In this essay (assignment) I am going to explain how I use ICT in my life and what it gives and does

Mary Ewumi

Candidate Number:1043

Centre Number:10838

Unit 3a

The way I use ICT at home and at school

In this essay (assignment) I am going to explain how I use ICT in my life and what it gives and does. I will explain the benefits and the limitation of each technology that I will mention. The technology’s I am going to write about can be used at home, at school, for work related matters, personnal use and social use.

Internet

The Internet is very important in my everyday life; it enables me to communicate online.. I Use the internet at home to communicate online by emailing my friends, going on chat lines, or by having my own chat space. I am able to do this even if I am in another country. Last year I went to Nigeria, I was able to have access to the internet. I was able to chat online to my friends who were in London. The Internet also enables me to play games. This an easier process because, just a few years ago updated games couldn’t be played on the internet, and I had to lay games by hand like o’s and x’s. Playing games by hand is very boring and always has to be played with someone, which is also the same as a board game. Now the game on the internet is very fun to play and saves paper and time. The games on the internet actually have moving graphics and are very detailed so I find it more interesting. At school I use the internet to find out information for any subject which requires research. When I was not able to use the internet for research I used to look an encyclopaedia, which was a longer process and most of the time the words were to advanced for someone my age. It is very expensive to buy a children’s encyclopaedia and it is also very difficult to find one in book shops and in libraries. The Internet provides many things from A-Z. I also find the internet very useful because when I need to find out information the Internet has websites that I can go on. There are websites like google, askjeeves, these websites enable me to find out first hand information, even if it’s from the news. In addition these websites also give any information you ask for e.g. famous people, about a country e.t.c for school. I have found that this is a better process than going to look for a dictionary or to and encylopidea. The advantages of the Internet are that I can use it to chat online, play games, learning skills and find information. There are also disadvantages of the Internet. The disadvantages of the Internet are that the information that I get can be wrong or too advanced which I would not understand. If too many people are on the same website this can cause my information to be slow and if I am chatting and want to erase a piece of information it can be slow or fast, according to the amount of errands the computer is doing. If too many people are on the same website the website page I am on may get frozen. Some websites on the Internet are installed with little messages that say, “click here” especially when I am on a games website. This can be really dangerous because if I click on it someone could enter my user name and phone number on their computer so they can surf on the net and it will be on my mother’s bill. This is the reason why the computer misuse act 1998 was set up. It protects people on the net from hackers and people who cause viruses or are ready to perform any scams. The Internet can also be used for things related with work, at home, at school. At school the Internet is very helpful for subjects like maths, English, Science, French, Spanish and so on, also information. This is only if you go on websites for this kind of information. At many schools some websites are blocked out because teachers feel that it not appropriate for young students. The benefit of having the internet is all the advantages I have mentioned above. It is every so often quicker, easier and very instructive, which makes it easy to understand. Finally I find the internet extremely helpful because it can be used for personal information or social matters in my social and personal life, at home and at school.

Pc Technology

As I am a year 11 student I have many assignments that teachers/mentors set me, which includes general homework and coursework. Pc (personal computer) technology is a computer designed for use by one person at a time and has been made very useful to individuals, like me. A regular pc technology contains Microsoft word, Microsoft excel, Microsoft publisher, Microsoft photo editor, Microsoft access, Microsoft PowerPoint, that I use frequently.

I use Microsoft word to create and edit texts and graphics in letters, reports, web pages or email messages. This is such a trouble-free process, than ...

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Pc Technology

I use Microsoft word to create and edit texts and graphics in letters, reports, web pages or email messages. This is such a trouble-free process, than before. Before I had Microsoft word, I wrote my letters by hand. I had to make the letters I wrote look presentable so I had to re-write them if I felt it looked unacceptable. Writing letters by hand actually took up a lot of my time but now I have Microsoft word it is easier and quicker to use. I can always save the letters I write in a file and come back to it if I want to correct any errors.

I also use Microsoft word for any coursework I am doing in class or at school and the advantages are related to the ones above that its an easier process e.t.c.

I use Microsoft publisher to create and edit newsletters, brochures, flyers, and websites.

I attend a brownies club. In the brownies club, as additional homework, from time to time myself and other girls are asked to create posters to advertise how fun brownies is, and to persuade people to attend. I am a person who does not like to waste money on unnecessary things. When I did not have Microsoft publisher I had to create the posters/flyers by hand. I continuously had to buy colouring pencils to beautify the posters/flyers. I am not an expert in drawing so the pictures I drew were very difficult to understand. I also found that I had to limit my ideas if I knew I couldn’t draw them.

Having publisher meets my needs because there are design options that can be chosen to create posters/flyers e.t.c. The pictures are stored on the system according to what type of style of poster I choose from. All I have to do is type in what I want on the computer, which is easy and quick and the poster has already been designed for me without any hassle.

When I use Microsoft power point it allows me to create and edit presentations for slide shows, meetings and WebPages.

I have used Microsoft PowerPoint so many times to create slide shows. I am a peer mediator at school, sometimes the peer mediators have to take it in turns to create presentations for the meetings we have on bullying. When Microsoft PowerPoint was not available to me I always wrote the notes on a card, which I read out. This wasn’t very good because the people who were listening to my presentation got bored and using paper or card all the time to write notes is a waste of paper. Quality paper or card is tremendously expensive. As I don’t work this is very difficult, so I usually end up using the same card but writing on the reverse side. Having Microsoft PowerPoint now is very interesting for people who I am showing my presentation to, during meetings. I can also add colour and pictures from files to add to my presentation, it is better than before because it saves money than using paper, at meetings it will be interesting to watch my presentation and its quicker as it saves time.

