Information and Communications Technologies
(ICT) education is basically our society’s efforts to teach its current and
emerging citizens valuable knowledge and skills around computing and
communications devices, software that operates them, applications that run on
them and systems that are built with them.
What are these things? How do they work? How do you use them productively? How
are they deployed, assembled, managed and maintained to create productive
systems? How they are used in specific business and industry settings? What are
the underlying science and technologies behind them and how might those be
developed to advance ICT fields?
ICT is complex and quickly changing, and it is confusing for many people. It is
so pervasive in the modern world that everyone has some understanding of it,
but those understandings are often wildly divergent.
There are many important dimensions to ICT education, including:
·
ICT/Digital Literacy – Today, everyone needs a basic understanding of ICT and how to
make productive use of it, just to be good students, workers and citizens.
Teaching people how to be competent basic users of ICT technologies is an
important role of ICT education, so they will be successful in their academic and
work careers, and so they can efficiently participate in modern technical
society. As part of its study validating U.S. Department of Labor IT Competency
model content in California, MPICT determined with 99% confidence California
employer agreement with the following statements regarding Digital Literacy:
o
“Information and communication
technologies (ICT) competencies are increasingly important for most of our
employers, regardless of role. If there was an agreed-upon standard for
"digital literacy", or ICT competencies expected of all workers,
regardless of workplace role, my organization would value a credential based on
that standard as a way of validating ICT skills for non-ICT workers.” (70.5%
agree or very much agree)
o
“In the 21st century, an ability
to work with information and communication technologies is becoming as
essential to education, life and workplace success as "reading, writing
and arithmetic".” ICT Digital Literacy should be considered a basic skill
by educational systems, something taught to and assessed for all students.
(85.2% agree or very much agree)
o
This study details 49
competencies for ICT User level knowledge and skills, as an actionable,
teachable and assessable definition of what people need to know and be able to
do to be “digitally literate.”
·
ICT Infrastructure and
Support Applied Technologists – Beyond a basic user
competency, our society also needs more knowledgeable and capable technical
people to deploy, manage and maintain ICT equipment, software and systems, so they
work well for users. In all industries, these people manage computer and
communications hardware, software and applications; networked systems; online
information sharing, communication and commerce systems; business processes
making use of these systems; and user support.
·
Specialized Business and
Industry Uses of ICT – As enabling technologies,
ICT is used strategically in almost all businesses and industries. Many have
developed specialized systems and uses of ICT, and many have specialized legal
and regulatory requirements; quality control systems; integrations with
production and research equipment and systems; security requirements; and
software applications. For example:
o
Bioscience industries rely on
specialized ICT systems and applications to conduct research, analyze organic
materials, produce biotech products and do required reporting;
o
Financial services industries
rely on ICT to maintain customer records, do business, conduct trades, do
financial reporting, secure proprietary information and comply with
regulations;
o
Manufacturing industries use
specialized computer controlled systems and robotics to design, produce and
test products.
o
Property management operations
use ICT to network and control heating and cooling, lighting and building
access systems.
o
Electric utilities use ICT to
monitor and manage electricity distribution, customer billing and smart
metering systems.
o
Telecommunications, cable TV and
other entertainment industries use ICT to store content, manage customers and
deliver their services.
We need to develop a competent workforce that understands not only
relevant technologies, but also specialized business and industry environments
and operations, to meet these specialized needs.
·
ICT Research and
Development Scientists – ICT fields themselves are
under constant pressure to evolve and improve. We need people who deeply
understand the science and technologies underlying ICT and who can work to
advance the fields.
In virtually all modern businesses and
industries, and in modern society in general, ICT has key strategic roles. It
is strategically important to develop citizens and workers who can competently
and efficiently operate and add value in these systems and environments.
What are these things? How do they work? How do you use them productively? How are they deployed, assembled, managed and maintained to create productive systems? How they are used in specific business and industry settings? What are the underlying science and technologies behind them and how might those be developed to advance ICT fields?
ICT is complex and quickly changing, and it is confusing for many people. It is so pervasive in the modern world that everyone has some understanding of it, but those understandings are often wildly divergent.
There are many important dimensions to ICT education, including:
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