conclusion ict assignment

Importance of ICT in Education Essay

Ict: introduction, teachers and their role in education, impact of ict in education, use of ict in education, importance of ict to students, works cited.

Information and Communication Technology is among the most indispensable tools that the business world relies on today. Virtually all businesses, in one way or another, rely on technology tools to carry out operations. Other organizations like learning institutions are not left behind technology-wise. ICT is increasingly being employed in contemporary learning institutions to ease the work of students and teachers.

Among the most commendable successes of employing ICT in learning institutions is e-learning, in which the ICT tools are used to access classrooms remotely. This paper explores the importance of the tools of the tools of ICT in education and the roles that these tools have played in making learning better and easier.

Teachers are scholars who have mastered specific subjects that form part of their specialty and help in imparting knowledge to students. Some of the roles that teachers play in academic institutions include designing syllabuses, preparing timetables, preparing for lessons and convening students for lessons, and carrying out continuous assessments on students.

Others include keeping records of academic reports, disciplinary records, and other records related to the activities of students in school, like the participation of students in games and other activities.

In cases where there are limitations such that it is impossible to convene people and resources together for learning. E-learning provides a very important and convenient way of teaching people. In such a case, a teacher provides learning materials and lessons online, which can be accessed by his/her students at their convenience.

The materials can be audio files of recorded classroom lessons, audio-visual files for lessons requiring visual information like practical or even text documents, and hypertext documents (Tinio 1). This method of teaching is also convenient for teachers because they are able to record lessons at their convenience, and the assessment of students involves less documentation.

This is because with the use of the internet, teachers are able to upload assignments and continuous assessments on the e-learning systems, and after students are done with the assignments, they use the system or emails to send their completed assignments to their teachers. This comes with a number of advantages which are brought about by having students complete assignments in soft copies.

One of these advantages is that feedback from teachers will be timely and it will be convenient for the teachers. Teachers can also use technology tools such as plagiarism software to check if students have copied the works of other scholars and thus establish the authenticity of the assignment. It can thus be argued that although e-learning systems have their disadvantages, they are very instrumental in teaching people whose schedules are tight and who may have limitations as far as accessing the classroom is concerned.

Therefore technology has been an influential and essential tool in the career of education, and several innovations have been made that have made teaching a much easier career. The paragraph below discusses other ways in which technology has been employed in the education career.

Teachers can also use the tools of ICT in other functions. One such function is keeping records of student performances and other kinds of records within the academic institution. This can be done by uploading the information to a Management Information System for the school or college, which should have a database for supporting the same. The information can also be stored in soft form in Compact Disks, Hard Drives, Flash Disks, or even Digital Video Disks (Obringer 1).

This ensures that information is properly stored and backed up and also ensures that records are not as bulky as they would have been in the absence of the tools of ICT. Such a system also ensures that information can easily be accessed and also ensures that proper privacy of the data is maintained.

Another way in which teachers can use the tools of ICT to ease their work is by employing tools like projectors for presentations of lessons, iPads for students, computers connected to the internet for communicating to students about continuous assessments, and the like (Higgins 1). This way, the teacher will be able to reduce the paperwork that he /she uses in his/her work, and this is bound to make his/her work easier.

For instance, if the teacher can access a projector, he/she can prepare a presentation of a lesson for his/her students, and this way, he will not have to carry textbooks, notebooks, and the like to the classroom for the lesson. The teacher can also post notes and relevant texts for a given course on the information system for the school or on an interactive website, and thus he/she will have more time for discussions during lessons.

Teachers can also, in consultation with IT specialists, develop real-time systems where students can answer questions related woo what they have learned in class and get automated results through the system (Masie 1).

This will help the students understand the concepts taught in class better, and this way, teachers will have less workload. Such websites will also help teachers to show the students how questions related to their specialty are framed early enough so that students can concentrate on knowledge acquisition during class hours.

This is as opposed to a case where the students remain clueless about the kind of questions they expect in exams and spend most of their time preparing for exams rather than reading extensively to acquire knowledge. ICT can also be sued by teachers to advertise the kind of services they offer in schools and also advertise the books and journals they have written. This can be achieved by using websites for the school or specific teachers or professors.

As evidenced in the discussion above, ICT is a very instrumental tool in education as a career. The specific tools of ICT used in education, as discussed above, include the use of ICT in distance learning, storage of student performance and other relevant information in databases and storage media, and the use of tools of ICT in classroom like projectors, iPads and the like. Since the invention of the internet and the subsequent popularity of computers, a lot of functions of education as a career have been made simpler.

These include the administration of continuous assessments, marking continuous assessments, giving feedback to students, and even checking the originality of the ideas expressed in the assignments and examinations. All in all, the impact that ICT has had in educational institutions is so much that school life without ICT is somehow impossible for people who are accustomed to using ICT.

Higgins, Steve. “Does ICT improve learning and teaching in schools”. 2007. Web.

Masie, Shank. “What is electronic learning?” 2007. Web.

Obringer, Ann. “ How E-Learning Works ”. 2008. Web.

Tinio, Victoria. “ICT in Education”. 2008. Web.

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Information and communication technology (ICT) in education

Information and communications technology (ict) can impact student learning when teachers are digitally literate and understand how to integrate it into curriculum..

Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information.(6) In some contexts, ICT has also become integral to the teaching-learning interaction, through such approaches as replacing chalkboards with interactive digital whiteboards, using students’ own smartphones or other devices for learning during class time, and the “flipped classroom” model where students watch lectures at home on the computer and use classroom time for more interactive exercises.

When teachers are digitally literate and trained to use ICT, these approaches can lead to higher order thinking skills, provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings, and leave students better prepared to deal with ongoing technological change in society and the workplace.(18)

ICT issues planners must consider include: considering the total cost-benefit equation, supplying and maintaining the requisite infrastructure, and ensuring investments are matched with teacher support and other policies aimed at effective ICT use.(16)

Issues and Discussion

Digital culture and digital literacy: Computer technologies and other aspects of digital culture have changed the ways people live, work, play, and learn, impacting the construction and distribution of knowledge and power around the world.(14) Graduates who are less familiar with digital culture are increasingly at a disadvantage in the national and global economy. Digital literacy—the skills of searching for, discerning, and producing information, as well as the critical use of new media for full participation in society—has thus become an important consideration for curriculum frameworks.(8)

In many countries, digital literacy is being built through the incorporation of information and communication technology (ICT) into schools. Some common educational applications of ICT include:

• One laptop per child: Less expensive laptops have been designed for use in school on a 1:1 basis with features like lower power consumption, a low cost operating system, and special re-programming and mesh network functions.(42) Despite efforts to reduce costs, however, providing one laptop per child may be too costly for some developing countries.(41)
• Tablets: Tablets are small personal computers with a touch screen, allowing input without a keyboard or mouse. Inexpensive learning software (“apps”) can be downloaded onto tablets, making them a versatile tool for learning.(7)(25) The most effective apps develop higher order thinking skills and provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings.(18)
• Interactive White Boards or Smart Boards : Interactive white boards allow projected computer images to be displayed, manipulated, dragged, clicked, or copied.(3) Simultaneously, handwritten notes can be taken on the board and saved for later use. Interactive white boards are associated with whole-class instruction rather than student-centred activities.(38) Student engagement is generally higher when ICT is available for student use throughout the classroom.(4)
• E-readers : E-readers are electronic devices that can hold hundreds of books in digital form, and they are increasingly utilized in the delivery of reading material.(19) Students—both skilled readers and reluctant readers—have had positive responses to the use of e-readers for independent reading.(22) Features of e-readers that can contribute to positive use include their portability and long battery life, response to text, and the ability to define unknown words.(22) Additionally, many classic book titles are available for free in e-book form.
• Flipped Classrooms: The flipped classroom model, involving lecture and practice at home via computer-guided instruction and interactive learning activities in class, can allow for an expanded curriculum. There is little investigation on the student learning outcomes of flipped classrooms.(5) Student perceptions about flipped classrooms are mixed, but generally positive, as they prefer the cooperative learning activities in class over lecture.(5)(35)

ICT and Teacher Professional Development: Teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order to increase their ability to use ICT for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration.(15) Such training in ICT should positively impact teachers’ general attitudes towards ICT in the classroom, but it should also provide specific guidance on ICT teaching and learning within each discipline. Without this support, teachers tend to use ICT for skill-based applications, limiting student academic thinking.(32) To sup­port teachers as they change their teaching, it is also essential for education managers, supervisors, teacher educators, and decision makers to be trained in ICT use.(11)

Ensuring benefits of ICT investments: To ensure the investments made in ICT benefit students, additional conditions must be met. School policies need to provide schools with the minimum acceptable infrastructure for ICT, including stable and affordable internet connectivity and security measures such as filters and site blockers. Teacher policies need to target basic ICT literacy skills, ICT use in pedagogical settings, and discipline-specific uses. (21) Successful imple­mentation of ICT requires integration of ICT in the curriculum. Finally, digital content needs to be developed in local languages and reflect local culture. (40) Ongoing technical, human, and organizational supports on all of these issues are needed to ensure access and effective use of ICT. (21)

Resource Constrained Contexts: The total cost of ICT ownership is considerable: training of teachers and administrators, connectivity, technical support, and software, amongst others. (42) When bringing ICT into classrooms, policies should use an incremental pathway, establishing infrastructure and bringing in sustainable and easily upgradable ICT. (16) Schools in some countries have begun allowing students to bring their own mobile technology (such as laptop, tablet, or smartphone) into class rather than providing such tools to all students—an approach called Bring Your Own Device. (1)(27)(34) However, not all families can afford devices or service plans for their children. (30) Schools must ensure all students have equitable access to ICT devices for learning.

Inclusiveness Considerations

Digital Divide: The digital divide refers to disparities of digital media and internet access both within and across countries, as well as the gap between people with and without the digital literacy and skills to utilize media and internet.(23)(26)(31) The digital divide both creates and reinforces socio-economic inequalities of the world’s poorest people. Policies need to intentionally bridge this divide to bring media, internet, and digital literacy to all students, not just those who are easiest to reach.

Minority language groups: Students whose mother tongue is different from the official language of instruction are less likely to have computers and internet connections at home than students from the majority. There is also less material available to them online in their own language, putting them at a disadvantage in comparison to their majority peers who gather information, prepare talks and papers, and communicate more using ICT. (39) Yet ICT tools can also help improve the skills of minority language students—especially in learning the official language of instruction—through features such as automatic speech recognition, the availability of authentic audio-visual materials, and chat functions. (2)(17)

Students with different styles of learning: ICT can provide diverse options for taking in and processing information, making sense of ideas, and expressing learning. Over 87% of students learn best through visual and tactile modalities, and ICT can help these students ‘experience’ the information instead of just reading and hearing it. (20)(37) Mobile devices can also offer programmes (“apps”) that provide extra support to students with special needs, with features such as simplified screens and instructions, consistent placement of menus and control features, graphics combined with text, audio feedback, ability to set pace and level of difficulty, appropriate and unambiguous feedback, and easy error correction. (24)(29)

