systems and can limit the transparency and accountability. In the procurement system, the entire organizations strategies have changed toward the effective process (Wright, 2008).

The strength and effectiveness of the databases are not only based on how they handle the physical transactions but also the interactive transaction or online-banking. Internet banking refers to the utilization of the Internet for performing transactions and payments by accessing a bank's secure website and pertains to the application of financial services and markets through the use of electronic communication and computation (Humphrey, Pulley, & Vesala, 2004). Most of the clients prefer this transaction to secure their funds and because it is more convenient for them, In this case, the databases are reliable.

Conclusion

Maybank is continuing its effort in enriching the experiences of the customers in their services. The bank is also looking forward in a strong relationship that can be beneficial in both of the parties. In addition, to gain the full trust of all their clients, the bank is engaged placing high value on their client’s privacy and financial security through the application of the databases that can support their needs. Maybank is an organization that is committed to excellence in every transaction they are in. Besides, the team is in support for the foster develop of the banking industry which is very beneficial to the entire organization. The corporate social responsibility of the bank is also on strict monitoring and creating a significant competitive advantage as well as placing high levels of integrity and ethical values in their transaction settings. Therefore, aside from the traditional business transactions, the bank can recognized it major role and effectiveness in the market through their corporate goals.

References:

Feyzioglu, T., (2009) “Does Good Financial Performance Mean Good Financial Intermediation in China?” Accessed 05 Aug 2010, from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/wp09170.pdf

Humphrey, D.B., Pulley,L., & Vesala, J.M., (2004) “Cash, Paper and Electronic Payments: A Cross-Country Analysis”, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 28, No. 4.

Maybank Annual Report, (2004) Accessed 05 Aug 2010, from http://www.maybank2u.com.my/maybank_docs/aboutus/inv_relations/annualreport/AU03.01_report_2004_eng.pdf

Wright, P., (CITRIS) 2008. Information Technology for Emerging Economies, Center for Information Technology Research in Interest of the Society, Accessed 05 Aug 2010, from http://www.citris-uc.org/files/tee.pdf

[Essay] Biotechnology

Biotechnology defines as the utilization of organisms and biological processes to supply food, chemicals and services to meet up the wants of humans. This definition includes agriculture, horticulture and many other aspects of applied biology (Juma, 1989).

It was not until the nineteenth century that everything was recognized regarding microorganisms and their function in fermentation. Nowadays, several pharmaceutical products are resulting from fermentation and among the services which make use of biotechnology are the handling of manure and other waste matter, control of oil pollution, desulphurization of coal and the mining of metals from their ores (Brenner, 1991).

A more precise meaning of biotechnology is "the commercial application of living organisms or their products, which involves the deliberate manipulation of their DNA molecules". This description implies a set of laboratory techniques developed in the previous 20 years that have been in charge for the wonderful scientific and commercial interest in biotechnology, the beginning of many new companies, and the redirection of research hard work and financial resources among recognized companies and universities. These laboratory techniques give scientists with a fantastic visualization of the plan and purpose of living organisms, and provide technologists in many fields with the tools to employ stimulating commercial applications (Flegel, 1990).

Even though biotechnology is openly related with cloning and genetic engineering, the objective of biotechnology is to progress the tools of medicine and solve problems associated to the production of biologically derived products, not the unusual manipulation of life (Juma, 1989).

Biotechnology has a lot of examples. Here are the most common examples of biotechnology.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Genetic modification, at times called genetic engineering, involves the alteration of distinctiveness of organisms by manipulating their genes. Different usual reproduction methods, GM allows the genetic relocate among diverse species and between plants and animals. Character can therefore be introduced to crops using GM technology to enhance illness resistance, develop nutritional value and increase crop endurance in drought, flood or frost conditions (Brenner, 1992).

Cloning

Cloning is the use of genetic engineering techniques to transfer genetic material from one organism to another. This has distinctively been used to generate a new organism (Juma, 1989). Dolly the sheep was the first organism cloned from an adult, i.e. she has the same set of genes as her mother.

Therefore, cloning is achieved by fusing genes into an undeveloped cell to generate a reconstructed embryo. Reconstructed embryos are placed in culture, and ones that grow successfully are placed in the uterus of an adult female (Juma, 1989).

Community fear about cloning centers on the mistreatment of the technology by society and the implications to ageing of adult genes within a new organism (Juma, 1989).

Stem Cell Research

Stem cells are pluripotent cells that are capable to grow into 300 of the different kind of cells in the human body. They also have the capability to separate for indistinct periods of time in culture before they separate into a specialized cell (Brenner, 1992).

The Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project is an intercontinental association of scientists to create comprehensive genetic and physical maps of the human genome. This involves localizing the anticipated 50,000 to 100,000 genes of the human genome and to complete similar mapping of several other organisms. The finishing product of the Human Genome Project is a complete basis of information on the arrangement, position and purpose of all human genes (Flegel, 1990).

Personalized Medicine

The sequencing of the human genome has resulted in the classification of regions of the genome related with diseases such as cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. This information can be used to help physicians to recognize individuals most at risk of diseases, and the improvement of therapeutics based on those genes (Archarya, 1991).

Diagnostic tests are also accessible that can discover whether a drug will be effectual on an individual. As the knowledge of the genetic basis of a drug response is understood, genetic profiles will be used to inform drug prescription as a replacement for of trial and error (Archarya, 1991).

Brewing

Beer has been formed for the last 6000 years and is the product of a yeast fermentation procedure which thus makes it the oldest form of biotechnology. The oldest and easiest method of brewing beer used wild yeasts, where beer vats were uncovered to the air so that wild yeast fell in and started the fermentation process. Beer is most possibly the oldest food product of this kind, but wine and cheese are also formed by the fermentation of micro-organisms (Juma, 1989).

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are used for the treatment and prevention of diseases, usually those caused by bacteria. An antibiotic is a chemical produced by micro-organisms in low concentrations that stop the development of or destroys micro-organisms such as other bacteria and fungi. In their natural environment, especially in soil, this helps to prevent these other micro-organisms growing near them and using up their nutrients (Brenner, 1992).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biotechnology

Modern biotechnology uses this normal procedure to create large quantities of definite antibiotics. Through manipulating the genes of the bacteria, and ensuring they have perfect growth conditions, scientists can make the bacteria focus approximately completely on producing antibiotics with the preferred specificity. Technology itself is usually unbiased. It is function of the technology that is controversial (Chattaway, 1998).

Biotechnology has been with us for many years in the shaper of antibiotics such as penicillin, and vaccines against a number of infectious diseases such as measles, diphtheria and whooping cough. The seeds of biotechnology are embedded in the past, however the fruits of its growth are here for us to pick now and in the future. We are now be aware of how biotechnology works and can use it to produce a massive diversity of materials, from fuels to medicines, from new crop plants to healthier animals and from chemicals to plastics (Flegel, 1990). Biotechnology in practice is not without its problems. Experiments in genetic engineering must be cautiously restricted to guarantee the stability of nature is not upset. Following the improvement of a new product -- for example a medicine -- in the laboratory, there are the problems of scaling up and broad testing before it can be put on the market. For now, there look like to be two major sides to the issue of biotechnology: the group saying it is right and moral and the group saying it is wrong and immoral. There is possibility for disagreement between, on the one hand, the ambitions of biomedical researchers to push the work ahead and to see it implemented in agricultural or medical practice and, on the other hand, the resistance of the public to what might be supposed as an attack on deep-rooted moral values (Archarya, 1991).

Reference:

Acharya, R. (1995), the Impact of New Technologies on Economic Growth and Trade: A Case Study of Biotechnology, Maastricht: Universities Pers.

Brenner, C. (1992), "'Biotechnology and the changing public/private sector balance: developments in rice and cocoa'", OECD Development Centre Technical papers, no. 72, Paris: OECD.

Chattaway, J. (1998), 'Risk Perception, Regulation and the Management of Agro-Biotechnologies', in Senker (ed.), Biotechnology and Competitive Advantage, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Flegel, T., G. Tharun and Y. Yuthavong (eds) ( 1990), Biotechnology for Small Industries in Developing Countries, Proceedings of an International Symposium on Application of Biotechnology for Small Industries in Developing Countries, Bangkok, Thailand, 21-24 September, 1988.

Juma, C. J. (1989), the Gene Hunters: Biotechnology and the Scramble for Seeds, London: Zed Books.

[Essay] The Nanotechnology: Present and Future Impact

Nanotechnology is a sub-classification of technology in colloidal science, biology, physics, chemistry and other scientific fields. As a field of applied science, it focuses on the design, synthesis, characterization and application of materials and devices on the nanoscale. It is also used as an umbrella term to describe emerging or novel technological developments associated with microscopic dimensions. (Wikipedia, 2006)

In its broader term, nanotechnology includes the many techniques used to create structures at a size scale below 100 nanometers or 100 billionths of a meter. This includes those used in semiconductor fabrication such as deep ultraviolet lithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam machining, nano-imprint lithography, atomic layer deposition and molecular vapor deposition, those used for fabrication of nano-wires and those used at the molecular self-assembly techniques such as those employing di-block copolymers. (Wikipedia, 2006)

