Life in the information age
ICT is transforming the way people live in virtually every area of their lives. at home we use ti to help us find jobs and in most modern workplace we are surrounded by ICT ittended to make us more productive. we use it to keep in touch from anywhere, at anytime. We bank and shop using ICT. i am now going to talk about the positive and negative impacts the information revolution has had on your personal, social and working life.
Working styles
The way people work and where they work had changed. There has been a shift in the life/work balance that has been made possible by ICT. ICT should not necessarily be seen as the cause of this shift-which is in large parts to do with economics and politics-but rather as the enabling technology.
The descriptions of many jobs have changed dramatically requiring that most roles involve the use of sum computer skills, acountants who are normally used to working with calculators and pencils now use spreadsheets constantly, also most office staff are expected to know how to use word processer and email on a PC. Shop assitants use computerised till systems for faster and more accurate transactions, the also used computerised payment systems for example most shops have a chip and pin machine which is safer than taking card by hand as it takes longer and can be dangerous. Car mechanics use computerised analysis equipment to identify many of the faults they are presented with. School equipment for teachers is all computerised now as there is mainly smartboards and a range of PC's , there is alos special graphic packages for graphic artists.
Additionally, people use ICT to be more self reliant and more productive at work, which also reduces the need for employees, saving money, as many managers can now word process their own reports and create their own presentaions with the wide range of programs there is to use such as powerpoint. The largest change is probably the way people comunicate using ever more sophisticated digital switch boards and mobile phones which are now much quicker and much more efficient.
Most journalists no longer use shorthand and a snatched phone call to file an urgent report as they use laptops and a modem that connects them to their office as required.
In many ways the use of ICT gives more freedom and self reliance to some staff. In other situations it allows much more control of workers.
ICT allows employers to monitor and control more flexible work models, and communication and networkingtechnology allows people to work in different ways and different places. Many large, and some small organisations, have implemented some form of flexible working scheme which allows workers to have more choice over where and when they work. In simple cases, ICT enables the logging of working hours within flexible time slots. In more sophisticated schemes staff can be employed as teleworkers, i.e. the work extensively from home or from a local telecentre using telecommuniation links back to the main office.
One of the major impacts of ICT has been to shift the work/life balance. ICT has made working life more productive and efficient, and allowed induviduals to take on more responsibility. It has enabled induviduals to do and achieve more. It allows us to communicate mroe effectively in ever more places at ever more times, and thus to have much wider teams to work in with more opportunity for social contact.
However there is a potential downside for this, as fewer people are employed in a particular area and more responsibility is devolved to an induvidual, working hours can be much longer.
Work may involve less teamwork and less opportunity to socialise. It can seem beneficial that work can be done at home or on the train, but less so when it takes over home life and you cannot get away from it even when travelling.
Working styles
The way people work and where they work had changed. There has been a shift in the life/work balance that has been made possible by ICT. ICT should not necessarily be seen as the cause of this shift-which is in large parts to do with economics and politics-but rather as the enabling technology.
The descriptions of many jobs have changed dramatically requiring that most roles involve the use of sum computer skills, acountants who are normally used to working with calculators and pencils now use spreadsheets constantly, also most office staff are expected to know how to use word processer and email on a PC. Shop assitants use computerised till systems for faster and more accurate transactions, the also used computerised payment systems for example most shops have a chip and pin machine which is safer than taking card by hand as it takes longer and can be dangerous. Car mechanics use computerised analysis equipment to identify many of the faults they are presented with. School equipment for teachers is all computerised now as there is mainly smartboards and a range of PC's , there is alos special graphic packages for graphic artists.
Additionally, people use ICT to be more self reliant and more productive at work, which also reduces the need for employees, saving money, as many managers can now word process their own reports and create their own presentaions with the wide range of programs there is to use such as powerpoint. The largest change is probably the way people comunicate using ever more sophisticated digital switch boards and mobile phones which are now much quicker and much more efficient.
Most journalists no longer use shorthand and a snatched phone call to file an urgent report as they use laptops and a modem that connects them to their office as required.
In many ways the use of ICT gives more freedom and self reliance to some staff. In other situations it allows much more control of workers.
ICT allows employers to monitor and control more flexible work models, and communication and networkingtechnology allows people to work in different ways and different places. Many large, and some small organisations, have implemented some form of flexible working scheme which allows workers to have more choice over where and when they work. In simple cases, ICT enables the logging of working hours within flexible time slots. In more sophisticated schemes staff can be employed as teleworkers, i.e. the work extensively from home or from a local telecentre using telecommuniation links back to the main office.
One of the major impacts of ICT has been to shift the work/life balance. ICT has made working life more productive and efficient, and allowed induviduals to take on more responsibility. It has enabled induviduals to do and achieve more. It allows us to communicate mroe effectively in ever more places at ever more times, and thus to have much wider teams to work in with more opportunity for social contact.
However there is a potential downside for this, as fewer people are employed in a particular area and more responsibility is devolved to an induvidual, working hours can be much longer.
Work may involve less teamwork and less opportunity to socialise. It can seem beneficial that work can be done at home or on the train, but less so when it takes over home life and you cannot get away from it even when travelling.
posted by kirsty @ 2:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home