Impact of Information Technology on University Students

Introduction to Sociology (HUM-381)

Prepared For: Mohit Prodhan Faculty, School of Business (UITS)

Prepared By: Sujan Bhowmik Mahbub Hasan Bhuiyan Anendya Chakma Saleh Abedin Chowdhury Shafiqur Rahman Pavel Mia ID: 10310495 ID: 10310551 ID: 10310553 ID: 10310251 ID: 10310227 ID: 10310265

University of Information Technology & Sciences (UITS)

4th

January, 2012

Acknowledgement
First we would like to great thank to our god who makes us and also gives us all capacity to do something in every time. We give thank our Honorable course instructor Mohit Prodhan for his any time cooperation. He helped us by giving all kinds of information regarding to our Report. Computer makes our works very easy and saves our time. In the Lab we could use easily the computer and completed our report on group as a result some time we faced some problem about operating the computer and this time the computer man of the lab helped us. So we are expressing our great thanks to Ishan Chowdhury [IT Officer]. They helped us to giving some information that was vital for our report. We are also very much grateful to the shopkeepers and the customers who helped us by giving important information and gave us their valuable time. At last, we express our sincere gratefulness to the class mates and group member of us who give us important knowledge regarding to our report. Thanks from Sujan Bhowmik
(On behalf of the group)

Letter of Transmittal
04.01.2012 Mohit Prodhan Lecturer, School of Business University of information technology & sciences

Sub: Submission of Report on Impact of Information Technology on University Students

Dear Sir, We the undersigned students were assigned to prepare a report on Impact of Information Technology on University Students we have prepared this report. In preparing this report, we have followed your guidelines. As per your direction, we have added a lot of information from the mentioned topic. From this report we have achieved a lot of basic knowledge and we think ourselves that it will help us a lot in our future career. We sincerely hope this report will fulfill the requirements suggested by you under the course Introduction to Sociology. We truly appreciated this report. We hope it will be accepted by you. If you have any question after reading this report, let us know. Sincerely yours Sujan Bhowmik ID: 10310495 _________________ Anendya Chakma ID: 10310553 _________________ Pavel Mia ID: 10310265 Mahbub Hasan Bhuiyan ID: 10310551 ________________ Saleh Abedin Chowdhury ID: 10310251 _____________________ Shafiqur Rahman ID: 10310227

Table of Contents Part 1: 1. Executive Summary 2. Origin of the report 3. Limitations of the study Part 2. 1. What is Information Technology? 2. Why is Information Technology important? 3. What and Why of Information Technology in University? 4. A Study on Development of IT SCENARIO in University. Part 3 Impact of Information Technology on University Students 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Changes to Learning. Self-paced Learning. Removing the Barriers of Distance, Time and Cost. Wide Variety of Learning Tools. Easy Access to External Resources. Connectivity. Lessons. Information Technology and the purpose of University education. Information Technology and the potential of education. Changing the educational institution. Advantages of Information Technology In University Students education. Disadvantages of Information Technology In University Students education.

Executive Summary

The world is constantly changing and ways in which we function at home, work and school are also changing. The speed at which Information technology has developed plays a major role in these changes. From e-mail to on-line classes, computers are definitely influential in our lives, and can enhance the learning process in schools in various ways. With the increasing popularity of computer technology, it is essential for administrators to support and encourage computer technology in our education systems.

Origin of the report

This report originates to fulfill the requirement of studying Introduction to Sociology, is a course of BBA Program, University of Information Technology & Sciences. The topic of the report is Impact of Information Technology on University Students.

Limitations of the study

The study on Impact of Information Technology on University Students is a very comprehensive and extensive task. During the time of preparing this report we have been faced many problem. These are follows: The time frame fixed for preparing the report was really hard to be met. As a result, sufficient concentration could not be given which was needed for much better study. We are very much sorry not provide enough information due to lack of information. To prepare this report we have faced a lot of problems such as unavailability of lab, electricity problem, unavailability of related books, lack of time, unavailability of information in net etc.

What is Information Technology?

