The lesson began with yet another inspired quote by Professor Gurinder (other than the technology is easy, people are hard one haha) “ICT is the catalyst that facilitates the knowledge revolution.”
We started off the morning with a really interesting video about Project Natal. I thought the video was really cool due to the interactive nature of Milo. I especially like the part where she drew a picture and scanned it in and Milo was able to take it. What are the implications of the project? Prof talked about how in the future the use of immersive technology can help with taking care of children or interacting with senior citizens who have no one to talk to. I’m really not sure whether I agree with this. Although this immersive technology has come a long way, I am pretty sure I will not want to talk to a computer when I’m a geriatric. The immersive technology has its benefits but it could make us increasingly reliant on it. I believe the future is bleak when parents choose to let immersive technology coupled with surveillance functions raise their children. No doubt that immersive technology can have so many benefits; however, in this aspect I think it should not apply.
Next we talked about how the ICT age has benefitted us. One example is the ability to communicate with family and loved ones who are hundreds of thousands of miles away with a simple click of the mouse. One program used is Skype. I remember the first time I used video conferencing personally. That was when my sister was an undergraduate in America when I was in primary school. That time we had to go to a venue where they linked us up so we could contact her (which I believe was quite a bit of work). Fast forward a couple of years. My sister is doing her Masters yet again in the U.S of A but now I can video conference her from the comfort of my own room. John Marshall’s wife was quoted in the newspapers saying how much she appreciated the computer as it lets her talk to her grandchildren who are all overseas. This is just one benefit that ICT has given us. It allows us to break down borders and distance with a mere click.
In addition, we talked about technology in the Mass Media and how the printed media is losing out to the electronic kind. There is now a shift in how people are getting their daily dose of the news. Instead of the scene where a white collar worker is reading the business times newspaper, there are more and more workers who are reading the online versions of it in their office. Is it more convenient and easier to search online for backup information when reading an article? Yes and yes. Coupled with e-readers such as the kindle and ipad, and with the use of netbooks, the popularity of the printed media looks like it’s on the wane.
Furthermore, we also talked about whether there should be ICT provided for people in third world countries. I’m pretty sure of Prof’s stand on this and I do agree that the internet should be made available to everyone. However this is hard to do as many people in third world countries are struggling for the basic amenities and I believe that the internet and its many capabilities are far from their minds. I believe Imran was not trying to say that the people themselves should be deprived of the wonders of the internet and such, however that their more pressing needs should be taken care of by the government first. There will be no such thing as free usage to the internet provided in third world countries. There is a trade-off whereby I’m willing to bet that food or clean water will outweigh the availability of the internet. Although all it takes is one person to expand his mind and realize that there are better ways of doing things and that the world is so much larger than he once thought for ICT to accomplish something, it is tremendously hard in third world countries to achieve this one laptop for every child scheme successfully. I do believe though that education is the only way out of poverty for these children, hence I fully support the scheme.
Another thing that piqued my interest was the website Kiva, where you can donate money to budding entrepreneurs with the promise of repayment. I think the person who thought up Kiva is pretty much a genius. I would so much rather donate money to someone who actually has a plan on how to use the money to get themselves out of poverty, even if the loan is not repaid. This is much better than the Crowd rise website I believe where prizes are up for grabs.
Lastly, we talked about the wonders of cloud computing and how everybody can benefit from its use. We watched a pretty informative video which allowed me to better understand what cloud computing is. In conclusion, the lesson on ICT only further impressed upon me the importance of ICT in our present day and age. We need to embrace it and help it along to those who are denied it; by doing so, we are sure to progress. I give the lesson a 7/10 and look forward to future lessons.
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