Communicating with and through ICT

Communication is now literally at the centre of information technology. Since the Stephenson Report in 1996 and the national superhighways’ initiative (Df EE, 1997a) communication was added to IT to make it ICT. The intention of the change was to reflect the revolution that has started in the way that we communicate and in the way that computers and other information technologies exchange information with each other. The pace of change is rapid in this area. We are starting to see more integration of different technologies such as mobile phones and computers, and it is difficult to predict how these changes will offer opportunities in schools to develop learning and teaching. ICT can be used as a medium of communication where it transmits and exchanges text, pictures and sound through the computer (such as e-mail or videoconferencing) or where the technology is used to enhance aspects of presentation such as displaying text on screen (or to be printed out) where you are communicating with ICT.