Digital Communication Tools - Coursework Example

communication digital age Executive summary This report aim is to show the various social aspects of the introduction of the computer and Digital communication tools in the industry. Communication Technology is a very fast growing business. Today's communication with technology takes place through an array of media, from interactive websites to virtual meeting environments. Digital communication has become a foundation skill for most careers, but it involves more than simply attaining computer literacy. Success in school and in the workplace depends on knowing how to select the right medium for the message and then design and create different forms of communication. Adapting to changes in technology requires not only knowing how to use technological tools, but the ability to use those tools to express oneself creatively. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction . . 4 2. Social Impact of the introduction of the computer Digital communication tools in the industry . 5 3. The level of computer literacy required of entrance level employees.8 4. Importance of digital communications skills. . 9 5. List of basic digital communications skills . . 10 6. Conclusion . . 11 List of References . . 12 1. Introduction Effective digital communication is the ability to create persuasive communications in different media, be it websites, video, audio, text, or animated multimedia. Digital communication is a foundation skill for most careers today, as most people will be involved in some form of conceptualizing, producing, delivering, and receiving such communications in their jobs and lives. Starting in elementary school and extending to higher education, students can learn a variety of digital communication skills across all their courses, whether they build multimedia presentations to demonstrate their knowledge of academic subjects, create e-portfolios of coursework, or present ideas in a virtual classroom. When students can express themselves through a variety of media, they are motivated and engaged. The twentieth century has witnessed many scientific discoveries and inventions that have revolutionized our life. They have led to the creation of mechanisms and artifacts, which have made our life more efficient, smooth and comfortable. Computer is the latest addition to such achievements. It is the most sophisticated and integrated chip as the computer-based technology has found applications in agriculture, biotechnology, oceanography, engineering medicine and information technology. Throughout the 20th century, the pace of technological advancement has increased dramatically. The digital revolution, now upon us, is expecting to take giant strides in the 21st century. Companies are manufacturing audio and video sets communications nd Information Technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Companies have developed a wide product portfolio, which includes goods that have become integral part of modern life styles. (Anil,2005 37) Many years ago, man invented computer. Nobody would have ever believed that age of computer dreaming and hardware tinkering would lead to the vast, bottomless streams of information that our society has advanced towards over the years in the medium of computer technology. Now, humans are more interconnected with computers than ever before. Computers interact with most every facet of business there possibly is, and education had become modified at most age groups to accommodate the importance of computer technology into the school system because it is as important as it is beneficial. The Internet has also played an instrumental role of all these areas, including the global distant communications with friends and work colleagues. The world has significantly shrunk since the Internet and augmented computer technology. Moreover, while many computer-savvy citizens believe that computers can help better the economy as well as diminish the barriers of social and racial segregation, there are many factors rotating around the requirements of computer learning and owning which are proving the reverse in our school systems and in personal households. (Ahuja, 2006 155) These factors could be testament to other parts of our culture, such as business, that computers are actually thickening these barriers of separation with various peoples in the world. 2. Social impact of the introduction of Computers and Digital Communications tools in industry Information technology gave us new ways of communicating but mainly gave us the opportunity to refine and improve existing communication systems. This can be easily seen by the transition from manual typesetting systems to electronic ones. Unfortunately, there is a relevant and disconcerting drawback to the explosion of computer technology in the school system, as well as its explosion in the rest of the world. There are already several existing socio-economic barriers that significantly restrict the access of many racial minorities and peoples of lower class to computer literacy and resources. These barriers are now a more urgent concern than before because computers are becoming increasingly important in society, barriers which can now impede not only an individual's educational achievement but also and as a result, his or her overall success in the job field and professional growth. Often times, many people fail to realize that although we are living in the midst of unceasing, rapid, dynamic technological advances, many peoples of racial minorities and lower classes are unable to participate or observe these evolutions in the computer medium as relevant to their lives. As mentioned, the disparities of computers in the education system can translate to all remaining facets where computers are indelibly used in society. If minorities and lower income class members are prevented from learning the same skills in computer literacy as others, then the opportunities for job acquisitions and, ultimately, future success is severely reduced. (Kelkar 2002) In the future, both near and far, computer researchers and program designers will be faced with difficult decisions, whether they are aware of it or not. Our rapid production and constant upgrades of technology, especially in computers, make the time that we are living in clearly an Information Revolution. In the future we can expect to see several things just based on the manifestations that occurred with computers over the past ten years. The Internet, for instance, will reach most every active computer console in the next ten to twenty years. The numbers of people that are engaged into computer services and communications will easily double. Computers will be crucial to every computer owner. The efficiencies of digital information and nano-technology will obviously span their influences to businesses, firms. There is no way of determining whether the seemingly far-fetched ideas of "total awareness" in computer systems will come true within the next fifty years or so, but that milestone is an inevitable one. Unfortunately, we will probably succeed at this accomplishment before truly understanding the immense dangers and responsibility attached with that discovery. After all, like cloning, creating life with mortal hands is like playing God, and considered by many as a path that the human race should not travel down without expecting the most potentially cataclysmic of consequences. The educational systems will definitely continue to extend the focus of computer literacy to students, starting at early ages, and teachers in the future will be required to have a moderate amount of computer comprehension, themselves. As a result, the statistics of barriers being created-as stated earlier-will be an ongoing epidemic and the future of political issues in the education system. Racial and lower income class members will become more aloof and detached from the fast-paced technology of the world. We can surely expect job availabilities in the computer fields to increase as computers broaden the scope of the fields they are integrated with, but job applicants will increasingly be required to have computer experience in some sense. The requirements of jobs in the future will broaden the gap between socio-economic classes even further. The poor will become poorer, the rich will become richer, and racial divides will overlap this divide. 