Plans and policies

• India [ PDF ]
• Detroit, USA [ PDF ]
• Finland [ PDF ]
• Alberta Education. 2012. Bring your own device: A guide for schools . Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/admin/technology/research.aspx
• Alsied, S.M. and Pathan, M.M. 2015. ‘The use of computer technology in EFL classroom: Advantages and implications.’ International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies . 1 (1).
• BBC. N.D. ‘What is an interactive whiteboard?’ Retrieved from http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Whatisaninteractivewhiteboard.aspx
• Beilefeldt, T. 2012. ‘Guidance for technology decisions from classroom observation.’ Journal of Research on Technology in Education . 44 (3).
• Bishop, J.L. and Verleger, M.A. 2013. ‘The flipped classroom: A survey of the research.’ Presented at the 120th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Atlanta, Georgia.
• Blurton, C. 2000. New Directions of ICT-Use in Education . United National Education Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO).
• Bryant, B.R., Ok, M., Kang, E.Y., Kim, M.K., Lang, R., Bryant, D.P. and Pfannestiel, K. 2015. ‘Performance of fourth-grade students with learning disabilities on multiplication facts comparing teacher-mediated and technology-mediated interventions: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Behavioral Education. 24.
• Buckingham, D. 2005. Educación en medios. Alfabetización, aprendizaje y cultura contemporánea, Barcelona, Paidós.
• Buckingham, D., Sefton-Green, J., and Scanlon, M. 2001. 'Selling the Digital Dream: Marketing Education Technologies to Teachers and Parents.'  ICT, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum: Subject to Change . London: Routledge.
• "Burk, R. 2001. 'E-book devices and the marketplace: In search of customers.' Library Hi Tech 19 (4)."
• Chapman, D., and Mählck, L. (Eds). 2004. Adapting technology for school improvement: a global perspective. Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning.
• Cheung, A.C.K and Slavin, R.E. 2012. ‘How features of educational technology applications affect student reading outcomes: A meta-analysis.’ Educational Research Review . 7.
• Cheung, A.C.K and Slavin, R.E. 2013. ‘The effectiveness of educational technology applications for enhancing mathematics achievement in K-12 classrooms: A meta-analysis.’ Educational Research Review . 9.
• Deuze, M. 2006. 'Participation Remediation Bricolage - Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture.' The Information Society . 22 .
• Dunleavy, M., Dextert, S. and Heinecke, W.F. 2007. ‘What added value does a 1:1 student to laptop ratio bring to technology-supported teaching and learning?’ Journal of Computer Assisted Learning . 23.
• Enyedy, N. 2014. Personalized Instruction: New Interest, Old Rhetoric, Limited Results, and the Need for a New Direction for Computer-Mediated Learning . Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center.
• Golonka, E.M., Bowles, A.R., Frank, V.M., Richardson, D.L. and Freynik, S. 2014. ‘Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technology types and their effectiveness.’ Computer Assisted Language Learning . 27 (1).
• Goodwin, K. 2012. Use of Tablet Technology in the Classroom . Strathfield, New South Wales: NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre.
• Jung, J., Chan-Olmsted, S., Park, B., and Kim, Y. 2011. 'Factors affecting e-book reader awareness, interest, and intention to use.' New Media & Society . 14 (2)
• Kenney, L. 2011. ‘Elementary education, there’s an app for that. Communication technology in the elementary school classroom.’ The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications . 2 (1).
• Kopcha, T.J. 2012. ‘Teachers’ perceptions of the barriers to technology integration and practices with technology under situated professional development.’ Computers and Education . 59.
• Miranda, T., Williams-Rossi, D., Johnson, K., and McKenzie, N. 2011. "Reluctant readers in middle school: Successful engagement with text using the e-reader.' International journal of applied science and technology . 1 (6).
• Moyo, L. 2009. 'The digital divide: scarcity, inequality and conflict.' Digital Cultures . New York: Open University Press.
• Newton, D.A. and Dell, A.G. 2011. ‘Mobile devices and students with disabilities: What do best practices tell us?’ Journal of Special Education Technology . 26 (3).
• Nirvi, S. (2011). ‘Special education pupils find learning tool in iPad applications.’ Education Week . 30 .
• Norris, P. 2001. Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide . Cambridge, USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Project Tomorrow. 2012. Learning in the 21st century: Mobile devices + social media = personalized learning . Washington, D.C.: Blackboard K-12.
• Riasati, M.J., Allahyar, N. and Tan, K.E. 2012. ‘Technology in language education: Benefits and barriers.’ Journal of Education and Practice . 3 (5).
• Rodriquez, C.D., Strnadova, I. and Cumming, T. 2013. ‘Using iPads with students with disabilities: Lessons learned from students, teachers, and parents.’ Intervention in School and Clinic . 49 (4).
• Sangani, K. 2013. 'BYOD to the classroom.' Engineering & Technology . 3 (8).
• Servon, L. 2002. Redefining the Digital Divide: Technology, Community and Public Policy . Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
• Smeets, E. 2005. ‘Does ICT contribute to powerful learning environments in primary education?’ Computers and Education. 44 .
• Smith, G.E. and Thorne, S. 2007. Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms . Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
• Song, Y. 2014. '"Bring your own device (BYOD)" for seamless science inquiry in a primary school.' Computers & Education. 74 .
• Strayer, J.F. 2012. ‘How learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation and task orientation.’ Learning Environment Research. 15.
• Tamim, R.M., Bernard, R.M., Borokhovski, E., Abrami, P.C. and Schmid, R.F. 2011. ‘What forty years of research says about the impact of technology on learning: A second-order meta-analysis and validation study. Review of Educational Research. 81 (1).
• Tileston, D.W. 2003. What Every Teacher Should Know about Media and Technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• Turel, Y.K. and Johnson, T.E. 2012. ‘Teachers’ belief and use of interactive whiteboards for teaching and learning.’ Educational Technology and Society . 15(1).
• Volman, M., van Eck, E., Heemskerk, I. and Kuiper, E. 2005. ‘New technologies, new differences. Gender and ethnic differences in pupils’ use of ICT in primary and secondary education.’ Computers and Education. 45 .
• Voogt, J., Knezek, G., Cox, M., Knezek, D. and ten Brummelhuis, A. 2013. ‘Under which conditions does ICT have a positive effect on teaching and learning? A call to action.’ Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 29 (1).
• Warschauer, M. and Ames, M. 2010. ‘Can one laptop per child save the world’s poor?’ Journal of International Affairs. 64 (1).
• Zuker, A.A. and Light, D. 2009. ‘Laptop programs for students.’ Science. 323 (5910).

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Kate Billingsley

introduction

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. Technology is a tool that can be used to solve real-world problems. The field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) “seeks to promote cross-disciplinary integration, civic engagement, and critical thinking” of concepts in the worlds of science and technology ( Harvard University, n.d.). As an aspect of everyday life, technology is continuously evolving to ensure that humanity can be productive, efficient, and follow the path of globalization . STS is a concept that encompasses countless fields of study. “Scientists, engineers, and medical professionals swim (as they must) in the details of their technical work: experiments, inventions, treatments and cures. “promotes cross-disciplinary integration, civic engagement, and critical thinking” It’s an intense and necessary focus” ( Stanford University , n.d.). On the opposite side of the spectrum is STS, which “draws attention to the water: the social, political, legal, economic, and cultural environment that shapes research and invention, supports or inhibits it — and is in turn shaped by evolving science and technology” ( Stanford University , n.d.). Technology is a crucial part of life that is constantly developing to fit the changing needs of society and aiding humanity in simplifying the demands of everyday life.

According to Oberdan (2010), science and technology share identical goals. “At first glance, they seem to provide a deep and thorough going division between the two but, as the discussion progresses, it will become clear that there are, indeed, areas of overlap, too” (Oberdan, 25). Philosophers believe that for a claim to be considered knowledge, it must first be justified, like a hypothesis, and true.  Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer, Galileo Galilei , was incredibly familiar with the obstacles involved with proving something to be a fact or a theory within the scientific world. Galileo was condemned by the Roman Catholic church for his beliefs that contradicted existing church doctrine (Coyne, 2013). Galileo’s discoveries, although denounced by the church were incredibly innovative and progressive for their time, and are still seen as the basis for modern astronomy today. Nearly 300 years later, Galileo was eventually forgiven by the church, and to this day he is seen as one of the most well known and influential astronomers of all time. Many new innovations and ideas often receive push back before becoming revolutionary and universal practices.

INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY

Flash forward to modern time where we can see that innovation is happening even more around us. Look no further than what could be considered the culmination of modern technological innovation: the mobile phone. Cell phone technology has developed exponentially since the invention of the first mobile phone in 1973 ( Seward , 2013). Although there was a period for roughly 20 years in which cell phones were seen as unnecessary and somewhat impractical, as society’s needs changed and developed in the late 1990s, there was a large spike in consumer purchases of mobile phones. Now, cell phones are an entity that can be seen virtually anywhere, which is in large part due to their practicality. Cell phones, specifically smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone , have changed the way society uses technology. Smartphone technology has eliminated the need for people to have a separate cell phone, MP3 player, GPS, mobile video gaming systems, and more. Consumers may fail to realize how many aspects of modern technological advancement are involved in the use of their mobile phones. Cell phones use wifi to browse the internet, use google, access social media, and more. Although these technologies are beneficial, they also allow consumers locations to be traced and phone conversations to be recorded. Modern cell phone technologies collect data on consumers, and many people are unsure how this information is being used. Additionally, mobile phones come equipped with virus protection which brings the field of cybersecurity into smartphone usage. The technological advances that have been made in the market for mobile phones have been targeted towards the changing needs of consumers and society. As proven by the rise in cell phones, with advancements in the field of STS comes new unforeseen obstacles and ethical dilemmas.

​Technology is changing the way we live in this world. Innovations in the scientific world are becoming increasingly more advanced to help conserve earth’s resources and aid in the reduction of pollutants . Transportation is a field that has changed greatly in recent years due to modernization in science and technology, as well as an increased awareness of environmental concerns. The transportation industry continues to be a large producer of pollution

due to emissions from cars, trains, and other modes of transportation. As a result, cars have changed a great deal in recent years. A frontrunner in creating environmentally friendly luxury cars is Tesla, lead by CEO Elon Musk. Although nearly every brand of car has an electric option that either runs completely gas free, or uses significantly less fuel than standard cars, Tesla has taken this one step further and created a zero emissions vehicle. However, some believe that Tesla has taken their innovations in the transportation market a bit too far, specifically with their release of driverless cars.

“The recent reset of expectations on driverless cars is a leading indicator for other types of AI-enabled systems as well,” says David A. Mindell,  professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT. “These technologies hold great promise, but it takes time to understand the optimal combination of people and machines. And the timing of adoption is crucial for understanding the impact on workers” ( Dizikes , 2019).

As the earth becomes more and more polluted, consumers are seeking to find new ways to cut down on their negative impacts on the earth. Eco-friendly cars are a simple yet effective way in which consumers can cut back on their pollution within their everyday lives.

THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The way in which energy is generated has changed greatly to benefit consumers and the environment. Energy production has followed a rather linear path over time, and is a prime example of how new innovations stem from old technologies. In the early 1800s, the steam engine acted as the main form of creating energy. It wasn’t until the mid-late 1800s that the combustion engine was invented. This invention was beneficial because it was more efficient than its predecessor, and became a form of energy that was streamlined to be used in countless applications. As time has progressed, this linear path of innovation has continued. As new energy creating technologies have emerged, machinery that was once seen as efficient and effective have been phased out. Today, largely due to the increased demand for clean energy sources, the linear path has split and consumers are faced with numerous options for clean, environmentally friendly energy sources. Over time, scientists and engineers have come to realize that these forms of energy pollute and damage the earth. Solar power, a modern form of clean energy, was once seen as an expensive and impractical way of turning the sun’s energy into usable energy. Now, it is common to see newly built homes with solar panels already built in. Since technology develops to fit the needs of society, scientists have worked to improve solar panels to make them cheaper and easier to access. A total of 173,000 terawatts (trillions of watts) of solar energy strikes the Earth continuously, which is more than 10,000 times of the world’s total energy use ( Chandler , 2011). This information may seem staggering, but is crucial in understanding the importance, as well as the large influence that modern forms of energy can have on society.

Technology has become a crucial part of our society. Without technological advancements, so much of our everyday lives would be drastically different. As technology develops, it strives to fulfill the changing needs of society. Technology progresses as society evolves. That being said, progress comes at a price. This price is different for each person, and varies based on how much people value technological and scientific advancements in their own lives. Thomas Parke Hughes’s Networks of Power “compared how electric power systems developed in America, England, and Germany, showing that they required not only electrical but social ‘engineering’ to create the necessary legal frameworks, financing, standards, political support, and organizational designs” ( Stanford University ). In other words, the scientific invention and production of a new technology does not ensure its success. Technology’s success is highly dependent on society’s acceptance or rejection of a product, as well as whether or not any path dependence is involved. Changing technologies benefit consumers in countless aspects of their lives including in the workforce, in communications, in the use of natural resources, and so much more. These innovations across numerous different markets aid society by making it easier to complete certain tasks. Innovation will never end; rather, it will continue to develop at increasing rates as science and technological fields becomes more and more cutting edge.

