Information Technology is the practical utilization of scientific knowledge to address daily issues. Technology has played a significant role in shaping our current society and the civilization of the future since its invention (Murphie & Potts, 2017). Considering how quickly technology is still developing, it is almost impossible to live without it. There are many industries where technology is used, including industry, agriculture, and communication. There are a lot of benefits and drawbacks to using technology. This article thus covers these aspects and how they impact our lives m.
Advantages of Information Technology
Easy access to communication and information.
Several tools have been developed to improve people’s connectedness in various locations. Technology is the most recent type of communication via which businesses carry out their public relations and marketing plans. As a result, communication across borders is now possible thanks to tools like email, phone and video conversations, text messages, and teleconferencing. Even if some people would like it to be more frequent, business nowadays rarely involves meetings. Teleconferences, emails, and text messaging have replaced circumstances where people once had to travel to other continents on business.
Traditional media communication has changed due to rapid innovation and the adoption of new technologies. Media outlets that are no longer relevant use outdated technology for news dissemination. People have installed several social media websites on their mobile phones, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to make sure they receive information as-is in the smallest amount of time (Acemoglu & Restrepo, 2018). Additionally, many businesses have been able to advertise their services on well-known social media platforms through communication.
In terms of technology, communication has been greatly impacted. The use of pictographs was initially encouraged to improve written communication. Because one could not move around with stones, the writings on the stones were static. After that, the creation of paper, wax, and papyrus brought about the invention of the printing press. In the fifteenth century, when documents could be sent from one place to another, a single language could be spoken everywhere. The most recent advancement has been in electrical technology. To communicate with other people, people use signals and waves. Therefore, the World Wide Web has improved the movement of papers to numerous locations.
Improved Education System
Nearly every industry has been touched by technology, and education is no different. Because people need various options for sharing and collecting, there is a growth in education and technological need. School districts throughout the world have committed themselves to raising student performance. As a result, many organizations have thought about using technology to help them achieve their objectives. Students today have more options than 20 years ago regarding how they can learn (Ram et al., 2020). In rich and emerging nations, there are a lot of unskilled teachers, which has made it necessary to use technology to expand the scope of education. There are many different ways that technology has helped to advance education.
The open-source movement is a technology tool that has significantly enhanced education. Open-source resources have been included in the practices of prestigious universities like Harvard and Khan Academy. By giving both sides an equal chance, this strategy narrows the gap between the rich and the poor. It encourages people to get educated on their own. Consequently, everyone in the world stands to gain. Second, there has been a big impact on international education. A few websites have been created to ensure students can connect with native speakers of other nations in multiple languages. Video conferencing and group discussion are helpful in these lessons. It gives pupils the chance to experience different cultures. As a result, technology supports education.
Many educational institutions have promoted active learning in previous decades. When a professor gives each student a task to complete—such as reading a chapter or conducting research—before the class meeting, this is an example of active learning. The lecturer engages the students in class by asking them questions to determine how readable they are. Speculatively, the research is sourced from the internet, which is impacted by technology (Moraes, 2023). One notable example of this is educational access. E-books, audiobooks, and video tutorials make education convenient on the internet.
Enhanced healthcare
It must be contended that technology has enhanced human life in healthcare. This resulted from the development of X-ray machines and sophisticated surgical techniques. As society moves deeper into the twenty-first century, more technological advancements are being made to enhance life quality and prevent disease. Numerous technical advancements have been made due to the ongoing advancements in healthcare to preserve human lives. Additionally, technology has had a significant impact on healthcare professionals in addition to improving the lives of patients and their families.
There have been lots of advancements made to health records. One of the major developments in healthcare has been substituting electronic health records for paper ones. The creation of such inventions has impacted registered nurses, medical billing professionals, coding specialists, medical assistants, medical records, and health information technicians. Medical technicians and nurses must enter data about patients, including height, weight, test results, and vital signs, into a centralized digital system (Ge et al., 2018). On the other hand, medical billers and coding specialists can make appointments, update the website, and add diagnostic codes to patient data. The technology also allows workers and patients to lodge concerns about specific aspects of the healthcare institution.
