Why study AS ICT? 

What is it about?

AS topics 

Unit 1: Practical Problem Solving in the Digital World. 

The first unit is based around a range of problem solving tasks such as the need for websites, multimedia, invoicing systems, podcasting, blogs etc. 

Unit 2: Living in the Digital World: 

Covers the environmental, cultural, economic, legal and ethical issues surrounding ICT in the modern world. It is designed to give students an idea of the bigger picture e.g. why is ICT used, is it appropriate, what could future development look like, how does it affect society.

A2 topics 

Unit 3: The Use of ICT in the Digital World:

A theoretical and academic study of issues associated with the management of ICT and its uses within 

Organisations. A range of public and private companies is covered from small to large-scale businesses. 

Unit 4: Practical Issues Involved in the Use of ICT in the Digital World:

A coursework unit that follows the typical structure of a real world IT projects where students investigate, analyse, design, build, implement, test and document an IT system of their choice. The product can be anything ranging from a website, training materials, database, multimedia or a spreadsheet.

Why I have chosen to do AS ICT

Information communication technology has played a large role in my life; from when I was younger the first technological thing I was given was an old computer that used floppy disks. From this point on computers have always been at my side whether it may be my phone or my desktop computer at home. I have also had a large influence from my Dad about computers as he himself is a computer business manager for a large company. He works with computers every waking hour of the day so naturally I will have been attracted to them. I believe my future career will include computers in some sort of way. Entrepreneurship is also an option as I am taking business as an A level; this complements  ICT, as most business is transacted through computers, via eBay, Amazon etc. Computers are going to play a massive part in the near future so if I had chosen any other courses it would be quite a waste of chance and my Dads expertise with computers will be wasted as well. 

How ICT skills are going to benefit me in the future?

The world that we live in now is hugely affected by technology such as: the internet, mobile networking and personal computers. All of these technologies have molded the world we live in and in the future these things are just going to get more and more advanced, so if you do not understand how to work computers, phones e.t.c then you will be left behind. This is why I want and need these skills for the future as most companies will decline your application if you don’t have the skills to work with computers. As I said before IT has played a very large role in my childhood, whether it is playing video games or learning how to write code and I wish to keep on learning new things in the ICT world for many years to come.

Is ICT good for the planet

Is ICT good for the planet?

I believe ICT benefits and causes problems to the planet. To begin with if we did not have ICT it would be almost impossible to discover and use sustainable sources of energy, like wind-turbines and solar panels, for example wind turbines are computer controlled. One function the computer controls is where the wind turbine is facing, it monitors which way the wind arriving from so that the turbine can create be the most effective in certain conditions.

Fossil fuels are inevitably going to run out so finding a source like we have is key and without ICT we would not have created this.

However, ICT has its drawbacks. Of course it produces pollution (quite a lot if you think about it). The manufacturing of the product, which requires mined materials, like copper, to be pieced together. Whatever is used to mine this raw material will most likely use fossil fuels, creating pollution. Then when the product has been made it has to shipped off to stores or even other countries to be sold which then uses more fossil fuels, When it is then finally running it is using power which is most likely going to come from power stations. One final drawback to ICT is that once you have finished with it or it malfunctions and cannot be used anymore, what do people generally do, they throw it in the bin never to be used again. This links into environmental factors as well because these computer parts, phones vending machines etc. will be rubbish and harmful chemicals such as lead arsenic and cadmium, but something has changed about that and many disused technological parts are being recycled to be made into more computer parts, so it is not all bad.  

  

Wind turbine plantation. 

Sustainable and environmental effects of technology have to be considered when making a product. Sustainable implies environmental, social and economical performance. This is key for companies who are making products, they need to think about these three things to create a profit, not only to get past the regulatory rules for making these items then they need to think about the longevity of the products life time. If we continue to advance in the technological world as we are then products will only have a short life span where it is popular to the public (where sales are high), and by then the company may have brought another product to replace it.

Take apple for example, every year they produce a new iPhone, and every year the product is better, higher resolution etc, and every year the old outdated phones go into land fills and this growth could be a large problem, as we will exhaust all of the resources needed to make this product. Then the pollution with last year’s product is the icing on the cake.

The rate at which we develop our technology is very fast and new technologies are going to be made. In the near future I hope that we will find better source of electricity than solar, wind or nuclear so that our lives can continue the way we want without having the issue of finding power.

There is also one final issue with electronic products and not only Apple do this, all of this big corporations have to have people piecing together the parts of the technology, they may have to get to the factory by traveling and then there is costs to that. Overall everything in products life cycle will produce pollution and there is not really much we can do to stop that.

 In conclusion I believe ICT is good for the planet, but only if we manage its pollution output and carbon footprint when we make the initial designs. Looking at the whole life of an electronic product through to its recycle and reuse segment at the concept stage will tackle the question of sustainable and environmental impacts.  

 References

Source one- http://www.sustainability-perspectives.com/perspective/sustainability-and-ict#article-more

Source two- https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/how-windmills-work