Chapter Questions

• True or False: Improvements in science and technology always benefit society
• Multiple Choice : Technology is: A.   The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry B.  Tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems C.   Something that does not change D.   Both A and B
• Short Answer: Discuss ways in which technological progression over time is related and how this relationship has led to the creation of new innovation.

Chandler, D. (2011). Shining brightly: Vast amounts of solar energy radiate to the Earth constantly, but tapping that energy cost-effectively remains a challenge.  MIT News. http://news.mit.edu/2011/energy-scale-part3-1026 

Coyne, SJ, G. V. (2013). Science meets biblical exegesis in the Galileo affair.  Zygon® ,  48 (1), 221-229. https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2012.01324.x 

Dizikes, P., & MIT News Office. (2019). MIT report examines how to make technology work for society. http://news.mit.edu/2019/work-future-report-technology-jobs-society-0904

Florez, D., García-Duque, C. E., & Osorio, J. C. (2019). Is technology (still) applied science? Technology in Society.  Technology in Society, 59.   doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2019.101193

Groce, J. E., Farrelly, M. A., Jorgensen, B. S., & Cook, C. N. (2019). Using social‐network research to improve outcomes in natural resource management. Conservation biology , 33 (1), 53-65. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cobi.13127

Harvard University. (n.d.) What is STS? .  http://sts.hks.harvard.edu/about/whatissts.html .

Union of Concerned Scientists. (2018). How Do Battery Electric Cars Work?   https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/how-do-battery-electric-cars-work .

Oberdan, T. (2010). Science, Technology, and the Texture of Our Lives. Tavenner Publishing Company.

Seward, Z. M. (2013). The First Mobile Phone Call Was Made 40 Years Ago Today . The Atlantic.   https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/the-first- mobile-phone-call-was-made-40-years-ago-today/274611/ .

Stanford University. (n.d.). What is the Study of STS? . https://sts.stanford.edu/about/what-study-sts .

Wei, R., & Lo, V.-H. (2006). Staying connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness. New Media & Society, 8 (1), 53–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444806059870

Winston, B. (2006). Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to the Internet . London: Routledge.

Images & Videos

“Tesla Model 3 Monaco” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Building bridges between science and society for a better future. | Nadine Bongaerts | TEDxSaclay

“Tesla Model 3 Monaco”  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

To the extent possible under law, Kate Billingsley has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Science, Technology, & Society: A Student-Led Exploration , except where otherwise noted.

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How to write a conclusion

Posted in: academic writing , essay-writing

Your conclusion is very important as it presents the final words of your assignment. It should leave the reader satisfied that you have provided a thorough, well-researched and reasoned response to the assignment question.

Your conclusion should move from the specific to the general (Introductions move from general to specific). You can begin your conclusion by reformulating the thesis statement you wrote in your introduction. This will remind the reader of the purpose of your essay.

Your conclusion should also include some or all of the following elements:

Here is a simple conclusion to illustrate how it works:

Hopkins, D. and Reid, T., 2018. The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guid e to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University . Sage.

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Academic writing skills guide: conclusions.

• Key Features of Academic Writing
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• Structuring Your Assignment
• How to Deal With Writer's Block
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Conclusions and Discussion

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• Julian Fraillon 2 ,
• John Ainley 2 ,
• Wolfram Schulz 2 ,
• Tim Friedman 2 &
• Eveline Gebhardt 2  

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The International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) investigated the ways in which young people have developed the computer and information literacy (CIL) that enables them to participate fully in the digital age. This study, the first in international research to investigate students’ acquisition of CIL, has been groundbreaking in two ways. The first is its establishment of a crossnationally agreed definition and explication of CIL in terms of its component knowledge, skills, and understandings. The second is its operationalization of CIL as a crossnationally comparable measurement tool and marker of digital literacy.

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• Reference Class
• Information Literacy
• Digital Literacy
• Parental Educational Attainment
• Parental Occupational Status

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The CIL construct was developed with reference to decades of research into the knowledge, skills, and understanding involved in effective use of information and communication technology (ICT). Various terms with similar but not identical meanings such as information literacy, computer literacy, digital literacy , and ICT literacy have been used to characterize this set of competences.

The CIL construct is described and explained in detail in the ICILS Assessment Framework (Fraillon, Schulz, & Ainley, 2013 ). The framework, developed in consultation with ICILS national research coordinators (NRCs) and other people expert in digital and ICT literacy, guided all aspects of the ICILS instrument development and data collection stages. One important outcome of this work has been the establishment of a crossnational, empirical foundation for describing the competencies underpinning the CIL construct.

The ICILS assessment of CIL is unique in the field of crossnational assessment because it comprises tasks grouped into self-contained, computer-based “modules” that reflect school-based research and communication. Included in each module is at least one “open” task wherein students create an information product (such as a poster, presentation, or website) using purpose-built software that applies the conventions of software interface design. The ICILS assessment is thus similar to classroom-based assessments that allow students freedom to work with a range of software tools on open-ended tasks.

However, in order to ensure standardization of students’ experience and comparability of the resultant data, the ICILS 2013 assessment required students to work in a contained test environment, designed to prevent differential exposure to digital resources from outside that environment. Such exposure could have confounded the comparability (a necessary feature of instruments used in large-scale assessments) of the student data.

The previous chapters in this international report on ICILS 2013 provided information on CIL achievement across countries, the contexts in which CIL was being taught and learned, and the relationship of CIL as a learning outcome to student characteristics and school contexts.

To provide an overview in this current chapter of these earlier recorded results, we summarize the main study outcomes with respect to each of the four research questions that guided the study. We also discuss country-level outcomes concerned with aspects of ICT use in education as well as the findings from our bivariate and multivariate analyses designed to explore associations between CIL and student and school factors. We then consider a number of implications of the study’s findings for educational policy and practice. We conclude the chapter by suggesting future directions for international research on CIL education.

ICILS guiding questions

The four research questions that guided the study were these:

What variations exist between countries, and within countries, in student computer and information literacy?

What aspects of schools and education systems are related to student achievement in computer and information literacy with respect to:

The general approach to computer and information literacy education;

School and teaching practices regarding the use of technologies in computer and information literacy;

Teacher attitudes to and proficiency in using computers;

Access to ICT in schools; and

Teacher professional development and within-school delivery of computer and information literacy programs.

What characteristics of students’ levels of access to, familiarity with, and self-reported proficiency in using computers are related to student achievement in computer and information literacy?

How do these characteristics differ among and within countries?

To what extent do the strengths of the relations between these characteristics and measured computer and information literacy differ among countries?

What aspects of students’ personal and social backgrounds (such as gender, socioeconomic background, and language background) are related to computer and information literacy?

Student proficiency in using computers

Student CIL proficiency was measured using an instrument comprising four thematic modules, each of which included discrete tasks Footnote 1 and each of which typically took less than a minute to complete. These tasks were followed by a large task that typically took 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The following discussion of student CIL proficiency includes examples taken from the After-School Exercise assessment module. The large task from this module required students to use given digital resources to create a poster advertising an after-school exercise program. Chapter 3 of this report provides a more detailed discussion, along with illustrative examples, of CIL proficiency.

The computer and information literacy (CIL) scale

The ICILS CIL scale, which has an average score set to 500 and a standard deviation of 100, comprises four proficiency levels. Accounts of what students should be able to achieve at each level serve to describe the scale.

Students working at Level 1 demonstrate familiarity with the basic range of software commands that enable them to access files and complete routine text and layout editing when directed to do so. Students can recognize some basic software conventions as well as the potential for misuse of computers by unauthorized users. Figure  9.1 provides an example of a Level 1 task. This task required students to identify the recipients of an email displaying the “From,” “To,” and “Cc” fields. The task assessed students’ familiarity with the conventions used to display the sender and recipients of emails.

Example Level 1 task

The work involved in doing the large task (creating a poster) contained in the After-School Exercise module provides another example of achievement at Level 1. The Level 1 aspect of the task required students to provide evidence of planning the poster in terms of selecting colors that would denote the roles of the poster’s text, background, and images.

Students working at Level 2 demonstrate basic use of computers as information resources. Students are able to locate explicit information in simple electronic resources, select and add content to information products, and demonstrate some control of layout and formatting of text and images in information products. They demonstrate awareness of the need to protect access to some electronic information and of some possible consequences of unwanted access to information. Figure  9.2 provides an example of a Level 2 task.

Example Level 2 task

The task shown in the figure required students to allocate “can edit” rights in the collaborative workspace to another student with whom, according to the module narrative, students were “collaborating” on the task. To complete this nonlinear skills task, Footnote 2 students needed to navigate within the website to the “settings” menu and then use its options to allocate the required user access. The Level 2 aspect of the module’s large task required students to produce a relevant title for the poster, and then format the title to make its role clear. Ability to use formatting tools to some degree in order to show the role of different text elements is thus an indicator of achievement at Level 2. may be biased

Students working at Level 3 demonstrate sufficient knowledge, skills, and understanding to independently search for and locate information and then edit it to suit the audience for, and the purpose of, the information products they create. Students at this level are able to select relevant information from within electronic resources and develop information products that exhibit controlled layout and design. They also demonstrate awareness that the information they access may be biased, inaccurate, or unreliable. Figure  9.3 provides an example of a Level 3 task.

Example Level 3 task

The task shown in Figure  9.3 required students to explain how the greeting (highlighted in the email) might be evidence that the email is trying to “trick” them. Ability to recognize that a generic (rather than personalized) greeting is one possible piece of evidence is an example of achievement at Level 3. Examples of Level 3 achievements in the large-task poster include students being able to complete some adaptation of information from resources (as opposed to directly copying and pasting information) and ability to include images that are well aligned with the poster’s other elements.

Students working at Level 4 execute control and evaluative judgment when searching for information and creating information products. They also demonstrate awareness of audience and purpose when searching for information, selecting information to include in information products, and formatting and laying out the information products they create. They furthermore demonstrate awareness of the potential for information to be a commercial and malleable commodity and of issues relating to the use of electronically sourced third-party intellectual property. Figure  9.4 provides an example of a Level 4 task.

Example Level 4 task

As with the task shown in Figure  9.3 , the task in Figure  9.4 asked students to explain how the email address of the sender (highlighted in the email) might be evidence of the email trying to “trick” them. Students who recognize that the email is from a “freemail” account (and not a company account) or that the email address does not match the root of the hyperlink are achieving at Level 4 rather than lower levels because they demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of email protocols with respect to safe and secure use. Examples of Level 4 achievements in the After-School Exercise poster task include students rephrasing the key points from source information and using formatting tools consistently throughout the poster so that the roles of the different text elements are clear to the reader.

Student achievement on the CIL scale

We can interpret and compare students’ CIL by referring to their CIL scale scores and the proficiency levels of the scale.

Student CIL varied considerably across the ICILS countries. The average national scores on the scale ranged from 361 to 553 scale points, a span that extends from below Level 1 to a standard of proficiency within Level 3. This range was equivalent to almost two standard deviations. However, we need to acknowledge that the distribution of country CIL means was skewed because of the means of three countries being significantly below the ICILS 2013 average and the means of 12 other countries being significantly above the ICILS 2013 average.

Eighty-one percent of students achieved scores that placed them within CIL Levels 1, 2, and 3. In all but two countries, Turkey and Thailand, the highest percentage of students was in Level 2.

Students’ computer use and CIL

A long conducted and established research literature shows that students’ social background characteristics Footnote 3 and students’ personal characteristics Footnote 4 are associated with student achievement across a range of learning areas. These same student-level factors were associated with CIL proficiency in ICILS. Characteristics reflecting higher socioeconomic status were associated with higher CIL proficiency both within and across countries.