Microsoft photo editor lets me view and edit graphics, including scanned images. I enjoy to take pictures occasionally. When I did not have Microsoft photo editor, if I had photos that I had taken with a camera, if I wanted to get another copy I had to go back and produce another one with the negative copy. Producing copies from negative photos is seriously a lot of money. Having Microsoft photo editor can just connect the wire of my scanner to the computer, scan it, then it will show on Microsoft photo editor. When I do this it allows me to alter the pictures I have scanned in any way, such as the colour or contrast.

I use Microsoft excel in my ICT lessons at school to perform calculations, analyse information, and manage lists in spreadsheets or web pages. This is very useful because without this I used to do calculations by hand because a calculator is not allowed for ICT only for maths. So I found it very difficult to keep up with time and work at a steady pace. If I made any serious mistakes I wouldn’t be able to find out. Using Microsoft spreadsheet if any mistakes are made the computer is set to alert me. It meets my needs so much in ICT at school.

Microsoft access allows me to create databases and programs to track and manage my information. I am very much disorganised at times so having Microsoft access to organise and manage my information is very helpful. I used to complete all my work at school and homework at home on sheets but as I am disorganised, some of them get lost so having Microsoft access helps a great deal in my life.

Out of all the types of Microsoft links I have mentioned, Microsoft word is the most useful of all. It has been used for many years. When I bought my computer Microsoft word was already installed on it. Pc technology can be used for personal use work related things, and at home and school. The benefit of using pc technology (Microsoft e.t.c) is that I can check spelling mistakes, to be corrected. I can use the dictionary to find out the meaning of words and also use the thesaurus to change words to make it more desriptive. The limitations is that when I use the spell check or dictionary the words may not be correct but may be installed like that on the computer. Sometime, when I use a thesaurus on the computer it gives me a meaning that is too advanced or the word which I receive does not make sense in a sentence I want to write use. e.g. if I write a formal letter and want to use the thesaurus to get another meaning for mad, I cannot use the word Seiko I have to use something like foolish, which is more formal. At school I can use it for assignment or scripts. If I change the language I can use it to write any French work or Spanish work because I am currently studying Spanish and French for my GCSE’s. Finally, in a personal view I can use it, when doing individual work.

Communication Technology

Communicating is very important in my life .I do this by using a mobile phone, going to information points, using video phones and holding conferences. Mobile phones can be used at home, for personal and social use. I have a mobile phone and I use my mobile phone outside instead of waiting for someone to phone me or me phoning someone on their land line (house phone), as it has excellent reception qualities outside. I use it for personal use to play games and store various things such as numbers of my friends. I can’t say mobile phones can be used at school because most schools do not allow their students (pupils) to bring phones to school. The cause of this is because pupils will be distracted and may anxiously want to cheat on major exams by texting. Out of all these communication points only conferencing can be used in school.

The advantages of having my mobile phone is that I play game, store information and text on it. With my mobile phone I can send pictures on videophones and communicate live in addition to being able to save pictures. I can find out information at information points by talking to someone. Finally I can hold a conference with a group of people communicating (talking) with each other with my mobile phone because it enables me to talk to more than one person, or as a group. The limitations of having a mobile is that I can loose any information installed on my videophones after a while, the information collected from an information point may not be right. When using a mobile phone due to unexplained circumstances my sim card may get blocked. Text messages may be sent slow or quick depending on the network. When I am holding a conference it may cause conflict between people in what ever I say because everyone cannot at once. Having a mobile phone has changed the ways I do things tremendously. Instead of writing a letter or waiting until the next time I see a friend I can just text them. It is cheaper, as a piece of paper costs 15p and an envelope costs 20p, a stamp cost 1. Sending text messages costs 10p. It has also changed the way I look after money and the way I keep my phone bill, which used to be a serious problem.

Entertainment

Entertainment is another important thing in my life. It brings out the exuberant side of me. I own a game console, which is my entertainment technology. Games consoles are what most young children and rarely adults use for fun, especially 75% of boys and 35% of girls. Other things I use for entertainment is m my mp3 player or digital TV. The benefits of games consoles, is that it allows me to play games and install things off cd`s, Which I use for personal use at home. My mp3 player allows me to listen to and download the latest music; u I also use this for personal use at home. Digital TV’s allow me to watch any kind of latest program I want, to watch. I also have a touch screen one, as well at home. Without having all the entertainment technologies I mentioned above, before I used to play board games, listen to my old fashioned walk man and watch channel which were repeated continuously. Having a mp3 player than a walkman is that, a mp3 player is portable and a walkman is not, it is also worth its money as it can store up to 400 songs. The limitations are that on games consoles information or games saved may be lost. On mp3 players the songs may not be the kind of music I like and the station, which I want to listen to, may not be working. A digital TV may not give the right thing I am looking for. Digital TV’s can be used at school for information or for personal use. When installing music onto my mp3 player, to make sure I am not breaking the law I look for the privacy and policy section from where I am downloading it from. If it says that Incant install the music then I won’t because installing songs I am not supposed to is against the law. Entertainment technology as met my needs by making life very easy for me and making it fun to entertain my self instead of playing boring board games like before. All this is for personal use.

I have now explained most of the technology’s used by other people and I.I now know which technology’s are more important and not every technology can be used every where.

Mary Ewumi

Centre Number: 10838

Candidate Number: 1043