Information technology (IT) is concerned with technology to treat information. The acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications are its main fields.

Information Technology: Information Technology or IT mainly deals with computer applications. The common work environment today is totally dependent on computers. This has led to the need to develop and consistently upgrade dedicated computer software like project management software, for a number of related requirements. These include storage and protection of content, processing and transmitting of dedicated information and the secured retrieval of information, when and as required. IT promotes computing technology, covering everything from installing applications to developing databases.

Why is Information Technology Important:

All our work related applications are now completely automated, thanks to the IT sector. IT professionals are people involved in essential management of sensitive data, exclusive computer networking and systems-engineering. The advancement of the IT sector has resulted in automated:

Administration of entire systems. Production and manipulation of sensitive information. Cultural development and communication. Streamlining of business processes and timely upgrades.

The combination of education and technology has been considered the main key to human progress. Education feeds technology which in turn forms the basis of education. It is therefore evident that information technology has affected changes to the methods, purpose and perceived potential of education.

What and why of Information Technology in University? A digital computer is an electronic machine and a very powerful tool in information processing. The computer can well store, retrieve, analyses and synthesize data or raw information received from various sources to produce meaningful information necessary in making decisions and solving problems. It has become easy to obtain information about our bank and insurance accounts, train and airline reservations through computerized systems. Several special effects are created in electronic music and watch television programs. Computerized zerox machines, washing machines, digital watches and the like are familiar to nearly all of us. We are also aware of all of the factories in which computer controlled robots perform various mechanical operations and space programs which are heavily dependent on the new technologies. These are just a few examples of the kind of changes which have offered in our society in recent years and the rate of change is only going to rise in the years to come. To match the new realities of todays sophisticated technology, there is a pressing need to develop new skills to make the most of the new technology that

is available to us. The costs of introducing and using these new techniques, providing the necessary equipment, and training people in their use have to be set against the old methods of operation and the social consequences of making the changes. The children in our schools were born in this era of change. They cannot see anything strange in these novel approaches. The curriculum for all pupils in schools will have to place emphasis on technological change and its implications. Such a curriculum should ensure that all students are able to use technology to communicate effectively with and through the computer as well as appreciate its role. The information revolution of the twentieth century which has been brought about by advances in the computer technology has created an information society in which a majority of the labor force is expected to hold information-related jobs. Ignorance about computers will rather render people functionally illiterate as does ignorance of reading, writing and arithmetic. This means that our society will depend heavily on information technology in many areas of work and personal life. Hence, the new task of our schools is to familiarize pupils with applications of computers. A computer literate has an aid to problem solving in a variety of disciplines. This familiarity essentially involves an understanding of the use of facilities such as word processing, screen reading and the effective usage of files and data. It also demands a limited comprehension of keyboard skills. Under this, keeping with the marching pace towards the promotion of literacy, the idea of providing knowledge about computers in schools was put into practise in the country through a pilot project called CLASS, (Computer Literacy and Studies in Schools) in 1984, by the Government of India as a joint venture of the Ministry Of Human Resource Development and the Department of Electronics.

A Study on Development of IT SCENARIO in University:

It may sound farfetched but the tests have revealed that it is more or less the true explanation that these systems offer plenty of scope for expansion in terms of the expertise contained in it, as also using more sophisticated mechanism to incorporate advanced concepts such as machine learning. Also in this domain the level of complexity of the system has risen up to the advanced levels of testing. A point which come to ponder over the introduction of this HI-TECH concept in the field of academics, is of the limitation of its being to the objective system only. This again becomes tiresome for the subjective