Female students had higher CIL scale scores in all but two countries (Thailand and Turkey, where the differences were not statistically significant). This finding was not unexpected given that CIL is heavily reliant on text-based reading skills and given past research showing that females tend to outperform males on tests of reading. Similarly, students who spoke the language of the CIL test (which is also the language of instruction in their country) also performed better on the assessment.

When we took the associations between these various student factors into account using multiple regression techniques, we found that the following variables had statistically significant positive associations with CIL in most countries: students’ gender (female compared to male), students’ expected educational attainment, parental educational attainment, parental occupational status, the number of books in the home, and ICT home resources.

ICILS also investigated student access to, familiarity with, and confidence in using computers. Students were asked a range of questions relating to their access to and use of computers at home, at school, and in other places. There is an assumption that the generation of young people that includes the ICILS target grade students (i.e., Grade 8) has grown up with computers as a ubiquitous part of their lives. However, questions remain as to how such access relates to their CIL.

Almost all ICILS students reported that they were experienced users of computers and had access to them at home and at school. On average across the ICILS countries, more than one third of the Grade 8 students said they had been using computers for seven or more years, with a further 29 percent reporting that they had been using computers for between five and seven years. Ninety-four percent of the students on average crossnationally reported having at least one computer (desktop, laptop, notebook, or tablet device) at home, while 48 percent reported having three or more computers at home. Ninety-two percent of students stated that they had some form of internet connection at home. Both number of computers students had at home and access to a home internet connection were positively associated with CIL scores.

The ICILS student questionnaire also asked students a range of questions about their frequency of computer use, the types of tasks they completed using computers, and their attitudes toward using computers. These questions were underpinned by hypotheses that increased computer use, and focused use, would be positively associated with CIL.

Students across the ICILS countries reported using computers more frequently at home than elsewhere. On average, 87 percent said they used a computer at home at least once a week, whereas 54 percent and 13 percent reported this same frequency of computer use at school and other places respectively.

Computer use outside school

ICILS 2013 data indicate that students were making widespread and frequent use of digital technologies when outside school. Students tended to use the internet for social communication and exchange of information, computers for recreation, and software applications for school work and other purposes.

On average across the ICILS countries, three-quarters of the students said they communicated with others by way of messaging or social networks at least weekly. Just over half said that they used the internet for “searching for information for study or school work” at least once a week, and almost half indicated that they engaged in “posting comments to online profiles or blogs” at least once each week. On average, there was evidence of slightly more frequent use of the internet for social communication and exchanging information among females than among males.

Students were also frequently using computers for recreation. On average across the ICILS countries, 82 percent of students reported “listening to music” on a computer at least once a week, 68 percent reported “watching downloaded or streamed video (e.g., movies, TV shows, or clips)” on a weekly basis, and 62 percent said they used the internet to “get news about things of interest,” also on a weekly basis. Just over half of all the ICILS students were “playing games” once a week or more. Overall, we recorded only a small, albeit statistically significant, gender difference in the extent of recreational use of computers, with males reporting slightly higher frequencies than females.

Students also reported using software applications outside school. Generally across the ICILS countries, the most extensive weekly use of software applications involved “creating or editing documents” (28% of students). Use of most other utilities was much less frequent. For example, only 18 percent of the students were “using education software designed to help with school study.” We found no significant difference between female and male students with respect to using software applications outside school.

Use of ICT for school work

Crossnationally, just under half (45%) of the ICILS students, on average, were using computers to “prepare reports or essays” at least once a week. We recorded a similar extent of use for “preparing presentations” (44%). Forty percent of students reported using ICT when working with other students from their own school at least weekly, and 39 percent of students reported using a computer once a week or more to complete worksheets or exercises.

Two school-related uses of computers were reported by less than one fifth of the students. These were “writing about one’s own learning,” which referred to using a learning log, and “working with other students from other schools.” Nineteen percent of students said they used a computer for the first of these tasks; 13 percent said they used a computer for the second.

The subject area in which computers were most frequently being used was, not surprisingly, information technology or computer studies (56%). On average, about one fifth of the students studying (natural) sciences said they used computers in most or all lessons. The same proportion reported using computers in most or all of their human sciences/humanities lessons. In language arts (the test language) and language arts (foreign languages), students were using computers a little less frequently: about one sixth of the students reported computer use in most or all lessons. Approximately one in seven students studying mathematics reported computer use in most mathematics lessons or almost every lesson. Of the students studying creative arts, just a little more than one in 10 reported computer use in most or all lessons.

The ICILS teacher questionnaire asked teachers to select one of their Grade 8 classes as a reference class and then to report their use of ICT in that class. The order of frequency of ICT use by subject was very similar to that reported by students. On average, the percentage of teachers using ICT was greatest if the reference class was being taught information technology or computer studies (95%), but it was also very high if the class was studying (natural) sciences (84%) or human sciences/humanities (84%). Seventy-nine percent of teachers whose reference class was engaged in language arts (test language) or language arts (foreign languages) reported using ICT in their teaching. Across countries, three quarters of teachers whose reference class was a creative arts class, and 71 percent of those teaching mathematics, said they used ICT in their teaching.

Students’ perceptions of ICT

The ICILS student questionnaire also gathered information about two aspects of student perceptions of ICT. One concerned students’ confidence in using computers (their ICT self-efficacy). The other was students’ interest and enjoyment in using ICT. The questions relating to students’ ICT self-efficacy formed two scales— basic ICT skills (such as searching for and finding a file) and advanced ICT skills (such as creating a database, computer program, or macro).

Some small gender differences were evident in basic ICT self-efficacy in seven countries, with males scoring lower than females in six of these countries. However, in the case of advanced ICT self-efficacy, males scored significantly and substantially higher than females in all 14 countries that met sampling requirements.

We found no consistent associations overall between advanced ICT self-efficacy and CIL scale scores, but did observe positive associations between basic ICT self-efficacy and CIL scale scores. This finding is not unexpected given the nature of the CIL assessment construct, which is made up of information literacy and communication skills that are not necessarily related to advanced computer skills such as programming or database management. Even though CIL is computer based, in the sense that students demonstrate CIL in the context of computer use, the CIL construct itself does not emphasize advanced computer-based technical skills.

Students were asked to indicate their agreement with a series of statements about their interest and enjoyment in using computers and doing computing. Overall, students expressed interest in computing and said they enjoyed it. Greater interest and enjoyment was associated with higher CIL scores, an effect that was statistically significant in nine of the 14 countries that met the ICILS sampling requirements.

Teacher, school, and education system characteristics relevant to CIL

General approaches to cil education.

The ICILS countries differed in terms of the characteristics of their education systems, their ICT infrastructure, and their approaches to ICT use.

Data from international databases show large differences among countries in their economies and (of particular relevance to this current study) ICT infrastructure. Data from the ICILS national context survey suggest that most of the participating countries were supportive at either the national or state/provincial level or both levels for using ICT in education. Plans and policies mostly included strategies for improving and supporting student learning and providing ICT resources.

International databases also show that countries differ with regard to including an ICT-related subject at the primary and lower-secondary levels of education. Although almost all of the ICILS countries had a subject or curriculum area equivalent to CIL at one or more levels of their respective education systems, fewer than half of the participating countries said their education system supported using ICT for student assessments. Across the countries, teaching CIL-related content was set within specific ICT-related subjects and was also regarded as a crosscurricular responsibility.

Teacher capacity to use ICT was rarely a requirement for teacher registration. However, teacher capacity to use ICT was often supported during preservice and inservice programs. In general, nearly all countries offered some form of support for teacher access to and participation in ICT-based professional development.

Teachers and CIL

Generally, the ICILS data confirm extensive use of ICT in school education. Across the ICILS countries, three out of every five teachers said they used computers at least once a week when teaching, while four out of every five reported using computers on a weekly basis for other work at their schools. As we commented in an earlier chapter, it is not possible to judge whether the reported level of use was appropriate, but we can agree that it was extensive.

Teachers in most countries were experienced users of ICT and generally recognized the positive aspects of using ICT in teaching and learning at school, especially with respect to accessing and managing information. On balance, teachers reported generally positive attitudes toward the use of ICT, although many teachers were aware that ICT use could have some detrimental aspects, such as adversely affecting students’ development of writing, calculation, and estimation skills.

In general, teachers were confident about their ability to use many computer applications; two thirds of them expressed confidence in their ability to use these technologies for assessing and monitoring student progress. There were differences, however, among countries in the level of confidence that teachers expressed with regard to using computer technologies, and younger teachers tended to be more confident ICT users than their older colleagues.

A substantial majority of the ICILS teachers were using ICT in their teaching. This use was greatest among teachers who were confident about their ICT expertise and who were working in school environments where there was collaboration about and planning of ICT use, and where there were fewer resource limitations to that use. These were also the conditions that supported teaching CIL. These findings suggest that if schools are to develop students’ CIL to the greatest possible extent, then teacher expertise in ICT use needs to be augmented, and ICT use needs to be supported by collaborative environments that incorporate institutional planning.

According to the ICILS teachers, the utilities (software) most frequently used in their respective reference classes were those concerned with wordprocessing, presentations, and computer-based information resources, such as websites, wikis, and encyclopedias. Teachers said that, within their classrooms, ICT was most commonly being used by their students to search for information, work on short assignments, and undertake individual work on learning materials. The survey data also suggest that ICT was often being used to present information in class and reinforce skills. Overall, teachers appeared to be using ICT most frequently for relatively simple tasks and less often for more complex tasks.

Schools and CIL

Data from the ICT-coordinator questionnaire showed that, in general, the schools participating in ICILS were well equipped in terms of internet-related and software resources. The types of computer resources available for use were more variable, however, with countries being less likely to have on hand tablet devices, a school intranet, internet-based applications for collaborative work, and a learning management system.

An examination of the ratio of number of students in a school per available computers showed substantial differences across countries. Ten of the 16 countries that met sampling requirements had more computers per student available in rural settings than in urban schools. We investigated the association between CIL and the ratio of students to computers in schools across countries and found that students from countries with greater access to computing in schools tended to have stronger CIL skills.

Computers in schools were most often located in computer laboratories and libraries. However, there was some variation among countries as to whether portable class-sets of computers or student computers brought to class were being used. Most schools had policies about the use of ICT, but there was substantial cross-country variation regarding policies relating to access to school computers for both students and members of the local community. The same can be said with regard to provision of laptops and other mobile learning devices for use at school or home.

The ICT-coordinators reported a range of hindrances to teaching and learning ICT. These typically related to resource provision and to personnel and teaching support. In general, the coordinators rated personnel and teaching support issues as more problematic than resource issues. However, there was considerable variation across schools within countries and across countries in the types of limitation arising from resource inadequacy.

Variation was also evident in the level of teachers’ agreement with negatively worded statements about the use of ICT in teaching at school. Statements reflecting insufficient time to prepare ICT-related lessons, schools not viewing ICT as a priority, and insufficient technical support to maintain ICT resources all attracted relatively high levels of teacher agreement.

Both teachers and principals provided perspectives on the range of professional development activities relevant to pedagogical use of ICT. According to principals, teachers were most likely to participate in school-provided courses on pedagogical use of ICT, to talk about this type of use when they were within groups of teachers, and to discuss ICT use in education as a regular item during meetings of teaching staff. From the teachers’ perspective, the most common professional development activities available included observing other teachers using ICT in their teaching, introductory courses on general applications, and sharing and evaluating digital resources with others via a collaborative work space.

Results from the multivariate analyses

These results showed that students’ experience with computers as well as regular home-based use of computers had significant positive effects in many countries, even after we had controlled for the influence of personal and social context. ICT resources, particularly the number of computers at home, no longer had effects once we took socioeconomic background into account.

Only a few countries recorded significant influences of school-level variables on CIL, and some of these associations were not significant after we controlled for the effect of the school’s socioeconomic context.

In a number of education systems, the extent of students’ computer use (at home) and the extent to which students had learned about ICT-related tasks at school appeared to be influencing students’ CIL. There is much potential here for secondary analyses directed toward further investigating the associations between CIL education and CIL outcomes within countries.

