Chapter 1 · Information and Communication Technology: World and Bangladesh Perspective
Information and Communication Technology · Classes 11-12 · Chapter 1 · 1.1.3 to 1.1.5
Education, Medical Facilities and Research.
A doctor on a phone screen, a class on a laptop, research papers from across the world read at home. None of this was easy once. This note looks at three parts of the global village, education, medical care and research, and how ICT has changed each of them.
1. Education: the classroom on a screen
Education is a vital part of the global village. Proper education makes a person aware of society and environment, a freethinker and a compassionate global citizen. ICT is a very powerful tool for spreading it, and it works in both formal (institutional) and informal (casual) learning.
Thanks to e-books, anyone can get a textbook free or cheaply. Every NCTB textbook can be downloaded as an e-book from the board's website. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, most schools, colleges and universities taught online, and teachers took live classes on apps such as Google Meet, WebEx, Facebook Messenger, imo, Skype, WhatsApp and Zoom.
E-learning is delivering education through electronic mediums and online services such as the computer, the internet and the web, instead of the usual classroom. Teacher and student can be anywhere and still teach and learn interactively. It is mostly used in selected online courses, degrees and programs.
Teaching a huge number of people at once is its strength. But the teacher is not physically present, and that keeps many countries from adopting it wholeheartedly. For training officials and employees of development bodies and corporate organisations, though, it is very effective. Sort six chips into the advantage and drawback bins.
sort themPlace each chip in the right bin.
Two sides of e-learning
Pick up a chip, then drop it in a bin.
Right. Next one.
Not yet. Ask yourself: does the book count this as a strength of e-learning, or as what holds it back?
All in place. Advantages: many students at once, from any location, interactive, and very effective for training staff. Drawback: the teacher's physical absence, and the lack of the human element is just another way of saying it. This is why many countries have not fully adopted it.
2. Medical care: the doctor at the doorstep
Many remote parts of the world have no hospitals, no medical facilities and no good roads. Telemedicine plays a vital role in bringing healthcare to the people there. Telemedicine means giving remote patients healthcare from specialist doctors through ICT. Its aim: bring healthcare to the doorsteps of the people.
In Bangladesh, hospitals at ward, union and upazila level have started giving care through teleconference and video conference. Test reports sent by email make diagnosis easier. Before a complicated diagnosis or operation, a doctor can consult a more experienced specialist over video conferencing.
Board questions ask: a telemedicine service needs specialist doctors, a diagnosis centre and a specialised network.
Run a telemedicine call and see how care reaches the patient. Then take away one of the three pieces and run it again.
run the callremove one
The doctor at the doorstep
The order of the steps is arranged for teaching; the book names them separately, not as a numbered list.
Websites that provide telemedicine online include Teladoc, Maven Clinic, iCliniq, MDlive, Amwell and Doctor on Demand. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, every country kept certain hotline numbers open round the clock, and doctors gave telemedicine through them all the time.
Correct diagnosis is the first step to proper treatment, and artificial intelligence now makes precise diagnosis possible. In an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system a database holds all of a patient's information, and the patient can get reports and prescriptions from anywhere. Software for this includes Therapy Notes, Epic care, Next Gen Ambulatory EHR and Care 360. Look at a name, say its kind first, then tap to check.
spot themRecall the book's two lists.
Which kind is it?
Teladoc. A telemedicine website. In the book's list of telemedicine websites.
Epic care. EHR software. It is EHR software, not a telemedicine site.
MDlive. A telemedicine website. In the book's list of telemedicine websites.
Therapy Notes. EHR software. The book lists it as software for keeping patient records.
iCliniq. A telemedicine website. In the book's list of telemedicine websites.
Care 360. EHR software. The book lists it as software for keeping patient records.
Amwell. A telemedicine website. In the book's list of telemedicine websites.
Next Gen Ambulatory EHR. EHR software. The book lists it as software for keeping patient records.
All seen. Four names are EHR software, the rest are telemedicine sites.
3. Research: IT at every step
Research is the process of using creative thinking, data and talent to enrich the world's stock of knowledge. It is one of the main prerequisites of development. Developed countries spend huge budgets on it, so it is an integral part of the global village.
Information technology serves every step of research: storing and processing data, complex calculations, simulations, operating and controlling machinery, and collecting data.
Journals and patents were once hard to get, and that was the biggest obstacle to research. Now almost every journal is published online as an e-journal, and much of the patent database is open. When research is published on a website or blog, other researchers can scrutinise the results and the accuracy of the data, and research moves faster. Flip five cards: a problem on the front, the IT answer on the back.
problem and answerFlip to see what IT does.
Research problem, IT answer
ProblemJournals and patents are hard to get
IT answerE-journals and open patent databases
ProblemChecking other researchers' results
IT answerPublishing on websites and blogs
ProblemComplex calculation and imitating an experiment
IT answerComputer simulation
ProblemRunning instruments and gathering data
IT answerControl through information technology
ProblemDiscussing with distant researchers
IT answerInternet communication, conferences and seminars
4. Check yourself
Three questions in the exam's style. Start with the first.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 1
What is it called to run educational activities online through mutual interaction?
The book has no method called e-study; running education online through electronic means is called e-learning.
Right. Running education online with electronic media such as computers, the internet and the web instead of a traditional classroom is e-learning.
The book has no method called on-learning; the proper name is e-learning.
An interactive class is just a feature of e-learning; the name of the method is e-learning.
Think the second one through.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 2
In what form can NCTB textbooks be downloaded from the board's website?
An e-journal is a research paper published online, not the form of a textbook.
E-learning is the name of a teaching method, not a download format.
Right. All textbooks can be downloaded from the board's website as e-books.
The book names e-book as the download form, not e-text.
Read the last one carefully.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 3
Which is one limitation of e-learning?
Right. Because the teacher is physically absent, many countries have not accepted e-learning wholeheartedly.
That is a strength of e-learning: many students can be taught at once.
This is a benefit: teachers and students can work from any location.
This is a benefit: lessons are completed interactively in e-learning.
The whole note on seven cards.
cut from the notetap to turn over
Seven cards
QuestionWhat is e-learning?
AnswerDelivering education online between teachers and students using electronic mediums such as the computer, internet and web, instead of a traditional classroom.
QuestionName a drawback of e-learning.
AnswerThe teacher's physical absence (lack of the human element), so many countries have not fully adopted it.
QuestionWhat is telemedicine?
AnswerGiving treatment to remote patients by expert doctors through information and communication technology.
QuestionHow can a doctor consult a specialist before a complicated operation?
AnswerThrough video conferencing.
QuestionWhat does EHR stand for and what does it hold?
AnswerElectronic Health Record; a database keeping all of a patient's information.
QuestionWhat is research?
AnswerThe process of using creative thinking, data and talent to enrich the world's knowledge base.
QuestionWhat is an online-published research journal called?
AnswerAn e-journal.
Source: Information and Communication Technology, Classes 11-12 (NCTB), Chapter 1 “Information and Communication Technology: World and Bangladesh Perspective”, section 1.1.3 to 1.1.5.