3. The level of computer literacy required of entrance level employees Use of information technology within the workplace, the home, and community and other organizations continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Mainframe computers, desktop personal computers, and, more recently, computers linked by both corporate networks and the Internet all have changed the nature of communication. At least in some segments of society, use of computing and communications technology is rapidly becoming a mass phenomenon. The implications are now topics for consideration in a variety of contexts. The convergence of communications technologies and the expansion of network services will transform our society and create unparalleled opportunities. Application of computers in industry, business, communication, and education and in every other sphere of life demands the extensive introduction of computer education at grass root level. The Integration of IT education or computer education with the formal curriculum in school education can play a major role in meeting this requirement. (Padhy, 2006) To get the best quality of proposed education system there should be an authorised evaluation team who will try to find the best way to make IT education easier and interesting to the children. Students should learn the basic concepts of IT, identify further study paths based on individual ability, gain knowledge on related employment opportunities, discover the importance of IT in national development and become aware of the technologies' social, ethical and safety issues. 4. Importance of digital communications skills Students today find it easy to pick up any new electronic device and learn how to communicate with it. While it's exciting that most students can use today's tools, a question we should now ask is: are they effective communicators who can compete in today's-and tomorrow's-job market The world of communication now includes all kinds of media-audio, video, rich media presentations, interactive websites, DVD, simulations, and virtual meeting environments. Today's companies and organizations, large and small, use different types of media to reach and retain their audience. Knowing how to select the right medium for the message and create different forms of communication helps students achieve at school and beyond. (Clarke & Roger 2007) Students start communicating digitally at an early age and will continue through rest of their lives. How technically advanced they become will depend on the level of skill they need for their work or their personal lives. In school, it's important for all students to communicate what they know. Digital communication levels the playing field. If we give them real exposure to a lot of communication media they can become adept users of the next generation of tools. Students should develop a wide range of digital and cognitive skills to prepare them for jobs. In a small company, no matter what kind of business, it's now necessary to be able to communicate digitally with clients and customers. At the very least, the company needs a website and someone has to be able to build and maintain it. When an organization is very small, people share responsibilities, so more and more prospective employers will be looking for strong digital communicators who can collaborate as team players. 5. List of basic digital communications skills Educators, economists, and forecasters all agree on the growing importance of so-called "21st-century skills" in the workplace. While reading, writing, and arithmetic will always form the foundation of any solid education, digital communication and media literacy are on the verge of being elevated to the same level of importance. In addition to requiring advanced skills in reading and math, the employers of tomorrow are going to require a high degree of digital and multimedia fluency. To meet the demands of the 21st-century workplace, today's educators need to prepare students for this reality through teaching and organizational philosophy, hands-on application and exercises, and a dedication to implementing the most relevant technology and software in their classrooms. Students must be equipped with basic knowledge in computer operations and Concepts, using computer-based technologies to manipulate, create, store and retrieve information to express ideas and communicate with others and using computer-based technologies to locate, access, evaluate, store and retrieve information and to express ideas and communicate with others. 6. Conclusion In the digital realm, where change is no longer a punctuating event so much the steady state principle of things, we have learned to turn a wondering or bemused, eye upon whatever is the latest and then, shrugging or not, to adapt. Email is already a part of our central societal nervous system; virtual reality and smart environments once part of the fantacy of Jetson futurism have become more likely every day. Computers are not only the harbingers of a silent revolution, but also the binding force in today's world. They have changed the outlook and lifestyle of mankind today. And everyone has been educated scientifically to adapt computers to his own benefit and to the benefit of public at large. (Padhy, 2006) The most pressing issue of today which encompasses the idea of bettering our near and distant futures is the ideal of making computers available to all people, especially youths, and making our younger generations fully aware of computer literacy. We are quickly changing the way that our society is operating, and if we are not careful, thousands or millions of people will be left in the shadows while the rest of us continue chasing the ever-changing chips and bits and bytes that are controlling virtually everything. References 1. Anil K Nair. 2005. "Impact of Digital Communication". 27 - 51 PenHouse Publications, New Delhi. 2. Ahuja M V. 2006. "Communication Technology" 152 - 159 Eastern Book Company, Lucknow. 3. Clarke, Roger , "Information Technology Impacts" 2007 4. "Ethical & Social Implications" Aaai.org retrieved on February 03, 2007. [ http://aaai.org/AITopics/html/ethics.html] 5. Kelkar R.V. "Education & Information Technology." Eastern Book Company, Lucknow. 2002 6. "Technology Skills Every Student Needs" Bcps.org retrieved on February 04, 2007. [http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/psd2005/images/techskills1p.pdf.] 7. Padhy M. "Towards Better Future". Tata McGraw Hills.Delhi.2006.10-40 Read More