MODULE – III : INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Communication Technology

·         Communication Technology implies the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to exchange information verbally or nonverbally.

·         It is processing of information in terms of accessing information, decoding information and sending it via a medium

·         Communication Technology is the electronic systems used for communication between individuals or groups.

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

ICT Meaning

·         ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data.

Definition

·         "ICT is defined, as a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information."

ICT - Characteristics

·         ICT is the integration of Hardware and Software Technology

·         ICT fosters the dissemination of information and knowledge

·         The ‘digital’ and ‘virtual’ nature of many ICT products and services allows for zero or declining marginal costs.

·         ICT is global – any where, any time

·         ICT is a key enabler in the creation of networks

Advantages of ICT in Education

·         Quick access to information

·         Easy availability of updated data

·          Connecting Geographically dispersed regions

·         Catering to the Individual differences

·         Wider range of communication media

·         Wider learning opportunities for pupils

Limitation of ICT in Education

·         ICT supposedly endangers the child’s social development.

·         ICT is supposedly to endanger the child’s intellectual development.

·         Decreasing of child’s emotional development.

·         Child’s health is endangered.

·         Misuse of ICT - A complete control over the child’s usage of ICT is today practically impossible.

·         Expensive

Educational informatics

·         ‘informatics’ - the study of information processing

·         “Educational Informatics is the study of the application of digital technologies and techniques to the use and communication of information in learning and education”

·         “Educational Informatics is the development, use, and evaluation of digital systems that use pedagogical knowledge to engage in or facilitate resource discovery in order to support learning”

·         Studying the techniques and impact of ‘digital technologies’ within the context of the ‘use and communication of information’ in educational settings

·         Educational informatics represents the intersection of three disciplines: teaching and learning, information science, and information communication technologies (ICTs)

COMPUTER NETWORKS

Meaning

            ‘Inter connected collection of autonomous computers.’

 Communication Media of Computer Network

o  Copper wire

o  Microwaves

o  Fiber optics.

o  Communication satellites

TYPES OF COMPUTER NETWORKS

1. Local Area Network (LAN)

·         Local area networks are networks with in a single building or campus or up to a few kilometers in size.

·         Low delay.

·         Very few errors.

·         Higher speed.

·         LANs are restricted in size (Functions within 10 KMs).

·         Transmission time is bounded.

·         Simplifies network management.

2. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).

·         MAN is an extension of LANs.

·         It normally covers the area of a city (are less than 100KMs).

·         Uses a combination of different hardware and transmission media to cover distances efficiently.

3. Wide Area Network (WAN)

·         Networking in a large geographical are, often a country or continent.

·         WAN uses telephone lines or satellite links as a medium.

·         LAN may be connected to WAN.

·         It covers different cities or countries.

·         WANs are not owned by anyone organization but are under collective ownership and management.

·         Complex network design.

·         Error rate is large.

·         Speed is less compared to LAN

INTERNET

·         Internet is a huge collection of computer networks that can be communicated with each other.

·         This word is coined from the word ‘interconnection’ and ‘network’.

·         Through this, each computer user can communicate and share common resources with other users.

Web Sever

·         It is a programme and a computer clubbed into one entity which responds to the requests from web   browsers for internet resources.

·         Eg:- Yahoo, Google.

Web Browser

·         It is a programme that allows a user to display and interact with a ‘hyper text’ documents.

·         Eg:- Internet explorer, Net Scape navigator.

Home Page

·         Home page is the first hypertext document to be shown when a user follows a link to the web server.

Search engines

·         Special tool to search for information on the net.

·         Eg:- AltaVista, Yahoo, Google.

Website

·         A collection of related pages on particular information.

Web Page

·         It is a file of information stored on a web server.

WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW)

·         WWW is a vast collection of documents stored on internet computers.

·         It was invented by Tim-Burner-Lee.

·         It provides easy access to information.

·         It is a system of media rich documents spread across the internet, linked with each other through related topics.

·         WWW documents contain texts, pictures, sound, video, etc.

INTRANET

·         Collection of private computer networks within an organization.

·         Internal or private network of an organization based on internet technology (such as hypertext and protocols) and accessed over the internet.

·          An intranet is meant for the exclusive use of the organization and its associates (customers, employees, members, suppliers, etc.) and is protected from unauthorized access with security systems such as firewalls.

·         An intranet should be closed off to the general public and require a login for authorized users. 

USES OF COMPUTER NETWORKS

·         For sharing resources.

·         For high reliability.

·         For saving money.

