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ICT for the Disabled

Computers have revolutionised life for disabled people.   They are used by:

• Severely disabled people to communicate;
• Dyslexic people;
• The blind and visually impaired;
• Those with learning difficulties.

  The hardware may be standard hardware, or it may be modified to the specific needs of the disabled person.

  The device shown below is called a head mouse.  The disabled person can move their head, and the mouse will behave on the screen just like a normal mouse that we move with our hand.

Look at www.Leonard-cheshire.org  to see how the Leonard Cheshire Foundation uses ICT to help disabled people.  ICT has given many career opportunities to disabled people.

Self employed disabled people have been able to take careers in:

• Web designers
• Photography
• Free lance writers
• Ceramics, trade crafts

Employment opportunities have been made available through ICT as:

• Teachers, at the Internet college
• ICT technicians
• Call centre operators
• Factory worker, storekeeper, shop assistant, trainee.

Expert Systems

Expert Systems at their simplest are databases on which is stored a large amount of information that is useful for professionals in a particular specialist area.  However an expert system can do more than that:

• It can be connected to data-logging sensors in an industrial plant.
• Data is constantly monitored as a live control situation.
• The system can alert the operators to the need for routine and preventative maintenance.

The pictures show a vast piece of machinery in an industrial plant and the expert system that is monitoring it.

An expert system has these features

• Inference engine – a program that is used to link the questions to the database of knowledge.
• Shell – a set of programs rather like an operating system that coordinates the activities of the system.
• Natural language interface – the user types in the request in normal English, and the computer uses the inference engine to turn the request into computer language. 

The help systems in some programs like those in Microsoft Office Suite have a natural language interface in which you type in the question in normal talk.  The program then gives a set of options to the user.

Question 9 Write down three factors you need to take into account when you are designing an expert system.  ANSWER

ICT in Education

The obvious area to consider is the teaching of computing and ICT, which both look at the use of computers in business.  The microcomputer and the PC have been used in schools for the last twenty years or so.  Every school used to have its obligatory BBC Microcomputer.  Some still do.  It is primitive, but:

• Is very simple to operate;
• Very stable; it rarely crashes.
• Is very good at data-logging.

Some schools even networked their BBCs and very proud they were too.

  The BBC was ousted within five to ten years by the PC which became ever more accessible both in price and operation.  The school PC is a common sight; the BBCs have been consigned to prep-room shelves or the skip.  The PC is a good teaching aid.  It can be used for:

• Data-logging;
• Presentation Graphics to illustrate taught material;
• Mathematical modelling on  spreadsheets;
• CD-ROM interactive activities;
• CD-ROM simulations;
• Use of the Internet for research;
• Virtual learning environments;
• Electronic notes.

The picture shows a laptop computer being used for data-logging:

In addition to teaching and learning, computers can be used for administration:

• Pupil and staff database;
• Curriculum planning;
• Pupil registration;
• Security of the school or college, giving pupils and staff access rights to some parts of the college and not others.

Question 10 Describe three ways in which computers are used in education, other than for ICT and computing.  ANSWER

Question 11 Describe two advantages and two disadvantages in using computers in education.  ANSWER.

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Have a look at the Presentation Social Impact of ICT.  This was prepared by one of my students, Natalie Doak.  I am most grateful for her kind permission to use it.

Now try the Topic Quiz

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