Reflections on policy and practice

The findings from ICILS 2013 can be considered to constitute two broad categories: the nature and measurement of CIL, and factors that relate to CIL proficiency.

ICILS has provided a description of the competencies underpinning CIL that incorporates the notions of being able to safely and responsibly access and use digital information as well as to produce and develop digital products. ICILS has also provided an empirically derived scale and description of the CIL learning progress that can be used to anchor interpretations of learning in this field. It furthermore provides a common language and framework that policymakers and scholars can use when deliberating about CIL education. This common framework and associated measurement scale also offer a basis for understanding variation in CIL at present and for monitoring change in the CIL that results from developments in policy and practice over time.

Some of the findings of this report are similar to those of crossnational studies in other learning areas. For example, students from economically and socially advantaged backgrounds typically have higher levels of achievement. However, other findings relate specifically to the development of CIL through education.

One question raised by the ICILS results relates to the place of CIL in the curriculum. While many countries have some form of subject and curriculum associated with CIL, responsibility for addressing and assessing the relevant learning outcomes is less clear. Countries generally appear to use a combination of information technology or computer studies classes together with the expectation that the learning outcomes associated with CIL are a crosscurricular responsibility shared across discipline-based subjects.

The ICILS data show that teaching emphases relating to CIL outcomes were most frequently being addressed in technology or computer studies classes and in (natural) sciences and human sciences or humanities classes. Teachers and students differed in their perceptions of computer use across the subjects. Queries remain, however, about how schools maintain the continuity, completeness, and coherence of their CIL education programs. This last concern had particular relevance in several ICILS countries, where there was only limited, nonobligatory assessment of CIL-related competences, or where assessment took place only at the school level.

A second question relates to the role of ICT resource availability and its relationship to CIL. Overall, the ICILS data suggest that increased access to ICT resources at home and school are associated with higher levels of CIL, but only up to a certain point, as is evident at the different levels of our analyses. At the student level, each additional computer at home was associated with an increase in CIL. At the national level, higher average levels of CIL were associated with higher country rankings on the ICT Development Index (see Chapter 1 ), and lower ratios of students to computers. These associations are somewhat difficult to interpret fully given that higher levels of CIL resourcing are typically associated with higher levels of economic development, which itself has a strong positive association with CIL.

The ICILS results also suggest that the knowledge, skills, and understandings that comprise CIL can and should be taught. To some extent, this conclusion challenges perspectives of young people as digital natives with a self-developed capacity to use digital technology. Even though we can discern in the ICILS findings high levels of access to ICT and high levels of use by young people in and (especially) outside school, we need to remain aware of the large variations in CIL proficiency within and across the ICILS countries.

The CIL construct combines information literacy, critical thinking, technical skills, and communication skills applied across a range of contexts and for a range of purposes. The variations in CIL proficiency show that while some of the young people participating in ICILS were independent and critical users of ICT, there were many who were not. As the volume of computer-based information available to young people continues to increase, so too will the onus on societies to critically evaluate the credibility and value of that information.

Changing and more sophisticated technologies (such as social media and mobile technologies) are increasing the ability of young people to communicate with one another and publish information to a worldwide audience in real time. This facility obliges individuals to consider what is ethically appropriate and to determine how to maximize the communicative efficacy of information products. The knowledge, skills, and understandings that are the basis of the receptive and productive aspects of CIL can and need to be taught and learned through coherent education programs. The knowledge, skills, and understandings described in the CIL scale show that, regardless of whether or not we consider young people to be digital natives, we would be naive to expect them to develop CIL in the absence of coherent learning programs.

One message from the ICILS teacher data is that a certain set of factors appears to influence their confidence in using ICT and integrating CIL in their teaching. It is therefore worth repeating here that teachers’ ICT use was greatest when the teachers were confident about their expertise and were working in school environments that collaborated on and planned ICT use and had few if any resource limitations hindering that use. These were also the conditions that supported teachers’ ability to teach CIL.

Once threshold levels of ICT resourcing have been met in a school, we suggest that system- and school-level resourcing and planning should focus on increasing teacher expertise in ICT use. Attention should also be paid to implementing supportive collaborative environments that incorporate institutional planning focused on using ICT and teaching CIL in schools.

ICILS also showed differences in teacher attitudes toward and self-efficacy in using ICT in their teaching. Older teachers typically held less positive views than younger teachers about using ICT and expressed lower confidence in their ability to use ICT in their teaching practice. Programs developed to support teachers gain the skills and confidence they need to use ICT effectively would be valuable for all teachers. Consideration should also be given to ensuring that these programs meet the requirements of older teachers and, in some instances, directly target these teachers.

The ICILS results also call into question some of the idealized images commonly associated with visions of ICT in teaching and learning. In ICILS, both students and teachers were asked about students’ use of computers in classes. Students reported most frequently using computers to “prepare reports or essays” and “prepare presentations” in class, and using utilities to “create or edit documents” out of school. When teachers were asked to report on their own use of ICT in teaching, the two practices reported as most frequent were “presenting information through direct class instruction” and “reinforcing learning of skills through repetition of examples.” Although teachers reported high levels of access to and use of ICT in their professional work, including in the classroom, the ICILS data suggest that computers were most commonly being used to access digital textbooks and workbooks rather than provide dynamic, interactive pedagogical tools.

In a similar vein, one of the intended benefits of ICT, particularly web-technologies, is to support collaboration on tasks. Overall, the school-based use of ICT to support collaboration was not extensive. Low prevalence of ICT use was reported by teachers for practices such as “collaborating with parents or guardians in supporting students’ learning,” “enabling students to collaborate with other students (within or outside school),” and “mediating communication between students and experts or external mentors.” Furthermore, the majority of teachers (and in the majority of countries) who participated in ICILS reported that ICT “limits the amount of personal communication among students,” a finding which suggests not only that teachers were not using ICT to support collaboration, but also that they believed ICT use inhibits communication among students.

Future directions for research

The ICILS data clearly show that the contexts for CIL education vary across countries, as do the influences of factors at the individual, school, and country levels on CIL. One approach to secondary analyses of the ICILS data by scholars could be to investigate, build, and test models that explain variations in CIL within ICILS countries. Examples of areas of interest are the impact of school and teaching approaches on the development of CIL in students and the related aspects of teacher professional learning that may contribute to building capacity for CIL education development.

One challenge in identifying the relationship between ICT resourcing and CIL proficiency is that, because ICT resourcing is expensive, it typically disappears as an explanatory factor in regression models once socioeconomic background factors are accounted for. This happens at the level of the student and also in the school. Further research using the ICILS data may uncover alternative ways of better describing the relationship between ICT resource availability and CIL proficiency.

Finally, ICILS has provided a baseline study for future measurement of CIL and CIL education across countries. A future cycle of ICILS could be developed to support measurement of trends in CIL as well as maintain the study’s relevance to innovations in software, hardware, and delivery technologies. Some possibilities for future iterations of ICILS could include internet delivery of the assessment, accommodation of “bring your own device” (BYOD) in schools, adapting a version for use on tablet devices, and incorporating contemporary and relevant software environments, such as multimedia and gaming. The key to the future of such research is to maintain a strong link to the core elements of the discipline while accommodating the new contexts in which CIL achievement can be demonstrated.

These tasks can be described as discrete because, although they are connected by the common narrative, students can complete each one sequentially without having to explicitly refer to other tasks.

Nonlinear skills tasks require students to execute a software command (or reach a desired outcome) by executing subcommands in a number of different sequences. The ICILS Assessment Framework (Fraillon et al., 2013 ) provides further information about the ICILS task and question types.

Especially those related to socioeconomic status, which include measures of parental occupational status, parental educational attainment, and the number of books in the home.

Such as gender, students’ expected highest level of education, and whether or not the language of testing/instruction is also spoken at home.

Fraillon, J., Schulz, W., & Ainley, J. (2013). International Computer and Information Literacy Study assessment framework . Amsterdam, the Netherlands: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Retrieved from http://www.iea.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Electronic_versions/ICILS_2013_Framework.pdf

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Fraillon, J., Ainley, J., Schulz, W., Friedman, T., Gebhardt, E. (2014). Conclusions and Discussion. In: Preparing for Life in a Digital Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14222-7_10

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ICT ASSIGNMENT 1

The aim of this assignment is to discuss the key innovations of the last ten years that have affected education technology. It will also explain the importance of these key innovations for all secondary school teachers, also a summary of education technology best practices, key challenges to these types of best practices faced by real world in secondary schools and challenges and contribution in facilitating and improving students' performance. After discussing the questions above, the conclusion and reference page will be established. Enger (2007:30) states that, educational technology is " the study and ethical practice sof facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources ". Atkinson (2007), also states that, educational technology is " a field of study that investigates the process of analyzing, and designing developing, implementing, and evaluating the instructional environment and learning materials in order to improve teaching and learning ". Therefore, educational technology is the use of both physical hardware and educational theoretics. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer-based training, online learning and where mobile technologies are used. It is important to keep or to know it that the purpose of educational technology also referred to as instructional technology is to improve education. However, education technology is important for all secondary school teachers because secondary school teachers are the drivers of secondary schools. Secondary school teachers have a responsibility to introduce, encourage and help pupils master technology, as well as subjects, as it applies to school and the future. Technology will be used in every aspect of the professional lives of current students, (Enger, 2007:35). Furthermore, by secondary teachers using educational technology, the classroom can be taken anywhere with all the knowledge and resources contained and deliverable on demand on a mobile device, pupils can learn at home or in the field. Mobile technology allows for greater collaboration between students promoting strong foundations in group work. Secondary teachers they have got responsibility of making sure that, pupils or learners are using this technology so that they can have access to any soft copy materials. Mobile technology helps learners a lot.

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Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here? (2017)

Chapter: 7 conclusion, 7 conclusion.

Progress in many of the basic computing and information technologies has been rapid in recent years, and the committee does not expect the pace of change to slow down in the foreseeable future. While some technologies are reaching maturity now, many important technologies have enormous future potential. As more of the world’s information is digitized and more people and things are networked, the economics of the digital, networked economy will become ever more important. This includes the ability to make copies of goods and services at almost zero cost and deliver them anywhere on the planet almost instantaneously. Furthermore, digitization of products, services, processes, and interactions makes it possible to measure and manage work with far more precision. Data-driven decision making and machine learning provide vast opportunities for improving productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and innovation.

The committee expects important innovations to come in the area of artifical intelligence (AI) and robotics. Several decades ago, humans were unable to converse with machines using ordinary speech; now it is done routinely. Machines are learning to effectively translate from one language to another, a task once seen only in science fiction. We are moving from an era where machines were blind, unable to recognize even simple objects, to an era where they can distinguish faces, read street signs, and understand the content of photographs as well as—or better than—humans. They are being put to work reading X-ray and MRI images, advising doctors on potential drug interactions, helping lawyers

sift through documents, and composing simple stories about sports and finance for newspapers. Machines are becoming much better at reasoning and can now defeat the best humans at most games of skill, from checkers and chess to trivia and Go. Machines are learning to drive cars, which could potentially save thousands of lives in the United States and millions worldwide. Bipedal robots are learning to navigate stairs and uneven terrain, while their cheetah-like brethren can outrun even the fastest humans. Many of the technologies with the greatest impact will likely look unlike any human or animal, but will transport shelves of inventory throughout warehouses, assemble basic electronics in factories, fly to disaster zones with medicine, swim beneath the waves to gather data for oceanographers, and haunt computer networks in search of cyberattacks. In fact, many of these exist in some form already, although they are likely to become more widespread and more competent.

While there are undoubtedly important technological breakthroughs to come, it is critical to note that the technologies that exist today and those under active development have important implications for the workforce. They create opportunities for new products, services, organizational processes, and business models as well as opportunities for automating existing tasks, even whole occupations. Many cognitive and physical tasks will be replaced by machines. At the same time, we expect new job opportunities to emerge as increasingly capable combinations of humans and machines attack problems that previously have been intractable.

Advances in IT and automation will present opportunities to boost America’s overall income and wealth, improve health care, shorten the work week, develop new goods and services, and increase product safety and reliability.

