Social and Cultural Aspects of ICT

The important aspect of living in the society and participating in culture is a form how members of a given society spend their leisure time. Leisure time is construed as a spare time free from everyday duties (school, work, household works), which is spent on resting and/or freely (or seemingly freely) chosen activities selected by an individual and carried out for fun or relaxation. A spare time in social science is also defined as such moments in one’s life, in which he or she has an opportunity to develop their own social competences, to form their personality in contacts with other people. To be precise, spare time is time in which socialization and inculturation of an individual can be carried out freely. Although it seems that it is us who organise spare time ourselves but actually a form of spending spare time is imposed, for example by prevailing trends, which are adopted by us unconsciously. Since the moment of fast development and popularisation of information technology, the common way of spending spare time has been subject to irretrievable change and gained a completely new dimension, and inevitably along with it the processes of socialization and inculturation gained a new dimension.

 

Traditional forms of spending free time on family and social meetings, practicing sport, participating in cultural events and developing any passions, have not disappeared. They are cultivated by many people, maybe even with more and more engagement and care. However, an enormous part of modern societies spend their leisure time in a completely different way on watching TV and surfing Internet: viewing thematic websites, audio and visual materials, playing multimedia games, using social networks, reading press and many others.

An essential part of a social life is of course also organisation of an everyday life basing on ordinary activities, such as: shopping, making various reservations, cooking and eating meals, paying for bills, handling with official businesses, remote studying, borrowing books, etc., etc. This situation is facilitating everyday life and a great comfort (obviously… only for people who have adequate competences to use these modern tools and services and only when there is not an unexpected breakdown of systems which serve these institutions). Numerous facilitations provide disabled persons with the opportunity for fast meeting everyday obligations (the blind – add photos of alternative communication devices), create possibility of participation in social life, contribute to overcome numerous barriers which have existed for many years. 

 Examples of how Assistive Technology is used for people with disabilities

On the one hand, it occurs to me that: “life and functioning of man without going out has become possible”, and afterwards a question comes up automatically: “if life and functioning of a man without going out could be possible?”

 Hard to imagine life without computers?

There are people that have been doing without technology for generations.

Summary

The modern information technology, which is omnipresent in a human life carries along innumerable benefits, opens many opportunities, settings, solutions and methods enabling meeting planned life goals, which are set by us as individuals who strive for perfection and education all our lives and as individuals functioning in a given society.

Some negative effects resulting from popularization of the information technology, mainly television and Internet cannot be omitted, their considerable reflection can be noticed both in educational, social and cultural fields of modern man functioning. These negative phenomena cover new types of addiction – addiction to Internet, computer games, facilitation of criminal activity in the Internet – unauthorized access to accounts (burglary), sale of illegal goods and a threat of unconscious contact with a paedophile, which is most commonly experienced by the youngest.

Spending too much time in front of a computer can result in straining wrist muscles, pains of the bottom part of backbone and back, stiffness and tension of nape of the neck and shoulders, irritation of eye mucosal membrane, tiring of eyes, pains and giddiness. It can lead to spinal curvature and degeneration of joints, obesity as well as disorder of the central nervous system due to the stress which accompanies “fun” with a computer and interpersonal disorders consisting in loss of communication skills with the nearest surrounding and emotional problems and even personality deformation by triggering attitude of aggression, cruelty and violence by many games.

One of the most expressive way I'v seen to define an Internet addiction...

However, the presence of the computer games in a youth’s life should not be demonised. As there are situations when teenagers play sport or music games which trigger positive emotions, and they invite parents or peers for group playing. I have also encountered a view that computer games influence positively child’s eye-ear and motor coordination, shape abilities of perceiving complex media messages and increase concentration capability.

It is media that are commonly blamed for causing social problems, such as: looseness and remissness of social ties, phenomenon of anonymity and loss of individual’s identity resulting therefrom. However, I am not sure to what extent these media are a threat and to what extent they are an opportunity to use modern technologies to create a new society, new knowledge and culture. I would like to believe that we are not directed to self-destruction, but we need some more time to find ourselves fully in a new reality.

I think that when using the latest technologies one should always take into consideration both the positive and negative aspects. But balancing positive and negative aspects does not make sense here. Presence of technologies in our life is a fact and there is no retreat, regardless of the number of opportunities and threats. This situation constitutes a very difficult challenge for us consisting in finding harmony and acquiring competencies in functioning in this reality. Media education in a broad sense becomes a new and extremely important task faced by each educational institution. This education should not be based only on learning how to technically operate multimedia devices. Its important task is to shape attitude of responsibility for own activities when using modern technologies and awareness of threats so that not to frighten but to develop everyone’s ability to take actions which develop sense of security. 

Now I can say that I have described a circle and returned in my considerations to the starting point. Activities within the scope of media education addressed at the youngest children and continued at each stage of their education will be effective provided that they are reflected both in cultural and social life.

Educational Aspects of ICT

In various contemporary educational institutions information technology plays a significant role nowadays. In Polish kindergartens, schools and universities new information workrooms with access to Internet have been created and are still being created. More and more classrooms and lecture halls as well as kindergarten rooms are equipped with computers with access to Internet and multimedia projectors. Not all students and teachers make use of these tools eagerly, mainly because they are not competent enough, however it can be noted that multimedia techniques become more and more popular in our educational institutions. Lectures and classes, during which the lecturers and students do not use a multimedia projector and exclusive multimedia presentations prepared mainly in popular Microsoft PowerPoint are scarce. I have an impression that lecturers and students more and more often regard lack of use of multimedia technology as a lack of adequate and reliable preparation for the classes.