brand of system where every level of the answer is ranked in a different manner independent of any particular answer, which can be fed into the machine. The quality in this direction is highlighted with the quick declaration of results, regularization of sessions and all in all bringing out overall satisfaction of the students and the parents. This further brings the profitable aspect of the organization in long run as more and more fame is gathered for the same and the rush of admissions produce more revenue monetarily bringing boon the education industry at large. The capacity of any institution entirely depends upon the efficiency of the office staff working in within. Keeping this view in regard, it is one of the concerns of the management to give prime importance at times. In any organization, the quality of work undertaken entirely depends upon the speedy conduct with the strong guiding motivation of the BOSS. But unfortunately, this has lagged far behind due to the increasing level of work load over the years to be conducted through the old tools like carbon, pencil, ruler and the hard key typewriters. Now, with the march of time, the very business environment has changed faster than ever before. The increased competition among organizations has led to the reappraisal of accepted business practices for higher efficiency. The attempts are being made to meet the competitive threat by reducing cost by rationalizing production, shedding labor and restructuring business. These are complemented with investment in technology to improve productivity. But the huge bulk of commercial documents generated by companies in the trading cycle still remain locked in slow, antiquated paperbound processes. Documents produced by one computer are printed and posted, only to be entered into the recipients computer - a time consuming, error prone and costly experience of exercise, estimated between 4% AND 7% of the value of the goods traded. According to the principle of Electronic Data Interchange, a sending computer, usually located at a customers premises, uses telecommunications technology to transfer orders data instantly to the receiving computer, usually located at the suppliers distribution centre. The received order data is then manipulated and formatted to match the order entry files in the order data base of the supplier. Next, the information is transferred into other database, with the generation of any appropriate error messages and/ or exceptions reports. This technology can be very rightly applied to the transmittal of any business forms, including invoices and purchases orders.

Impact of Information Technology on University Students

Changes to learning Being able to access large databases of information fundamentally changes education, since learners can now be creators and collaborators in the access and construction of discourses of information. Due to their technological literacy, young people can derive cultural capital from their understanding of modern information technologies, and thereby have input into educational change. The same technology also facilitates the rapid exchange of information by researchers on specific topics, so that the speed of the distribution of information is greatly increased. The increased access to huge amounts of data means students need help selecting, evaluating and analyzing information, and they need to learn how to determine the currency, validity and veracity of the information itself. All of these changes in learning have implications for teaching practice as well. Self-paced Learning Due to time constraints teachers can not ensure that all learners are able to understand a module or lesson before moving on to the next stage. With the aid of computers, learners can study at their own pace. Learners are given access to both interactive and noninteractive learning instructional materials, computers become the tutors and learners are able to go review the learning materials as many times as possible until they are able to gain understanding. Removing the Barriers of Distance, Time and Cost

Far and above traditional distant learning, Information technology provides enhanced

distant education. Learning can take place in many ways without physical contact, anywhere and anytime. Thanks to IT, people can earn a degree or qualification in universities and colleges of choice without the need to travel, thereby cutting down on cost and time. University or colleges awarding a degree/qualification can be located in almost any country in the world with Internet access. Students can access their institutions Intranet from home and download study and session materials. Adults are given another opportunity to go for higher education whilst they are working, or to improve on their professional qualifications. Women do not have to leave their young children to attend colleges or earn a degree; this can be done from home. Students who ordinarily may have been unable to attend college or university due to certain disabilities have the opportunity to do so with the aid of assistive technologies. Wide Variety of Learning Tools

Teaching and learning can be achieved through a wide range of technologies and these have continued to grow very rapidly. Delivery technologies include video and audio tapes, Television broadcasts, emails, discussion boards, online chat rooms, pod casting, video casting, virtual classrooms, teleconferencing or videoconferencing and similar applications of software and hardware. Instructional materials can also be downloaded from the Internet, Intranet or Extranet painlessly. The use of these tools makes learning more interesting and encourages collaboration among learners and teachers. It is not uncommon to use social networking sites as e-learning tools. Examples of social communication tools that are commonly used for e-learning are blogs, Skpe, Facebook, Wikis, Twitter, Ning, Filkr and You-Tube Also, due to the fact that students have a wide variety of learning technologies at their disposal, they can decide to use a mode of learning that best suit their learning styles.

Easy Access to External Resources

With the advent of Information technology, doing research or self study has never been made easier. Students, teachers and researchers have easy access to general resources such as e-libraries, online dictionaries, thesaurus, research sites and reference books. The World Wide Web itself is a network full of free and accessible information.