·         For using as communication medium.

·         For accessing remote information.

·         For person to person communication.

·         For interactive entertainment.

Upload & Download

·         Both upload and download refer to the process of transferring a file

·         Upload means to transfer a file or files from your own computer to another computer.

·         Uploading is the process of copying files from your computer to a remote location.

·         For instance, you might transfer a file from your home PC to the Yahoo! computer that stores your Web Hosting files.

·         Download means to transfer a file from another computer to your own.

·         Downloading is the process of copying files to your computer from a remote location

·         For instance, You might download a file from your Web Hosting account to your home PC

Host, Hosting

·         For a website to be viewed by other people it must be stored on a computer (server) that is connected to the internet.

·         A company that provides this service is known as a host; and the service it provides is hosting.

Web Hosting Companies in India

Rank	Hosting Company	Total Domains
1	NET4INDIA.COM	107,523
2	BIGROCK.IN	62,990
3	Znetlive.com	25,770
4	REDIFFMAILPRO.COM	24,792
5	INDIALINKS.COM	24,320
6	WEBLINK.IN	14,429
7	INDIANETS.COM	13,030
8	MANASHOSTING.COM	11,934
9	SQUAREBROTHERS.COM	11,692
10	EWEBGURU.COM	10,563
11	LACEHOST.COM	8,341
12	NETTIGRITTY.COM	7,940
13	HOSTRIGHTNOW.COM	7,758
14	TRADE-INDIA.COM	7,583
15	HOSTGATOR.IN	7,407

Web Resources :

·         Web pages and documents on the Internet that provide useful information.

Bookmarks :

·         A collection of direct links to predefined web pages which is stored in your web browser.

·         Bookmarks can be created and managed by the user themselves. Most browsers come packaged with several existing bookmarks.

Public Utility Websites

• Website which are useful to public

·         UGC - http://www.ugc.ac.in

·         NCERT - http://www.ncert.nic.in

·         CIET - http://www.ciet.nic.in/

·         MHRDE - http://www.education.nic.in

·         SSA - http://www.ssa.nic.in

·         NCTE - http://www.ncte-india.org

INTRODUCTION TO ‘HTML’

·         ‘Hyper Text Mark up Language (HTML) is a standard language used for developing web pages’.

·         History of HTML

·         In 1980, a mark up language, i.e., Standard Generalized Mark up Language or SGML was developed.

·         HTML was evolved from SGML.

·         Presently, HTML is advanced to DHTML and then to XML (Extensible Mark up Language) and now to VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)

HTML

·         HTML codes are known as ‘HTML Tags’.

·         An HTML document has two parts.

                              a) Markup Language       -Tags.

                              b) Web page content       -Text Information.

Structure of an HTML Document.

·         Header or Head Section           

                                                <HTML>

                                                <HEAD>

                                                Head Section

                                                </HEAD>                                                        

                                                </HTML>

·         Body Section

                                                <HTML>

                                                <BODY>

                                                Body Section or Actual Text

                                                </BODY>    

                                                </HTML>

Points to be kept in mind while writing HTML documents

·         Each tag is enclosed within a ‘<’ (left bracket) and ‘>’ (right bracket). This differentiates them from text.

·         An opened tag must be closed.

·         Opening tag is denoted by < > .

·         Closing tag is denoted by </ > .

·         Generally the HTML tags are written in upper case.

·         It is not a case sensitive language.

·         When we save HTML file, we should add .html or .htm after the file name.

Merits of HTML

·         HTML is simple but powerful formatting language to use.

·         The simplicity allows anyone to create web pages.

·         HTML documents are device independent (works on any platform)

·         The web pages can be linked together using links.

·         The pages can be updated at anytime.

Limitations of HTML

·         HTML does not have any programming capabilities.

KompoZer

·         KompoZer is a good WYSIWYG editor.

·         It was originally based on the popular Nvu editor and is now based on the Mozilla platform.

·         It is a “what you see is what you get” editor with built-in file management and FTP to get your pages to your web hosting provider.

·         It is easy to use and, best of all, it's free.

KompoZer Features

·         Text editor

·         WYSIWYG editor

·         HTML validator

·         Page preview

·         Save pages as HTML with DTD

·         Color coding

·         FTP or Site manager

·         Search and replace

·         Edit multiple files/tabbed file editing

·         Can edit JavaScript

·         Can edit CSS

·         Additional CSS assistance

·         Upgrade discounts or freeware

·         No limits on free or trial version

·         No subscription fee required