ICT is the short form of three basic terms—Information, Communication and Technology. The representation of data in a meaningful way is called Information.
For example, Muskan is a student of Class IX of the Government School, Tajpur. She is 14 years old and is a Table Tennis player. Her hobbies include singing, drawing, reading, dancing, gardening, etc. This is the description about Muskan available in her profile at school. Based on this information, Muskan's teacher selected her to participate in an inter‑school poster making competition‑on “Dance forms of India”. Thus information (meaningful data) can help in decision‑making also. The term communication may be referred as imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. In other words, it may be referred as conveying your feelings, thoughts and emotions in any verbal and non-verbal medium. Any communication has four essential elements, namely ‘sender’, ‘message’, ‘medium’ and ‘receiver’. When all four elements are in sync with each other in terms of sequence, relevance, appropriateness, etc., then communication becomes effective. Analyse the elements of communication followed when Muskan shared the video of experiment she recorded.
Technology refers to methods, systems and devices, which are a result of scientific knowledge, being used for practical purposes. For example, Muskan went to an excursion to Bhubaneswar and visited the State Museum. She saw various mineral ores in the mineral section of the museum. She decided to capture photographs to share with others who may not have seen the ores. She borrowed her teacher’s mobile and clicked pictures of the rare collection. She shared all the pictures on her blog along with a description of the ores. Many viewers commented and appreciated Muskan for sharing those pictures and description.
Technology can be used for creation and communication of information. The term Information and Communication Technology (ICT) includes various forms of technologies that are used to create, display, store, process, transmit, share or exchange information by electronic means (UNESCO 2007). Such a discipline which deals in the creation and communication of information is called ICT.
Radio, television, and print media (Newspaper, Books, Magazines, etc.) are the popular technologies used for communication. The digital revolution has transformed the way these traditional technologies function. For example, analog television has become digital television. In addition to printed newspapers now we also have their electronic versions. Along with traditional radio, we also have online radio.