Connectivity

By using information technology, teachers and students are more connected in and out of the classroom. For example, Seton Hill University's program "The Griffin Technology Advantage," which supplies each student with a laptop and a tablet computer for school and personal use, aims to encourage "creative literacy"

By connecting students and staff to a wider community outside of school, along with allowing students to work with a technology they may very well need in the workforce.

Lessons

Information technology provides teachers an endless choice of multimedia, software, applications and devices with which to create more exciting, interactive lessons. The traditional lecture-based lesson, while effective to a point, does not stimulate every type of learner. By adding a dimension to their lessons, teachers have the opportunity to engage more students and lead a more involved, energetic class.

Information Technology and the purpose of University education While education in the past has been centered on teaching and learning, information technology has affected changes to the aims of education, therefore now education is increasingly perceived as the process of creating, preserving, integrating, transmitting and applying knowledge. The perceptions of knowledge itself have also changed whereas knowledge could once have been perceived as unchanging, it should now be perceived as revisionary, creative, personal and pluralistic. The future of education is not predetermined by modern information technology, but rather that this future will hinge prominently on how we construct (and construe) the place of technology in the education process. We are moving from just-in-case education to just-for-you education where education is targeted to meet the needs of individual students.

Information Technology and the potential of education Information technology frees education institutions from the constraints of space and time, and enables the delivery of education services anywhere,anytime. Therefore we can foresee a future where physical libraries would be replaced by digital libraries available to anyone; and that scholars could cease to be located around a geographical focus and will probably become increasingly located around a specialization, but physically located anywhere in the world. We could also imagine a day when modern technology will enable students in a given location to access the best of teachers in a given field and to interact with them, whether live or via video.

Changing the educational institution The sheer scope of change underway in communication technology, with changes to the methodology, and modes of education suggests that the educational institution itself may need to be revised at the organizational level as well. Therefore we could foresee a future of increased competition and alliances in which education institutions avoid monolithic approaches to education, and embrace more strategic and collaborative approaches.

Advantages of Information Technology in University Students education

Easy to use and has a step by step technology which guides students through using Wiki. Students are able to develop communication skills develop communication skills within class using the computer Wiki products are immediate so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update information. Anyone can edit and it is easy to use and follow. This gives students the potential for being authors, not just researchers. It provides opportunities for "active-learning" activities in the classroom. People located in different parts of the world can work on the same document and add their own parts. This builds a community of learners. Teachers can view recent changes on the students Wiki spaces which assists the assessment processes. Widens access to the power of web publishing to non-technical users Wiki has no prearranged structure - it is a flexible tool which can be used for a wide variety of applications. There is a wide choice of open source software Wiki's to choose from so licensing costs make it more affordable (to installing an institutional Wiki). As Paul Fuller was heard to say in his keynote address at the St Helena's Catholic Primary School ICT day (2007), we live in an age of "DIGITAL NATIVES" (our young generation who have grown up with ICT surrounding them) and "DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS" (the older generation who are these children's teachers! To teach the digital natives we need to talk in a language they understand, and ICT is not the way of the future, it is here, now. Using wiki products, weblogs, and other Information Communication Technology engages students more because it is in "their language", that of the digital natives.

Disadvantages
Advantages in one context, may be disadvantages in another.

Anyone can edit so this may be too open for some applications, for example confidential documentation. However it is possible to regulate user access. Students become easily distracted and use the computers for purposes other than course-related activities. Open to SPAM and Vandalism if not managed properly. There are easy ways to restore a page however, and on Wiki Educator you must be logged in to edit pages so this reduces vandalism by automated spam bots. Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate, but technologies to produce print versions of articles are improving. The flexibility of a wiki's structure can mean that information can become disorganized. As a wiki grows, the community plans and administers the structure collaboratively. Are you building a freely editable and public wiki, or do you need to be conscious of privacy and security? There can also be issues of legal liability and risk to reputation, particularly if you publish to the web. Options such as a moderated wiki format, user agreements, and locking some pages from public view can offer protection.