ICT in Ordinary Life
Information communications technology is such a fundamental part of modern life that is it questionable how well we are preparing our children for future life, not just as employees but also as citizens, without devoting a significant proportion of the curriculum to its use. This means not just as subject content but also as a means to deliver teaching material. In this blog I have explored my use of technology over the period of one week, to assess how much a part of life it is. I have deliberately chosen the Christmas week because it is a week which shows how much my home life is affected by technology and a week where social connections are particularly important.
Sunday: I began the day by checking my emails, including the messages to my Ebay account and Facebook social network account, in particular to contact University friends to get their home addresses to send Christmas cards to. In the afternoon I watched the Antiques Roadshow on Television for entertainment and to provide useful knowledge to help with my home business. I used my mobile telephone throughout the day, to reply to messages and to contact my family about plans for Christmas.
Monday: Again day begun with checking my points of contact i.e. emails and phone. Went shopping for last minute Christmas bargains in town, purchased items using my debit card on the chip and pin system. For these transactions I used my internet banking to transfer funds. During my travel to and from town I listened to music on my IPod which makes the journey on public transport a little more pleasant. Again used my phone to contact friends to meet up and discuss purchases made. Watched Star Wars Film with my partner in the evening on dvd.
Tuesday: This was my partner’s brothers birthday and we were having a party at our house. Again the mobile phone was essential in organising guests and also had created an events page on Facebook. In the evening we had a live dj playing music and also had karaoke on the Playstation in the lounge.
Wednesday: Christmas Eve. I contacted family to make plans for getting together. Watched Christmas films and television at my partners family’s house. During the afternoon I played on my partners Mum’s Nintendo DS the Brain Training game for entertainment but also to keep my brain ticking over the time off of work.
Thursday: Christmas Day. The main use of technology today was for communications with friends and loved ones. In particular we had arranged a Skype conversation with my cousins, Auntie and Uncle who live in New Zealand, to wish them happy season’s greetings and to cheer up my Grandmother who misses the family very much. This is a fundamental way of keeping in touch with them when they are so far away and in particular to actually see how the children are and their achievements, it is something we generally reserve for special occasions but is excellent because it is free to communicate unlike the ordinary phone landlines.
Friday: Again used the phone to contact family and friends. I checked my Ebay account as I was selling items online and has specifically chosen for them to come off on Boxing day as I thought people would be relaxing and recovering and use the internet. I went on to pay and print off postage labels via paypal for items to send in the post. I checked my internet banking online to get ready for my direct debits coming out. I also enjoyed some more family Christmas entertainment on the television.
Saturday: I was attending a carboot sale so I checked the early morning weather on the television and online on the BBC weather page. I also used the mobile to arrange a meeting time with my Mum. After the carboot sale I did my supermarket shop, I personally shop and pay at the tills with a cashier but due to my study of technology I noticed that other shoppers use the fast track scanners to scan the barcodes of their items as they go around the store and also some customers pay at self service tills for speed of service.
This week of monitoring my own use of ICT has really made conscious of all the uses of informations and communications technology which occur on both a daily basis to help in the functioning of ordinary life and on special occasions. I was particularly interested in the way just how essential technology has become in the communications we have with our friends and family and maintaining these connections over long distances such as my relationships with University friends and with family abroad in this globalised world. This is important to consider in my own teaching practice because the children I encounter in the classroom will be also frequently interacting with technology and it will shape their everyday lives, perhaps to a slightly lesser extent but nonetheless it will be a significant presence. One of the particularly interesting things I have considered is that some of the adult uses of ICT can actually be adapted for children to provide them with an experience preparing them for later life. I conduct quite a lot of business on Ebay for instance as my student job, this could perhaps be adapted for children in a class entrepreneurial project where they have the experience of marketing items online and dealing with customers, in a very controlled way. Or equally the Skype telecommunication could be used as a means to connect to another class across the world and a route into studying their culture.
1 comment:
A well developed post. Thank you.
This shows quite clearly how much we rely on information and communications technologies today.
...I conduct quite a lot of business on Ebay for instance as my student job, this could perhaps be adapted for children in a class entrepreneurial project where they have the experience of marketing items online and dealing with customers, in a very controlled way. Or equally the Skype telecommunication could be used as a means to connect to another class across the world and a route into studying their culture....
Thank you for your ideas about using them in the classroom.Ebay... there's a thought.
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