Nanotechnology uses two main approaches in its operation processes. First is the bottom-up approach where materials and devices are built up atom by atom. Second is the top-down approach where they are synthesized or constructed by removing existing materials from larger entities. The vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume present in many nanoscale materials is a unique aspect of this technology opening new possibilities in surface-based science such as catalysis. However, this catalytic activity also opens potential risks in their interaction with biomaterials. (Wikipedia, 2006)

Nanotechnology is the new Industrial Revolution. It leaves virtually no business untouched or unscathed. The ability to create materials from building blocks the size of a virus unleashes unprecedented capabilities. Autos and airplanes, chemicals and plastics, computers and chips, cosmetics and drugs and plenty of the other industries face upheavals because of this technology. (Port, 2002)

This technology promises humans’ ways of making systems that are smaller, lighter, stronger and more efficient but cheaper to produce. Some of these current products include chemicals produced with microscopic catalytic particles, sun lotions with invisibly small zinc-oxide flakes to shield against ultraviolet rays, emulsifiers that keep paint from separating and coatings that make eyeglass lenses more scratch resistant or extend the life of industrial tools. More alluring products can be found in nanotechnology company laboratories but many need a year or two to reach the market because new manufacturing systems also must be developed. (Port, 2002)

Professor Mark Welland, head of the University of Cambridge Nanoscale Science Laboratory explained that, “Nanotechnology is not a technology in its own right. It is an enabling technology, so it will appear in many different products”. Welland added that such technology is already appearing in flash memory, computer chips and will increasingly be an enabling technology in other products like coatings and new types of sensors. (as cited in Twist, 2004)

On one hand, because of the very precise way in which their atoms are arranged, nano-materials exploit unusual electrical, optical and other properties. This means that fabrics could change color electronically. Thus, exposing an army uniform to ultra-violet light could activate changes without undressing. But in medicine, nanotechnology offers the most remarkable advances. (Twist, 2004)

"Nano-medicine will provide earlier and better diagnostics. Treatment will also combine earlier and more precisely targeted drug delivery,” said Professor John Ryan, head of the Bionanotechnology Centre at Oxford University. He added that “the possibility of individualized therapy is also on the horizon”. (as cited in Twist, 2004)

Moreover, nanotechnology in the form of flexible films containing miniaturized electrodes is expected to improve the performance of retinal, cochlear and neural implants (Twist, 2004). According to Professor Ryan it could lead to the miniaturization of medical diagnostic and sensing tools which could drive down costs of such kits for developing countries (as cited in Twist, 2004).

Likewise, pharmaceutical companies already uses nanotech to discover and deliver drugs. One of these is the highly sensitive microchips containing intact DNS which can spot interactions between candidate antibiotics and target bugs. The chips are stuffed with 100, 000 times more little chemical labs each of which is 100, 000 times more sensitive. (Port, 2002)

Buckyballs, one of nanotechnology products is used to deliver a drug to a precise target, thus minimizing side effects. The balls are coated with drugs that disrupt the cell’s reproductive cycle and assembled into shapes that fit comfortably into receptors on the surface of specific cells. Such treatments are now in the works for cancer, AIDS and other diseases. Another product is the skin patch for diabetics containing nanotubes which are so thin that they can penetrate the skin without pain. This draws blood through nanostraws to monitor glucose levels and inject insulin when required. (Port, 2002)

Nanotechnology is expected to transform the performance of materials like polymers, electronics, paints, batteries, sensors, fuel cells, solar cells, coatings, computers and display systems. “In five years' time, batteries that only last three days will be laughable. To say that in five years, an iPod will have 10 times its current storage capacity will be conservative”, said Professor Welland. “Similarly, in 10 years' time, the way medical testing is done now will be considered crude”, he added. (as cited in Twist, 2004)

Likewise, in the not-so-distant future, a terabit of data equivalent to 10 hours of fine quality uncompressed video will be stored on an area the size of a postage stamp. Clearly, the devices themselves will not be nano-sized. But nanotechnology will play its part in shrinking components and making them work together a lot more efficiently. (Twist, 2004)

We can therefore conclude that nanotechnology is the biggest breakthrough in the present Industrial Revolution. This biggest advance is the new materials and products that are developed and going to be developed. In this respect, nanotechnology could enable developing nations to leapfrog older technologies. Whatever nanotechnology does for the future, it will be an evolutionary process.

References:

Twist, J. (2004, July 28). Myths and realities of nano futures. British Broadcasting Corporation News Online. Retrieved October 30, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.uk

Port, O. (2002, October 25). Nano Technology: The Tech Outlook. Business Week Magazine.

Wikipedia. (2006, October 30). Nanotechnology. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved October 30, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org