Module 1 Information and

Communication
Technology Today
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Introduction to ICT and the
Evolution
 ICT or information and communication technology –
collectively refers to the technologies, both hardware
and software, that enable human to communicate with
one another. It is a common misconception that ICT is
Internet or computer alone. Basically, it is any form of
technology that enables you to communicate.
 EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY
 The Premechanical Period (3000 BCE to 1450 CE) = during this time, human

started communicating with one another using words and pictograms curved in

rocks. Then they started to write symbols as substitutes for pictures to depict ideas,

objects, and animals.

 These gave rise to our modern-day alphabet. Time passed and early human soon

realized that stone tablets are too heavy and bulky. The information to be stored

was growing and was becoming enormous, and writing these pieces of information in

stone tablets was impractical. When paper was finally produced from the papyrus

plant, storing of information was revolutionized. Human continued to write

information that can be organized in some manner and kept as a permanent record.
 They eventually compiled these records written on pieces of paper and bound them
together, eventually giving birth to books. As these books grew in number, they
needed to be compiled and stored in areas; hence, libraries were created. Library
were considered the first data centers in history. In the late stages of this period,
humans started using the numerical system. Moreover, human started to optimized
and invent devices and techniques in counting. The most popular device created in
this period is said to have come from China—the abacus (the first device to process
information).
 The Mechanical Period (1450-1840 CE) = This period served as the bridge
between our current period and the premechanical period. During this time, the
interest in automating and speeding up numerical calculations grew. The machines
driven by mechanical means such as steam and gears dominated information
processing and calculations. This period also concentrated primarily on development
of machines that will enhance calculations speed. The highlight of this period is the
advent of the mechanical calculator called Pascaline (Blaise Pacal with Wilhelm
Schickard) this device inspired other inventors to automate counting and
calculations. So Charles Babbage invented Analytical Engine, which is considered the
first programmable mechanical computer. That’s why Babbage is “Father of the
Computers”
 The Electromechanical Period (1840-1940 CE) = in this period, the use of
electricity for information handling and transfer bloomed. The need and urgency to
share information with one another in a faster yet reliable manner over long distance
aroused. This period saw the use of telegraph to transmit information over long
distances. The information is coded in sounds of dots, spaces, and dashes over
wired. The telephone was later invented, enabling voice transmission over long
distances. Likewise, humans started to control electricity using vacuum tubes in
devices that eventually led to the development of today’s electronic gadgets.
Telegraph is the first electrical
communication device, the first device to
use electricity to transmit information over
an electrical media. Invented in 1837 by
Williams Cooke and Sir Charles
Wheatstone. Then 1844, and American
inventor Samuel Morse successfully
introduced the first single-circuit telegraph,
which gave rise to the Morse code.
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was
granted the patent for telephone. The
telephone converts sounds into electricity
and enables the telephone network to
transmit it over copper wires.
 The Electronic Period (1940 and the present) = The highlight
of this period is focused on the advent of solid state devices or
electronic devices.
 The 4 main events in this period:
 The late vacuum tubes – ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Computer, the first electronic or general purpose computer. This is a big
machine with an area of 167 sqm and is slow processing speed.
 The transistors – 1947, similar to vacuum tubes but light and faster.
Transistor is the foundation of every electronic devices today.
 Integrated circuits period -- invented by Jack Kilby in 1958. A device
composed of groups of transistors and circuit elements compressed in a
single package. This is smaller and faster, because of this number of
smaller devices intended for information processing and communication
were developed
 Computer processors –the advent and development of IC ushered in the
period of powerful processors. IC’s are used in processing device, and
processor are constructed in IC forms. Personal computers then used
these processors to deliver user applications.
 The fast-paced development and innovation in
personal computing paved the way for the birth of
different user applications that introduced ease and
comfort for users. The development of various forms
of hardware with improved capabilities continues, but
engineers and scientist are more interested and
focused on developing applications that will ease the
human productivity, entertainment, and
communication.
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 ICT Today
The present composition of ICT today.
 Hardware equipment,
 precise software
 GUI
 effective communication network

One of the widely used information system today is the:

World Wide Web

Direction
Instructions
Information
entertainment
World Wide Web
Or WWW is the system that enables
you to access hypertext documents
and other files over the Internet.
The technology was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989,
in which database and interface will be implemented to
associate links in readable documents.
The Social Media
Is started together with the Web 2.0 and are used in communicating and
socializing with other application users in virtual communities and networks.
These applications allow users to create and exchange user-generated
information.

The social media platform contains different formats. Some of these forms of
social media are blogs, enterprise social network, forums, photo-sharing sites,
product selling and review sites, research sharing sites, special interest groups,
social games, social networks', and video sharing.
The effectives of a social media application can be measured by its virality,
which is the rate of reposting or sharing of photos, pieces of information, or ideas
published.
 Research and Information Seeking
Just like Web 1.0, the main objective of internet sites are to share and
disseminate information. Some internet sources are:
1. Web search engines : These are programs designed to search or
mine the WWW based on keywords provided by the user.
2. Research Indexing Sites : dedicated to compile and index
researchers done by academic researchers and etc.
3. Massive Online Open Course(MOOC) sites/ tutorial sites : dedicated
to teach and inform users focused on different areas.
4. Employment Websites : this enables companies to post job vacancies
and also accommodate job seekers by providing a resume-
submission facility
5. Electronic Commerce / e-commerse : this is the technology that uses
the electronic means to trade products and currencies.