Report on the impact of information technology on social structures.

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REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIAL STRUCTURES

ABSTRACT

This report describes the development of the Internet and its technology, and its implications for our social structures, with a particular focus on family life and education.  

Use of the Internet in the home environment has given rise to concerns regarding social isolation of families, exposure to inappropriate material and invasion of privacy through undisclosed use of personal data.  In contrast, the Internet has been recognized for fostering new dynamics within the family structure by introducing a more even distribution of authority within the family and increased whole family learning.

The report highlights that the introduction of the Internet, as a teaching implement, will change the classroom environment, as well as the teacher-pupil relationship.  However, the presence of the Internet in schools is still being researched and evaluated.

INTRODUCTION

The Internet and its technology such as email and the WWW, are fast entering the mainstream of society.  Key to understanding the impact of the Internet on social structures is the rapidity with which the technology is both diffusing and simultaneously, changing.  The Internet has moved very recently from being confined to the workplaces of professionals to take its place beside the television as a family resource in the homes of the majority of schoolchildren.  

The rapidity of these changes is accompanied by uncertainty regarding the implications of the Internet on social structures.  Parents, teachers and policy makers alike, whilst recognizing the liberating and empowering possibilities of the Internet, are also deeply concerned about how this new resource should be managed and controlled.  This report seeks to discuss the impact of the Internet on the social structures of family life and education.  Issues concerning the growing use of the Internet and its technology in the home and school environments are critically examined.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNET

The history of the Internet dates back as far as 1969, when ARPANET, the network set up by the US Defence Department, became the foundation of a global, horizontal communication network of thousands of computer networks (comprising over 300 million users in 2000 that has been appropriated for all kinds of purposes by individual and groups around the world (Castells, 2000:7). Since the Internet was funded mostly by government money, for almost three decades it existed for the exclusive use of government, research, and higher education personnel.  However, following the introduction of commercial Internet in 1983, this changed slowly, as more and more everyday people became aware of the Internet. 

By the end of 1991, dozens of entrepreneurs had established Internet Service Provider (ISP) businesses, which offered low-cost Internet access to families, businesses, and schools. The Internet has now developed into an international network of computer systems that talk to each other using a defined communications protocol, allowing users to access facilities such as e-mail and the World Wide Web (WWW).

HOW DOES THE INTERNET WORK?

The Internet is often confused with some of the applications, which run on it, such as E-Mail, World Wide Web and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).  This section seeks to clarify the various developments of the Internet and their uses.

To enable computers connected to the Internet to communicate and understand information exchanged between them, they all use the same standard (protocol), known as the Internet Protocol (IP).  Each computer on the Internet can be uniquely identified by its Internet Protocol (IP) address (for example, 120.218.38.8).   File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used as the basis for programs which allow the transferring of files, in either direction, between one computer and another remote computer connected to the Internet.  Files can include word-processed documents, spreadsheets, databases, software, etc.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is the system which allows text, graphics, sounds and moving images to be shared between and displayed on computers on the Internet.  The WWW is based on a protocol called HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is the mechanism which allows such Web information to be transferred over the Internet.  It uses software called a client or browser to retrieve and display information on a screen.

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Electronic mail (email) is the most basic and widely used facility available on the Internet.  It allows users to mail one or more people anywhere on the Internet, provided they know the recipients email address. There are a number of electronic media which allow people with similar interests to discuss topics in a similar way to electronic mail. These include mailing lists (also called discussion lists) and newsgroups.

Data is sent between networks along telephone lines and between continents using satellite links. This is allowing the WWW to exist as an ever-growing library of information supplied by individuals or organisations that ...

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