Selected Fields of Application 

Several years ago research was carried out in Poland to determine the weight of schoolbags of the youngest pupils. It turned out that most frequently the schoolbags weighted 4kg and even 6 kg (three times as much as it is permitted by paediatricians). At the same time an enormous publicity was won by KidSmart programme directed to children at pre-school age and children of elementary education, which has been already introduced in 60 countries worldwide and which covers over 10 million children. Within the framework of IBM KidSmart the elementary education institutions and pre-school institutions received computer sets designed especially for children. They consist of a computer in colour, children-safe case and educational software which supports elementary education programme within the scope of teaching mathematics, English language and logical thinking. These materials diversify gaining new skills and make the process more attractive. Participation of children in the programme shapes ability to make use of a computer properly and the sense of responsibility for actions taken to use the latest technologies in the adulthood. In response to too heavy schoolbags, a new educational project called Light as a feather - multimedia locker for a student = light schoolbag was developed and executed by the Regional Education Authority in Katowice, which consisted in giving up excess of textbooks, exercise books and school accessories and equipping children with netbooks with adequate didactic software so that they were able to use them both at school, during classes and at home. One of the important purposes of the above mentioned actions was not only to support development of children’s abilities of using information technology, but also to increase competences of teachers to use it in elementary education, in everyday work with a child. 

KidSmart Array

Thanks to information technology the world is commonly called a Global Village nowadays. Educational opportunities resulting from ICT development increase at a fast rate and gain newer and newer dimensions. Thanks to it, the access to knowledge sources increases, and the knowledge seems to be at hand today. Remote education does not surprise anybody nowadays, and its quality does not raise reservations, thus fighting stereotypical and conventional take on education, which is now perceived as a lifetime process, taking place not only during one’s childhood and youth. To a large degree this status quo meets the concept of a man’s subjectivity as a being that is free, independent to take decisions on his educational, professional, personal – life way. The possibility of communicating with people from all over the world, sending information from and to virtually each place on Earth, even for educational purposes, has become an everyday life for us. Modern educational possibilities have their source on Earth, but do not end here.

Educational possibilities increase their range continuously and transcend even beyond our planet

The purpose of the International program ARISS (Amateur Radio on The International Space Station) is to popularize astronautics among school and academic young people, by enabling mutual communication with ISS crew. On 18^th January, 2011 the Polish high school students tried to establish radio communication with the astronauts of the International Space Station. In a participating school a competition for questions for astronauts was organised – secondary school students were supposed to ask them in English. The questions concerned the astronauts’ life without gravitation, frequency of contacts with their families, methods of preparing meals, etc.  

Polish students and their star-teacher

Organising the session was possible thanks to cooperation of the secondary school with the Ostrów Shortwave Club. The club made all necessary equipment for realisation of this undertaking available. The connection was to last ca. 10 minutes – when the station was flying over Europe. It was the first trial to establish communication, however it was not fully completed, since interferences on a certain frequency made the proper communication impossible. The secondary school students heard the astronauts, whereas the astronauts did not hear the students. But the researchers from the space station contacted the school after the unsuccessful session and this conversation was possible due to the technical possibilities of NASA. The purpose of such projects is to increase knowledge of the Earth and the space, to develop interests and passions of the young people.

Space-studensts from Płock

 
So it is difficult to determine what other places we will be able to reach. E-learning on the Moon? The whole world was previously said to be open for us, including the world of education, now it can be safely said that we enter a boundless space of education (and this boundlessness is not the end of it).

Music is universal language 

One of the fields which is close to me is use of information technology for learning how to play music instruments thanks to YouTube. The enormous movie resources including records how a given composition is being performed with the possibility to replay and stop any part of it repeatedly is a good method and an idea of musical self-education and development of someone’s passions.  

On YouTube portal one can find educational films which include step by step presentation how to play a given song. I know it by experience that it is difficult to learn the basics of instrument playing without a specialist and a direct contact with a teacher. However, after having mastered certain key skills, learning to play by Internet could be effective. If something goes wrong, YouTube repeats a given sequence without impatience, which could be naturally felt by a teacher.  

How To Play Stairway To Heaven By Led Zeppelin On Guitar?
Thomas will show you

Nevertheless it should be remembered that learning always requires authentic motivation and engagement of a student, in particular when learning by Internet. On the one hand, it can be a difficulty in achieving a success, on the other hand it develops a need of taking responsibility for one’s own education, the self-development and it contributes to have a feeling of being in charge and being able to decide about one’s own life, in accordance with a postulate of subjective perception of each human being.

Need inspirations? 

Art of (e)motion - Drifting by Andy McKee 

Sungha Jung - Rylynn by Andy McKee

Igor Falecki - Polish 4 years old drummer

 

 So start to play as soon as possilbe!

 

Educational, Social and Cultural Aspects of ICT

An intensive development of information technologies initiated in the late 20^th century, has led to the beginning of a completely new dimension and a new quality of interpersonal communication. The process of social communication turned out to be a factor which significantly influences human lifestyle.  Since a lifestyle is one of the important elements of cultural reality, the result of changes in information technologies has been development and continuous formation of a new, global society already named a media society. When starting a work on the paper I was thinking how to start my considerations – from the social and cultural aspects of ICT or from the educational aspects? I asked myself a question if it is culture and society which influence the shape of educational reality or whether it is education which shapes culture and society. Solving this problems turned out to be as difficult a task as answering the question: Which came first, the chicken? Or the egg? Therefore, I think it cannot be denied that each of these three aspects is strictly connected with one another, and even coupled, one can say. Culture influences education, education influences culture, culture and education shape the society, as well as the society shapes culture and education. When considering culture, education and society as a certain wholeness, then functioning of this wholeness can be compared to functioning of a human brain, which as the exclusive organ in a human body is able to analyse itself and form itself to a certain degree (although there are limits to it).