Consequently, systems have improved patient care thanks to technology. Any medical facility can access the system, alerting doctors to potential problems like allergies or intolerances to specific medications. It is also helpful for doctors to review medical records, especially for unconscious patients. One of the biggest advancements in healthcare is the electronic health record. As a result, it has contributed to better public health. Clinical researchers can benefit greatly from the data the EHR offers. Creating novel remedies for prevalent health issues advances medical knowledge for the healthcare community.
Disadvantages of Information Technology
Dependency
Though there are many technological advantages, there are also a few drawbacks. First off, there needs to be more reliance on technology. The majority of people rely on technology to handle everything. As a result, they are helpless if one of the devices malfunctions. When machines malfunction, experts are left waiting for the devices to be fixed because no backup plans are available. Humans have been creating many technologies throughout history that enable a simplified and improved way of living. Technology development aims to ensure that tasks take the least time possible and that efficiency is attained (Reiman, 2017). Since social networking platforms have been developed, it has been found that people are spending their time posting and making acquaintances. Additionally, certain sociocultural traditions frequently disappear as a result of new technologies.
Incompetency
In addition, humans’ levels of competence have declined. Humans are less capable of doing their jobs now that they depend more on technology. People rely heavily on machines, whose intelligence and inventiveness have been diminished. For instance, although humans can perform some computations manually, they now prefer calculators. The world has become inept as a result of such events.
Increasing Unemployment
Unemployment rates are high as a result of technology. The ability of machines to take over and perform equivalent tasks has reduced the value of humans to businesses. These devices are preferable to people because they are faster and more efficient (Widarni & Prestianawati, 2020). As a result, more people are turning to crime or living in poverty, increasing unemployment.
Addiction
Finally, most of today’s time is spent on social media platforms, cutting-edge technology, and online gaming. This takes up more time because people need to connect with those around them more and instead spend much of their time in the virtual world. Additionally, it increases the risk of severe illnesses, including cancer and obesity. Today’s youth also lost the ability to go out and mix with other friends to start a social circle.
Conclusion
Technology usage should be kept to a level. However, there are a lot of benefits to living in a technologically advanced environment. First, information is widely accessible, and communication is made easier. Additionally, technology has made life more opulent because people can work hard while using little energy. Every nation has seen improvements in various industries where technology is present.
However, some drawbacks must be balanced when standards rise to support each person properly. First, there needs to be more reliance on technology among people. Additionally, humans are no longer capable because they depend on technology instruments for daily management. Importantly, it should be noted that since machines have mostly replaced people in labor-intensive jobs, the unemployment rate has risen. Even though the advantages outweigh the drawbacks, people should make cautious about using technology in moderation.
References
Acemoglu, D., & Restrepo, P. (2018). The race between man and machine: Implications of technology for growth, factor shares, and employment. American economic review, 108(6), 1488-1542.
Ge, S., Zhu, Z., Wu, B., & McConnell, E. S. (2018). Technology-based cognitive training and rehabilitation interventions for individuals with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review. BMC geriatrics, 18(1), 1-19.
Moraes, E. B., Kipper, L. M., Hackenhaar Kellermann, A. C., Austria, L., Leivas, P., Moraes, J. A. R., & Witczak, M. (2023). Integration of Industry 4.0 technologies with Education 4.0: Advantages for improvements in learning. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 20(2), 271-287.
Murphy, A., & Potts, J. (2017). Culture and technology. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ram, N., Yang, X., Cho, M. J., Brinberg, M., Muirhead, F., Reeves, B., & Robinson, T. N. (2020). Screenomics: A new approach for observing and studying individuals’ digital lives. Journal of Adolescent Research, 35(1), 16-50.
Reiman, J. H. (2017). Driving to the panopticon: A philosophical exploration of the privacy risks posed by the highway technology of the future. In Privacy (pp. 159-176). Routledge.
Widarni, E. L., & Prestianawati, S. A. (2020). Digital economy challenge: Innovation of technology and unemployment dilemma in Indonesia. In The Future Opportunities and Challenges of Business in Digital Era 4.0 (pp. 167-170). Routledge.
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