Pros and Cons of Communication and Information Technology

Introduction

“You can’t deny that technology helps us work smarter. It can decrease labour needs and costs by providing greater access to information…”. In this pros and cons of technology essay I would hope to discuss both positive and negative effects of communication and information technology on the world we live in today on social, vocational and personal aspects. 

Personal

Pros

For personal use technology can be a huge help for people, it allows us to easily communicate with family and friends and especially those that are living abroad, it saves you time in your everyday life as you can easily check your bank online and transfer money within a click of a button. You can also order your shopping online and decide what time you want it delivered at and it is dropped straight to our door. It allows some teenagers to have celebrity interactions, it is easier to keep up to date with a celebrity’s life through the likes of twitter or Instagram and if you are lucky you might even get a reply off them to a message you sent. For people that have family abroad in a country that is prone to natural disasters, social media can be crucial. In the event of an earthquake or flood the first place you will see it is on social media, normally on news pages on Facebook or Twitter. When you move country or set up your Facebook they will always ask from your location, if you live in a place with many natural disasters after every disaster Facebook will send you a notification and you get the option to mark yourself as safe if you are. This then sends a notification to all you Facebook friends and family letting them know you are safe. This small notification can save a lot of worry and stress for family members who heard of a natural disaster and have not heard from their loved one, this sends out a notification to everyone you know with the click of one button. “Mark Yourself Safe: Quickly reassure friends and family by marking yourself safe”.

Cons

The most concerning disadvantages of communication information and technology would be the cyberbullying and addiction. The addiction to social media and your phone can be just as serious as the addiction to drugs. “The average smartphone user checks their phone almost 100 times throughout the day. This can lead to young people having a strong dependency on their mobile phones which have also become a representation of your social statues which leaves teenagers feeling pressured to own the newest release or model. ‘Nomophobia’ is an actual fear of being without one’s cell phone. This year in a survey carried out in America, 92% of Americans believed they had an addiction to their smartphones. With 60% of them also tapping, touching or swiping their phone up to 2,617 times per day. Teenagers are finding it harder and harder to socialise with one another on a face-to-face basis because they are so used to doing everything through their phones. Being addicted to your phone can lead to increased stress, lack of sleep, you are more prone to accidents as you will be too busy looking at your phone and most importantly your communication skills would be extremely below average in terms of human interaction.

Social

Pros

In recent years secondary and even some primary classes are known to have an iPad or laptop in the classroom to aid students learning. In most secondary schools nowadays the use of iPad is extremely encouraged over books, this is due to schoolbags being so heavy with the number of books the students must carry every day and it is also said to be cheaper. “…Wriggle – one of the largest firms supplying iPads to schools – manages up to 40,000 devices for students…”. In many schools there is also an interactive white board that you can write on without a physical marker or eraser, it is controlled using an app online, this can help the students by teaching them how to use technology in a useful manner. Technology has also given the chance for people with disabilities to attend school using telepresence robots, these are simply Wi-Fi enabled iPad or tablet that is placed on two wheels that can be controlled using a telephone. This has been a great help to Denmark student Yusuf who has a long-term physical illness which impairs his ability to travel to school, but now he navigates his robot from class to class with the aid of his telephone and will no longer miss out on classes. “With the Beam brand, all you need to do is just install a piece of software which turns on the robot and he can see and hear everything that goes on in class, and they too, can see and hear him”.

Cons

Throughout the major growth of technology in recent years the growth of cyber bullying has also occurred. social platforms such as snapchat and twitter and Facebook are mainly used by young teenagers, having the latest update and the latest phone is a new craze amongst teenagers. Cyberbullying mainly occurs over apps, snapchat being the main target. Cyberbullying includes sending threatening or mean messages to somebody else, they may also send pictures or voice messages. The main reason cyberbullying occurs over social media apps is because in many cases it cant be traced, anybody can make a fake profile with a made up name and remain completely anonymous “According to a study by Rider University’s Department of Psychology, the anonymity provided by cyberspace allows people to do and say things they would never do otherwise”. There are many organisations that help with cyber bullying but normally the victim is afraid to tell anyone they are being bullied and eventually will end up with depression or suicidal thoughts. Cyberbullying has had a massive impact on teenage suicides in recent years “Current research suggests that suicide ideation and attempts among adolescents have nearly doubled since 2008…”. Many young people are afraid to speak out in fear of it getting worse and instead they take their own life. The age limit on social media needs to be stricter in order to lower the suicide rates in teens.

Vocational

Pros

There have been massive changes in the Emergency services in recent years the guards have updated their technology to easily show information on a car by taking a photograph of the registration, the ambulances have now been fitted with a tracking device to show exactly where they are in order to keep the callers updated on the time of arrival. Hospitals have had the most major change in recent years, with them completely changing to electronics. Every patient’s health records have now been replaced from paper records to electronic health records. This also means that every nurse and member of staff in the hospital will have to learn how to use the new technology and how to input all the information correctly. Moving from paper to electronical health records reduces the cost of outpatient care by 3% this will be a $5.14 saving per patients each month. Computer storage protects against the loss of sensitive date as it has strong backup and recovery services.

There have been healthcare applications developed in recent years to create better health awareness and facilitate communication between patients and healthcare providers, these apps can show you’re your personal healthcare records, fitness and weight loss and diagnostics. “Despite the obvious concerns (and even dangers), the importance of technology in healthcare means that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages”.

Cons

When you are in hospital your prime concern is your safety, and safety in hospitals is generally good with the likes of bodyguards and locked doors. What people don’t think about is the safety of your personal records, the illnesses you’ve had and the results of all your blood tests etc. with the change from paper copies to digital folders there is a major concern with the safety of them files. By putting files online, you are making them available to hackers, while there is backup files and passwords on a computer it cannot stopped it being hacked by a professional. Paper records were usually kept locked in a doctor’s office or warehouse but with computers once it has a WIFI source it is vulnerable to hacking. “experts say health care-record hacking is skyrocketing — up 11,000 percent last year alone.” Many of the records stolen show up on the ‘dark web’ or have been used to bribe the patient into paying for it back, majority of the patients are unaware their files have been stolen. Criminals can use these files to order prescriptions and pay for treatments or surgery.

Conclusion 

The use and dependence on technology today has change drastically in recent years with some even becoming addicted to their mobile phones or computers. The use of communication and information technology has drastically changed businesses and manufacturing companies and has led us to create more extremely useful machinery. It has led to great advances in the hospital setting and new machinery for patients.

Bibliography

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• MeganMeier, 2018. meganmeierfoundation.org. [Online] Available at: https://meganmeierfoundation.org/statistics
• O'Brien, C., 2019. www.irishtimes.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/parents-refuse-to-buy-ipads-for-pupils-over-screen-time-fears-1.3910155
• Regoli, N., 2019. vittana.org. [Online] Available at: https://vittana.org/12-pros-and-cons-of-technology
• Segeran, s., 2019. www.studyinternational.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.studyinternational.com/news/how-schools-can-use-technology-to-help-students-with-disabilities/
• Trulioo, 2013. www.trulioo.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.trulioo.com/blog/invisible-online-how-anonymity-affects-cyberbullying/