These same advances could also lead to growing inequality, decreased job stability, increasing demands on workers to change jobs, and changes in business organization. There are also important implications for other aspects of society, both intended and unintended, not the least of which include potentially profound changes in education, privacy, security, social relationships, and even democracy.

The ultimate effects of these technologies are not predetermined. Rather, like all tools, computing and information technologies can be used in many different ways. The outcomes for the workforce and society at large depend on our choices. Technology can be a powerful tool. What do we want for our future society? How do we decide this?

Potential future technological capabilities and innovations are largely unpredictable, and their implications and interactions are complex. Investing in extensive and effective data gathering, a robust infrastructure for analyzing these data, and multidisciplinary research will enable a deeper

understanding of emerging changes in technology and the workforce. The results of this research will inform the adoption of policies that will help maximize the resilience and prosperity of the institutions, organizations, and individuals in our society.

Recent years have yielded significant advances in computing and communication technologies, with profound impacts on society. Technology is transforming the way we work, play, and interact with others. From these technological capabilities, new industries, organizational forms, and business models are emerging.

Technological advances can create enormous economic and other benefits, but can also lead to significant changes for workers. IT and automation can change the way work is conducted, by augmenting or replacing workers in specific tasks. This can shift the demand for some types of human labor, eliminating some jobs and creating new ones. Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce explores the interactions between technological, economic, and societal trends and identifies possible near-term developments for work. This report emphasizes the need to understand and track these trends and develop strategies to inform, prepare for, and respond to changes in the labor market. It offers evaluations of what is known, notes open questions to be addressed, and identifies promising research pathways moving forward.

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Information and Communication Technology in Education

Globalization and technological change has created a new global economy which is powered by information and communication technology. Information and communication technology have become the basis for educational reform. This paper discusses ‘The use of information and communication technology in education’. Information and communications technology transforms the conventional educational system to a more modern and a better quality system. Information and communication technology helps transform the educational system in several ways. According to Cox (1997), information and communications technology helps in increasing the motivation levels of the students. Information and communication technology makes use of a combination of things and hence helps students learn faster.

Moreover, through networking information and communication technology can not only reuse the information again and again but this also increases learners motivation and helps students to participate in real world events. Information and communication technology also helps in a faster transfer of knowledge and skills (Intel, 2008). On the other hand ICT also helps in training teachers and instructors. It has been found out that the use of information and communication technology in educational institutions can empower students and hence motivate them to learn. The proper use of information and communication technology can change the teacher centred conventional method of teaching to a more learner centred or student centred learning. Hacking is an important issue in using information and communication technology in education. Equity in the use of information and communication technology is yet another issue in the education system. Information and communication technology supports active and collaborative learning. ICT enhanced learning promotes integrative approach to teaching and learning.

Use of Information and Communication Technology in Education

Introduction.

Technological change has been fostered in the past decade due to the increasing use of internet and communication technology. More and more people have started using internet as compares to before. In the first decade of its official beginning or its advent, internet was mainly used for research purposes. Even though almost all of the facilities of internet were present at that time, it was difficult for a common man to use it for quite many reasons. One important reason was the high initial cost of the equipment. On the other hand, only people who mastered UNIX operating system had the privilege of using the internet. However, today with user friendly windows systems and cheaper rates of computer equipments, computers and internet is available to all. In 1989, Tim Berners had tried very hard to make internet accessible to all by making the use of internet easy, however it was really in 1993 when the actual mass use of internet began. (Naughton, 2001)

Globalization and technological change has created a new global economy which is powered by information and communication technology. This technological change has brought serious concerns for educational institutions. Information and communication technology have become the basis for educational reform. This paper discusses ‘ The use of information and communication technology in education ’. How it represents educational transformations, how this transformation embeds the meaning of change in organizations and what are the pros and cons of such education, are a few questions which will be answered in this paper.

According to the World Bank

“ ICTs consist of hardware, software, networks and media for collection, storage, processing, transmission, and presentation of information (including voice, data, text and images” (World Bank, 2003).

Hence in other words it can be said that Information and communications technology is used to create, store and manage information. It includes computers, internet and even radio and television (Blurton, 2002).

Historical background

It was in 1980s when relatively low cost microcomputers were available. Due to this the issue of the use of information and communication technology in education was brought up. In the 1980s, the term microcomputer was used for information and communication technology which was later replaced by IT and then finally ICT. In 1992 e-mails started to become popular and the schools and colleges started to accept it as a quicker medium of information sharing. It was expected that microcomputers will make education more effective. However researches reflect that information and communication technology is merely a supplement to the existing curriculum and cannot fully replace it (RUCST, n.d). However, the governments of the developing nations are constantly trying to raise the educational standards be embedding information and communication technology in the curriculum. For this reason the ‘New Relationships’ plan which was announced in 2004 has suggested the government of UK to share management information nationwide with the help of internet technology (Bromley Information management strategy, 2006).

Information technology and education

Information and communications technology transforms the conventional educational system to a more modern and a better quality system. Information and communication technology helps transform the educational system in several ways. It not only motivates the learner but also facilitates this learning process (Haddad, 2002). The acquisition of basic skills in ICT is relatively easier and lead to a more creative human being.

According to Cox (1997), ICT helps in increasing the motivation levels of the students. It is true that students easily get bored with conventional teaching methods and if new methods of teaching are introduced which make use of ICT, it can definitely increase the motivation level of the students. This change can be noted by the positive effect on the behaviour and skills of the students (Comber, 2002).

Information and communication technology makes use of a combination of things and hence helps students learn faster. For example in a slide show put up with the help of a projector, information and communication technology makes use of text, images, motion and sometimes sound to motivate and pursue the learning process and hence transforms the traditional education system. Moreover, through networking information and communication technology can not only reuse the information again and again but this also increases learners motivation and helps students to participate in real world events. information and communication technology also helps in a faster transfer of knowledge and skills (Intel, 2008).

For example: television programs like sesame street not only helped children learn alphabets and words with the use of text, sound, colours and shapes but was relatively a faster way of learning too. This also motivated children to learn. On the other hand ICT also helps in training teachers and instructors. For example the Cyber teacher training centre (CTTC) developed in Korea provides a better way of vocational training for teachers. This training program helps the teachers to think creatively and bringing new ideas for teaching the students. Moreover, it also saves time as the teachers do not have to gather in a face to face meeting (Jung, 2002).It is essential for the teachers to have technology literacy so that they can impart this knowledge to their students. This includes use of computers, internet, web content and other networking and software programs (United Nations, 2008).

Even with so many benefits the use of ICT in education is not up to standard. According to a survey, the teachers use ICT mainly for word processing purposes rather then bringing in innovative methods of teaching. On the other hand the use of e-mail for contacting parents and information sharing has increased, but yet again needs improvement. The survey also reflected that the use of Information and communication technology in school’s classrooms was also very minimal. The graph below shows the how often IT is used in class. (Amas, 2008).When the respondents were asked how often they use ICT in the class it can be seen that 24% said that at least once a week and there were 45% who said never. This reflects the negligence in case of Information and communication technology use in classrooms.

It was then asked whether these schools had a website. The following pie chart reflects the number of schools having a website. In the primary schools almost 61% did not have website where as in secondary school almost 16%.

It has been found out that the use of information and communication technology in educational institutions can empower students and hence motivate them to learn. The proper use of information and communication technology can change the teacher centred conventional method of teaching to a more learner centred or student centred learning. However, even with so many advantages associated with the use of information and communication technology in education; there are some pedagogical issues too which can impact the education system in a negative way.

Hacking is an important issue in using information and communication technology in education. Students can hack into teacher’s computers and find the examination papers archived or can hack in to each other’s computers to cheat on tests or homework. Teachers who use information and communication technology in their classrooms have noticed that students can lose concentration if they fall prey to any kind of distraction which can come from the use of internet or the simple use of computer. Equity in the use of information and communication technology is yet another issue in the education system. The access to the computers, internet etc should not be favoured and each student should be able to access the ICT facilities equally.

An increase in the costs associated with the installation, damages and repairing can increase with the use of ICT in education. Hence, the biggest disadvantage of using ICT in educational institutions is the increased cost which might be a result of this implementation and might recur in future. Another issue which has been under discussion is the difference between the developed and underdeveloped nations which might result in inequity in the use of ICT in classrooms. Another disadvantage associated with the use of ICT in education is the need for having the same technology at home in order to access the information. This might not be possible for some students and hence traditional teachers believe that computers might never be able to replace teachers. Use of ICT results in decreased interaction of students as they tend to break down into smaller groups in an ICT embedded classroom.

The use in education

Information and communication technology supports active and collaborative learning. It helps the students to manipulate current information which is available at fingertips to remain updated and connect to the world. They can compare themselves with other students all over the world. ICT enhanced learning promotes integrative approach to teaching and learning. As ICT based learning is usually student based, therefore it helps the students to explore and learn rather than just sit and listen to the information being poured to them. The level of information absorbed in and ICT embedded classroom depends on the technology being used. According to Haddad (2002), there are five levels of technology which can be used in a classroom. This is presentation, demonstration, drill, practice, interaction and collaboration.

Here are a few advantages of ICT use in education.

• It not only increases students’ motivation towards studies but also increases the teacher’s enthusiasm to teach (Becta, 1998).
• Increases the c communication effectiveness between pupil and teachers (Becta, 2002)
• Enhanced and frequent feedback from the parents and student help the teachers to increase the motivation of students to study
• Parents can be as more involved in the student activities and can even have virtual meeting with the teachers which can enhance the level of communication (Flecknoe, 2001)
• Material and information can be easily shared by teachers and students
• Students have an increased sense of commitment, achievement and self worth (Cox, 1997)

The following reflects and summarizes the main advantages of using information technology in education.

From the above research it can be concluded that information and communication technology plays a very important role in education. With more use of this in the classrooms, the entire education system can be reformed. The use of information and communication technology helps boost the morale and increase the motivation level of students. Children are always ready to do something new. Introducing new methods of teaching and use of multimedia in classroom will help the students learn more. It is truly said that a picture is better than a thousand words; therefore it will take a teacher sometime to explain a certain phenomenon to children, whereas the use of visual aid will make it easier with a long lasting impact in the minds of the children.

Amas (2008). Education and ICT. Web.

Blurton, C., “New Directions of ICT-Use in Education”.

Bromley information management strategy (2006) ICT in education (administration) development plan (2004-2006). Education and libraries directorate.

COMBER, C., et al., 2002. ImpaCT2: learning at home and school: case studies. ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation Series,No. 8, DfES/Becta. Web.

Cox. J., 1997. Effects of information technology on students’ motivation: final report. NCET.

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Information Technology and Ethics/Conclusion

Conclusion [ edit | edit source ].

Privacy is a major concern in today's world with respect to our information and its chances of getting breached. Sharing information over the internet will not always ensure privacy as the internet is vast and deeply interconnected. However, we can put efforts into achieving privacy. Data protection comes through laws, policies, principles, and regulations. One such regulation is GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), whose primary purpose is to make companies or organizations accountable to users' data and reinforce the control of users on their personal data. GDPR can implement principles on how the user's data should be processed.

Apart from data protection in general terms, privacy plays a vital role in the healthcare industry. Because health care research and security assurance are essentially significant to society, it is a fundamental duty to save patient's data and privileges in order to enhance human health and medicinal services. Another reason for securing the individual's privacy is to build the interest of people to provide their data for clinical research for further study, which can increasingly help in improvising the research process. In return, this becomes more favorable to society in the way of encouraging access to new treatments, upgrading diagnostics, and thus drastically putting irresistible efforts towards forestall diseases. Privacy in health care includes different angles such as physical security this can be personal space, information of individuals, and decisional information.

The success or failure of a financial service firm can depend on how it balances the use of confidential customer information while maintaining privacy. To capitalize on emerging growth opportunities, financial firms need to be flexible in sharing confidential customer data—whether across different departments, affiliated partners, or non-affiliated third parties such as technology or outsourcing firms, while complying with regulations and protecting the company’s reputation. The key lies in this delicate balance between data sharing flexibility and maintaining data privacy.

