Lesson 1.

2: Information Technology &

Your Life: The Future Now

Information technology (IT) is a popular term that portrays any technology that
helps produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and disseminate information.
IT fuses computing with high-speed communications links that relay data,
sound, and video. Examples of information technology are personal computers
but also new forms of electronic appliances and various handheld devices.

Education: A More Interactive and Individualized Learning

No one will argue that information technology is universal on college

campuses, and at lower levels, the internet has penetrated 99% of schools.
Most college students are already exposed to computers since their lower
grades. One-fifth of college students are saying they were using computers
between ages 5 and 8, and all had started using computers by the time they
were 16-18 years old.

When assimilated into the curriculum and classroom, information technology

can allow students to personalize their education. It can also automate many
tedious and usual tasks of teaching and managing classes and reduce the
teacher’s workload so that he or she can focus on reaching individual students.

Besides using the internet to teach, today’s college instructors also use
presentation applications such as PowerPoint to convey their lecture outlines
and other materials on classroom screens. One of the most exciting progress
in education at all levels is the proliferation of distance learning, or e-learning,
the term given to online education programs, which has gone from under 2
million online students in 2003 to an expected nearly 5 million students in 2009.

Bringing career and technical courses to students in rural areas, pairing gifted
science students with master teachers, and helping busy professionals obtain
further credentials outside business hours are some of the applications of e-
learning. But the influence of information technology into education has just
started.

Health: High Tech for Wellness

Computer technology is fundamentally changing the tools of medicine. All

medical data, including those generated by a lab test, pulse monitor, and X
rays, can now be conveyed to a doctor in digital format. Image transfer
technology relays radiologic images such as CT scans and MRIs to electronic
charts and physicians' offices immediately. Intensive care patients, who are
usually observed by nurses during off-times, can also be monitored by doctors
in remote "control towers" far away. Electronic medical records and other
computerized tools capacitate heart attack patients to receive follow-up drug
treatment and people with diabetes from having their blood sugar levels
measured. The software can compute a woman's breast cancer risk. Patients
can use email to ask their doctors about their records (although there are still
privacy and security issues).
Various robots, automatic devices that execute functions ordinarily performed
by humans, with names such as HelpMate, ROBO DOC, RoboCart, and TUG,
help free medical workers for more critical tasks. The four-armed da Vinci
surgical robot, for instance, can do cuts and sutures deep inside the body to
have less traumatic surgery and faster recovery time. Artificial limbs get
"smarter" by using hydraulics and computers. A stroke-paralyzed patient has
obtained an implant that allows communication between a computer and his
brain; as a result, he can navigate a cursor across a screen using brainpower
and convey simple messages.

Patients are often already steeped in information about their conditions when
they arrive in health care professionals' offices. It represents a fundamental
shift of knowledge, and therefore power, from physicians to patients. Also,
health care consumers can now share experiences and information.

Money: Toward the Cashless Society

Besides currency, credit and debit cards, and paper checks, the things that
substitute as “money” include automatic transfers (such as direct-deposit
paychecks), cash-value cards (such as subway fare cards), and digital money
(“electronic wallet” accounts such as PayPal). You probably already have
engaged in online buying and selling, purchasing airline tickets, or computers.
But what about groceries? E-grocers keep their delivery charges at a minimum
and delivery times convenient. They take great efforts in filling orders, knowing
that a single bad piece of fruit will produce a devastating word-of-mouth
backlash.

Online bill paying is also becoming mainstream. Paying bills online has also
been possible, such as phone and utility companies, with special software and
online connections to your bank.

Some banks and other businesses are deploying an electronic payment system
that allows internet users to buy goods and services with micropayments—
electronic payments as little as 25 cents in transactions for which it is wasteful
to use a credit card. All kinds of businesses and organizations now accept
micropayments.

Leisure: Infotech in Entertainment & the Arts

Information technology is being utilized in all kinds of entertainment, ranging

from videogames to telegambling. The arts have also applied it, from painting
to photography. Let us ponder on just two applications: music and film.

The World Wide Web, the internet, and computers control the system of music
recording and distribution—and in the process, they are altering the financial
underpinnings of the music industry. Since the industry has a high overhead,
major record labels typically require a band to sell half a million CDs to be
categorized as profitable. Still, independent groups can be reasonably
successful by selling 20,000 or 30,000 albums using online marketing.

As for movies, now that blockbuster films routinely incorporate live-action and
animation, computer graphic artists are in demand. Star Wars: Episode I
(1999), for example, had 1,965 digital shots out of about 2,200 shots. It was
converted into digital data to be tweaked with animated effects, lighting, and
the like. Entire beings were produced on computers by artists working on
designs developed by producer George Lucas and his chief artist.

But animation is not the only domain in which computers are transforming
movies. Digital editing has revolutionized the way films are assembled.
Whereas traditional film editing involved reeling, unreeling, cutting, and gluing
spools of film, an editor can access 150 miles of film stored on a computer
today. An instant finding of any visual or audio moment allows a review of
hundreds of variations of a scene. Even nonprofessionals can get into movie
making as new computer-related products come to market. Now that digital
video capture-and-edit systems are available for under $1,000, amateurs can
turn home videos into digital data and edit them. Also, digital camcorders, which
offer outstanding picture and sound quality, have steadily dropped in price.

Government: Participating in Electronic Democracy

The internet and other information technology have helped the government
deliver better services and paved the way for making governmental operations
more transparent. Many local and state governments have websites through
which citizens can deal with everything from paying taxes and parking tickets,
renewing vehicle registration and driver’s licenses, viewing birth and marriage
certificates, and applying for public sector jobs.

The internet is also changing the nature of politics, enabling political candidates
and political interest groups to connect with voters in new ways, raise money
from multiple small donors, and (using cellphones and text messaging) to
organize street protests.

Jobs & Careers

Today almost every job and profession need computer skills of some sort.
Some are ordinary jobs in which using computers as regular tools. Others are
professional jobs in which advanced computer training combined with
professional training gives people dramatically new kinds of careers.

Information technology is revolutionizing old jobs and creating new ones. To

thrive in this environment, you need to integrate traditional education with
training in computers and communications. It would be excellent if you also
were savvy about job searching, résumé writing, interviewing, and postings of
employment opportunities.

Finding employers and employers finding you is possible through the use of
computers. As you might expect, the first to utilize cyberspace as a job market
were companies scouting people with technical backgrounds and professionals
seeking employment. However, as the public’s regard in commercial services
and the internet has exploded, the focus of online job exchanges has
broadened. Most websites are free to job hunters, although many require that
you fill out an online registration form.

On the other hand, posting your résumé online for prospective employers to
view is attractive because of its low (or zero) cost and broad reach. But does it
have any disadvantages? Indeed, it might if the employer who sees your
posting happens to be the one you are already employed. Also, you have to be
aware that you lose control over anything broadcast into cyberspace. You are
putting your credentials out there for the whole world to see, and you need to
be somewhat concerned about who might gain access to them.