Kids are often attracted by the lure of online games and social media. Children must be reminded never to share personally identifiable information or financial details with online applications or services and teach them the difference between safe and malicious applications. Popular social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok require users to be at least 13 years old to sign up, however, many underage users still join. The 13 year old age limit comes from the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Educate children about the impacts of sharing sensitive details on social media and the risks of interacting with strangers online. If one wishes to monitor your children’s online activity, use parental controls on their device.

Without the cooperation or assistance of social media giants, privacy in social media is not completely achievable because it is entirely dependable on how they modify their settings and policies in the interest of the users' data protection provided with all the laws and regulations placed. Irrespective of how sophisticated or user friendly the platform is made, it is not as powerful as its users because ultimately its revenue is made through the users who are active on these social media platforms, which can be utilized to raise their voices which makes them codependent. Thus with changing times, many advanced technologies are getting invented through which privacy issues can still be persistent. This is a constant battle that can only be controlled through stringent laws and regulations, which includes creating awareness among consumers to champion their own privacy rights.

Privacy in finances is also very important. Whether they are protecting their own financial information, or they work at a financial institution and are protecting others, they have both a legal and ethical responsibility of the utmost importance to maintain. One of the most important things for people to do to keep finances safe is take good care of protecting private credentials. With those credentials, malicious actors can simply pose as someone they're not, and do whatever they want with the financial information they access. Also, if this privacy is violated, organizations with any sort of presence in the EU could face at minimum a €20 million fine.

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ICT-Enabled Mobile Work: Challenges and Opportunities for Occupational Health and Safety Systems

Associated data.

The development and dissemination of new technologies has brought forward a rise in flexible work arrangements, such as mobile work. In the literature, mobile work has mostly been discussed from a microergonomic perspective, considering detachment, stress, strain, and life-domain balance. However, the macroergonomic or institutional perspectives have often been neglected, although for occupational health and safety (OHS) management, as well as occupational health and safety systems, many questions remain unanswered. Therefore, in the present paper, information and communication technologies (ICT)-enabled mobile work is described taking into account institutional and regulative, as well as company-related, requirements. As the literature-based analysis was able to show, existing regulations cover many aspects of mobile work arrangements but also offer starting points for a more concrete protection of mobile workers. Furthermore, there are challenges regarding the enforcement of regulation. In this regard, new technologies might offer the chance to improve the interactions between institutional and company-related occupational health and safety systems. Additionally, 278 co-funded research projects in Germany were categorized, yielding 18 projects on new ways of work, of which another eleven projects addressed different aspects of mobile work. The project analysis revealed that current research focuses on tools and strategies for designing communication and cooperation. In conclusion, the examination of research trends can be used to generate new knowledge for better OHS management and effective OHS systems.

1. Introduction

New developments in sensor technology, robotics, and the rise of cyber-physical systems have been termed Industry 4.0. For industry 4.0, the central technology is not the computer but the internet. Along with worldwide networking across company or country borders, the digitization of production is taking on a new quality that triggers and enables new forms of work organization [ 1 ]. For many employees, this means being able to work more detached from physical workplaces. Especially jobs in the service industry or highly qualified jobs are being transferred off the worksite, an evolving trend [ 2 ] that very recently has been reinforced by the spread of the Coronavirus. About 70% of HR managers from almost 500 companies indicated in a survey that their “office workers” worked at least partially from home [ 3 ]. According to a survey initiated by Eurofound, 36.9% of respondents from Germany reported that they started to work from home as a result of the situation, while only 16.7% of respondents indicated to have already worked from home before the outbreak [ 4 ].

As will be shown in the course of the study, research on flexible work arrangements identified both advantages, as well as disadvantages, on the individual, social, and organizational levels [ 5 ]. However, several shortcomings with regards to occupational health and safety (OHS) structures and instruments have been identified. On a company level, questions that need to be answered revolve around the organization of flexible work arrangements, as well as their risk assessments. On an institutional level, there is concern on how regulations can be enforced. In this regard, some authors have observed an increasing invisibility of occupational health and safety in the digitized world of work, because occupational health and safety practitioners, as well as institutional agents, are increasingly losing access to employees who were previously situated at the employer’s premises [ 6 ]. In the same vein, it was pointed out that fractured labor markets (including home-based work or multi-employer worksites) constitute difficulties in ensuring standards, allocating responsibility, and enforcing laws [ 7 ].

The challenge of flexible work arrangements is furthermore aggravated by a lack of adequate instruments and understanding of psychosocial problems, because the traditional perspective of OHS in terms of physically measurable hazards and technical solutions is still prevailing [ 8 ]. As an example, the latest European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) found that, across all sectors, procedures for stress prevention were available for only about 30% of the workplaces [ 9 ]. In a German sample, only 21% of companies conducted a psychosocial risk assessment [ 10 ].

For the purpose of this paper, the focus rests on flexible work arrangements and, specifically, mobile work. Mobile work can be understood as work that is tied neither to the workplace at home nor to the workplace at the company worksite, for it is strongly relying on (mobile) information and communication technologies (ICT). If mobile work takes place at home, it can be differentiated between telework and home office. The first is characterized by a fixed workplace in the home of the employee, which is (often) equipped with the support of the employer. Another main characteristic of telework can be seen in a contractual agreement with regards to its duration and extent between employer and employee [ 11 ]. A home office or work from home (WFH) is practiced in a less-regulated fashion. In the course of the article, we will refer to mobile work or remote working as the more generic terms and refer specifically to WFH or telework if necessary.

According to the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), most employees (about 70%) report to have a single regular workplace. Employees with multiple worksites (30%) indicated to be working at the client’s/customer’s or patient’s place, at home, or even underway. Public places such as coffee shops were less frequently visited for work purposes [ 12 ]. Similarly, in a representative survey on working times, 75% of German employees stated that their workplace was not mobile [ 13 ]. With regards to mobile workers, data from the last EWCS showed that traditional occupations such as in construction or agriculture still account for the majority of mobile workers [ 14 ]. Focusing specifically on telework, the latest Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung/ Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BIBB/BAuA) employee survey by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBB) and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) that is representative for Germany found that about 12% of employees work from home as teleworkers [ 15 ]. However, it can be assumed that the proportion increases if noncontractually regulated mobile work was also included. On a European level, 13% of the company’s representatives indicated that some of their employees work from home in ESENER 2, thus showing comparable results for EU28 [ 16 ]. As the data from BIBB/BAuA indicated, the proportion of telework has increased over the course of the last years [ 15 ]. It is suggested that this increase cannot be attributed solely to demographic changes or a shift towards knowledge work [ 17 ].

Drawing upon ICT use outside of the employer’s premises, the EWCS differentiates teleworkers (as those working mainly from home) from mobile workers (working at multiple sites). According to the EWCS data, “around 9% of workers in the EU use ICT outside of the employer’s premises: 2% telework mainly from home and 7% are exclusively ICT-mobile workers” [ 12 ] (p. 86). ICT mobile workers were found often in the financial service sector, as well as at higher occupational levels (e.g., managers) [ 12 ]. Again, this result is mirrored by data from the German working time survey. About 3% of respondents indicated their work was not bound to a specific place. The majority of this subsample was employees in knowledge-intensive occupations such as computer sciences [ 13 ]. With regards to knowledge workers, there does not seem to be a great escape into public places. The employer’s premise remains the preferred workplace, and the extension of office boundaries mostly encompasses the home [ 14 ].

As the current numbers show, the single workplace remains the prevailing form of workplace organization. However, there is a growing part of employees reporting to work mobile based on the use of ICT. Hence, in the present study, we will be answering the question if OHS systems in their current form of regulation are able to protect workers sufficiently from hazards introduced by mobile work. Furthermore, we will present a new approach to identifying what knowledge is available and needed to provide an effective means of protection. Therefore, the paper firstly describes the development of a framework for OHS, as well as the methodological approach used for the project analysis. Following this, the current regulations regarding mobile work from an institutional and company-level point of view are described based on the framework, and the results of the qualitative analysis of research projects conducted in Germany are presented in order to deduce approaches for the design of mobile work with regards to health and safety. Both aspects are jointly discussed, and recommendations for the design of OSH systems are proposed.

The present study’s aim was twofold. On the one hand, a framework for describing OHS on an institutional and company level was developed and used for the analysis of mobile work. On the other hand, a project analysis was conducted for identifying the current research endeavors regarding the design of mobile work. Therefore, different methodological approaches were followed.

2.1. Development of a Framework for OHS on an Institutional and Company Level

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention C187 for a promotional framework for occupational safety and health, a national OHS system is based on a national policy, national system, and a national program, as well as a national safety culture [ 18 ]. The framework presented herein relies on an adaption of the ILO’s promotional framework and consists of an institutional level composed of policy and strategy, agents who are responsible for enforcing a special set of rules, and regulations referring to occupational health and safety, as can be seen in Figure 1 .

Framework for occupational health and safety (OHS) systems based on the institutional and organizational levels.

The second level of the framework refers to the company, which is understood in terms of the organizational, social, and individual levels. In this regard, the organizational level represents factors such as technical equipment, company-wide rules, processes, and structures playing an important role for OHS. The social level refers to the interactions and communications between employees and includes teamwork or leadership. On the individual level, OHS-related aspects such as demands and resources, skills, and competences are taken into account.

A literature review and a regulations analysis regarding mobile work were used to fill the framework with content and describe the different points of view embedded in the institutional and company-level OHS systems.

2.2. Project Analysis

For the project analysis, we focused on a nationally funded line of research that was initiated by the German Ministry for Education and Research in 2015. Since then, the funding program called “innovations for production, service industries and future work” continuously funds research on production systems, service industries, and the future of work. Within the last five years, several calls on specific topics have been issued. The whole program is supposed to be stocked with a funding volume of almost a billion Euro [ 19 ]. For all calls, independent experts evaluated project suggestions according to predefined specifications, such as novelty, consortium, and expected impact [ 20 ]. For projects to be deemed fundable, research questions have to be proposed by a consortium composed of research institutions and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or large company partners. In that way, practice-oriented research and long-term interests in the results are supposed to be secured. Both completed and running projects were taken into consideration, with the latest projects having started in June 2020.

As of 15.07.2020, 278 projects were manually transferred from an online project database into an Excel sheet with information concerning acronyms, short descriptions, weblinks, evaluation of the relevance, relation to OHS, and entry date. In the first step, based on the projects’ short descriptions, they were categorized regarding their relevance into either irrelevant or relevant. The latter included projects whose contents were directly answering questions of institutional and occupational OHS or whose proposed ideas could be transferred to OHS.

In the course of the analysis, an inductively developed classification was applied, in which the projects’ contents and relation to OHS was either classified as:

• New technologies: comprising the description of newly developed technologies like production techniques and artificial intelligence.
• Occupational health and safety management: referring explicitly to possibilities for organizing and managing occupational safety and health, e.g., instructions.
• Forms of employment and flexible work arrangements: solutions and approaches on how to deal with flexibility.
• Business models and management: descriptions of business models or modes of operation in businesses enabled by new technologies (e.g., platforms and horizontal integrations of manufacturers and customers).

Another researcher categorized 50 randomly chosen projects according to their relevance. Cohen’s kappa was used a measurement on the interrater reliability [ 21 ]. The kappa was quite low (κ = 0.22), respectively “fair”, according to the classification of Landis and Koch [ 22 ]. However, as can be seen in the cross-table, which is provided in the Supplementary Materials ( Table S1 ), Rater 1 (S.R.) was stricter with regards to categorizing projects as relevant or irrelevant. Raters talked about differences, and Rater 1 adapted the evaluation strategy for further categorization accordingly.

3. Analysis of OSH-Related Responses to Mobile Work on an Institutional and Company Level in the German Context Using the Framework

As was described in Section 2.1 , the current framework for describing OHS is composed of two levels. On the one hand, there is the institutional level. On the other hand, there is the company level. Both levels and their specifics will be outlined in the next section.

3.1. Institutional Level

The institutional level refers to policy and strategy, agents, and rules. All three elements are described with regards to their requirements for mobile work.

3.1.1. Policy and Strategy

The general understanding of OHS refers to historically grown employment relationships characterized by employees working full-time at the employer’s premises. However, the German coalition agreement for the 19th term of parliament stated the intention to undertake research regarding flexible work arrangements, as well as to focus on occupational safety and health in the context of digitization [ 23 ]. A new dynamic could be observed with the outbreak of the Coronavirus. A right to work from home was discussed controversially [ 24 ]. While employee representatives appreciate the initiative and refer to their own proposition [ 25 ], employer representatives decline the notion. On a European Level, the Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers [ 26 ] can be expected to influence national policy.

Although occupational health and safety in Germany develops positively with regards to occupational accidents [ 27 ], there is a call for new guiding principles regarding the visibility of digitized work, as well as support for OHS agents [ 6 ].

3.1.2. Agents

In our framework, agents refer to institutions and stakeholders of the OHS system. In Germany, the OHS system is based on two pillars. While the federal state is responsible for OHS laws and acts at the national level, the enforcement of these laws is borne by the states (Länder and Bundesländer). Additionally, there are social accident insurance institutions (Berufsgenossenschaften and Unfallkassen) whose main objective is the prevention of occupational accidents and occupational diseases, as well as work-related health risks. The social accident insurance institutions—organized according to industries—enact and implement accident prevention regulations (Unfallverhütungsvorschriften). Another task of accident insurance institutions is rehabilitation and compensation, as well as advising employees and employers on work-related risks [ 28 ].

Flexible work arrangements and, especially, flexible workplaces are challenging for national OHS agents, since access to employees is aggravated. As the results from a qualitative study show, in traditional work arrangements, institutional OHS agents found their way into businesses, even if it was challenging. With increasingly flexible work arrangements, the problem of access is amplified, and knowledge about labor practices gets lost. OHS actors such as inspectors need to find new ways to get access to employees [ 6 ]. During inspections, OHS inspectors should be informed about the number of employees working from workplaces other than the business premises. It is doubted that current modes of inspection are able to provide the necessary level of protection, since new risks often cannot be detected by the examination of records or inspection of single workplaces [ 29 ]. As most OHS inspectors have acquired additional skills on psychosocial demands and risk assessment [ 30 ], an expansion of training in order to capture flexible work arrangements and to gain a shared understanding seems promising.

For accident insurance institutions, insurance legal questions arise if employees work temporarily or permanently off the employer’s premises. In the case of accidents, it has to be established if the accident was task-related or had other reasons. There is a problem of demarcation, since occupational and personal risks overlap [ 31 ]. Furthermore, mobile work and increased ICT use have been identified as a priority, and new prevention concepts on telework and working from home are being developed [ 32 , 33 ].

3.1.3. Rules

The framework furthermore consists of rules and regulations as the means used by institutions to achieve their objectives (e.g., accident prevention and safe workplaces). Generally, it can be stated that the German Occupational Safety and Health Act [ 34 ], as well as the German Working Hours Act [ 35 ], regulate the rights and obligations referring to occupational health and safety at work, as well as working times. These acts are applicable for all workplaces and provide a protective foundation [ 36 ].

However, with the presence of a telework agreement, regulations that are more specific become applicable, such as the German Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV), which requires employers to ensure certain standards of workplace design in terms of working environment and equipment, including work with visual displays [ 37 ]. Mobile work (without a contractual agreement) is explicitly excluded from the regulation in the assumption that it would only occur occasionally and, thus, would not need specific OHS standards. However, as was shown with regards to dissemination, mobile work in general and WFH are gaining importance. Therefore, new approaches to regulation could furthermore increase the level of protection.

3.2. Company Level

The German Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide either unharmful working conditions or the means to reduce possible hazards for life and health [ 34 ]. This national implementation of the Council Directive 89/391/EEC installs occupational risk assessments as a pivotal instrument for employers to identify hazards and implement appropriate preventive means [ 38 ]. This risk assessment has to take into account working tasks, technical factors, the working environment, work organization, and social relations [ 34 ]. However, several studies were able to show that risk assessment is conducted in only about half of German companies, with an immense structural bias in the form of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) lacking to provide risk assessments [ 10 , 39 ]. Furthermore, according to ESENER 2, of those establishments carrying out risk assessments and having reported that employees work from home, only 29% of respondents indicated that risk assessments would also cover the workplaces at home [ 16 ].

Another important instrument is the directive on machinery, which obligates manufacturers of machines to provide information on the machine’s safety, so that employers can ensure that only safe machines are used at the workplace [ 40 ].

OHS management at the company level furthermore obligates employers to appoint OHS practitioners, as well as occupational medicines, for their employees, according to the Occupational Safety Act (Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz, ASiG). Both have to cooperate with employee representatives on OHS-relevant decisions [ 41 ].

Several ordinances and technical standards furthermore specify German national law on occupational health and safety. In addition to European or national legislation, company and employee representatives can lay down company agreements. In cases where the employer is part of an employer’s association and employees are represented by a labor union, collective agreements might be used to regulate aspects such as working times or telework.

3.2.1. Organizational Level

On an organizational level, employers are responsible for their employees’ health and safety. As described in Section 3.2 , they are required to identify threats to life and safety and install respective means if necessary. The occupational risk assessment is a pivotal OHS instrument. In this regard, the introduction of mobile work should be covered by risk assessments. As the Joint German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy (Gemeinsame Deutsche Arbeitsschutzstrategie, GDA) proposed, updates of the risk assessment should be made as soon as there are changes in the task or working environment [ 42 ]. For the case of flexible work arrangements, updating or repeating the risk assessment several months after mobile work has been introduced could be advantageous, since employees would have the chance to get to know the specific demands. Furthermore, the German Occupational Health and Safety Act demands instruction at several instances [ 34 ]. The introduction of mobile work can be seen as such a situation.

To prepare employees for the specifics of mobile work, training courses might be suggested. In a Canadian study, most home-based workers indicated that they had not received any training but appreciated such an offer in order to facilitate the adaption to telework [ 43 ].

Employee representatives and employers can negotiate employment agreements in order to meet company-specific demands that are not addressed by general regulations. In this regard, an analysis of 31 company agreements was able to demonstrate the broad spectrum of contents and solutions, although important aspects such as leadership and corporate culture were not found to be covered thus far [ 44 ]. Additionally, a question that is gaining importance refers to the availability and impact of employee representatives. With an increasingly dispersed workforce, companies have to find ways and means to enable representation.

In summary, the successful implementation of mobile work requires an awareness of the legislation, as well as careful preparation in terms of structures, process, and those involved [ 45 ].

3.2.2. Social Level

On a social level, work processes should be organized in a manner that enable mobile work. Time schedules have to be adapted to provide time for (virtual) meetings, calls, and undisturbed working times. Furthermore, it must be taken into consideration that team processes might be completely altered if there are less face-to-face interactions. Team members report a decrease in performance, either if they are working from home themselves or if a coworker is working from home [ 46 ]. From a managerial perspective, the labor productivity of the team decreases the more time team members spend working from home (with no team member working from home as the reference) [ 46 ]. However, a meta-analysis did not find negative effects on relationships with supervisors and coworkers [ 47 ]. Nevertheless, supervisors and team leaders are challenged to adapt their leadership styles and to incorporate OHS into the distributed work. A recent study was able to show that a leader’s exhibition of health and safety-specific leadership was related to positive outcomes in distributed workers, such as feeling part of the organization or being more proactive in safety matters [ 48 ].

3.2.3. Individual Level

Telework and ICT-based mobile (TICTM) work arrangements offer more autonomy compared to single workplaces outside the home [ 47 , 49 ]. Although remote or flexible workers reported higher organizational commitments, enthusiasm, overall job satisfaction, and work-life balance [ 17 , 47 , 50 , 51 ], main office workers felt more included than home-based workers, workers in satellite offices, and client-based workers [ 52 ]. At the same time, remote workers were shown to spend more effort than fixed-place workers in terms of working hours, work intensity, and voluntary efforts [ 17 ]. The increase in work intensification has also been termed the autonomy paradox [ 49 ]. Generally, increased demands regarding self-organization and decreased detachment were observed [ 53 ]. Negative effects on well-being through interruptions could also be demonstrated [ 51 ]. TICTM workers were more likely to report stress and psychosocial problems, thus indicating risks for mental and physical well-being [ 49 ]. An emerging risk can be seen in a new form of (virtual) presenteeism characterized by mobile workers continuing to work despite sickness [ 49 ], which is also indicated by a low number of sick days among mobile workers [ 53 ].

Technology characteristics (such as IT presenteeism and the pace of IT change), as well as the intensity of telework, in terms of days per week, were identified as influencing factors for the occurrence of stressors (e.g., work overload and invasion of privacy) and susceptibility for technostress [ 54 ].

The presented results on flexible work arrangements at the company level can only be seen as an exemplary account of changes and challenges related to mobile work. Depending on company-specific arrangements, different outcomes on the psychosocial level might occur. Therefore, implementing mobile work should not be looked at in isolation but in the context of organizational processes, working tasks, equipping, and individual needs.

4. Project Analysis of Current Research on Mobile Work

The project analysis was conducted with the aim of deriving design approaches for mobile work from the current state of the research.

The project analysis included 278 projects regarding “innovations for production, service industries, and future work”. As described in Section 2.2 , a first evaluation was based on the relevance and transferability to occupational health and safety, leading to the exclusion of 173 projects whose content primarily did not touch OHS-related aspects. As Figure 2 shows, the remaining 105 projects were broadly categorized, with projects describing the development or application of new technologies constituting the main proportion (45.5%). Projects concerning business models and modes of operation, new ways of work, or OHS management each accounted for about one-sixth.

Flow chart of the selection process; n = 105 projects were included in the analysis.

There were 18 projects dealing with new ways of work ( n = 18) on which a qualitative analysis based on accessible content was conducted in order to further describe the research activities. In the course of the analysis, another seven projects were excluded due to the examination of different work arrangements (e.g., specializing on production systems and crowd work) and digitization in general without focusing on mobile aspects or recent project starts, so that the results cannot be expected as of yet. A complete list of the projects classified as dealing with new ways of work is provided in the Supplementary Materials ( Table S2 ). Since the line of research analyzed funded projects with the participation of companies, the company level of the framework presented in Figure 1 was used to describe eleven projects whose contents included aspects of mobile work. However, the projects might address several company levels at the same time, and the classification is not distinct, as can also be seen in Table 1 . Therefore, the projects dealing with aspects of mobile work are classified according the predominant level.

Projects on mobile work referring to the company level.

As described in the framework above, the organizational level refers to aspects of work organizations, structures, and OHS elements. The EdA project worked on questions of empowerment in a digitized world of work shaped by increasing agility. An important aspect taken into consideration referred to worker participation and the understanding that employee representation can be a stabilizing factor for increasingly flexible work [ 55 ]. Although ReProNa mainly deals with project work, the tool for reflexive learning that is being developed can also be seen as a way to establish sustainable structures for organizational learning. As stated in the projects’ objectives, lessons learned are supposed to be used to counteract the obstacles of project work, such as problematic team structures, resource planning, or the dissatisfaction of employees [ 56 ]. In a similar vein, knowledge management in (virtual) teams can be a challenge. Therefore, WiViTe developed an IT framework and analyzed the organizational perspective [ 57 ]. In SANDRA, a smart assistant is supposed to be responsible for e-mail and phone call management on mobile phones in order to delay or block messages and adapt availability settings in leisure time by using natural language processing [ 58 ]. Thus, the smart assistant system is an organizational response to deal with increasing boundarylessness. In prentimo, the risk assessment methods were adapted to mobile work, thus representing the organizational level by referring to the employers’ responsibility to adequately assess threats to employees’ health and safety. Success factors for the risk assessments of mobile work included, among others, early information of employees and the applicability on mobile devices [ 59 ]. Furthermore, in diGAP, it was pointed out that framework conditions regarding structures, roles, equipment, and qualification must be met for agile and trans-local teams. Company agreements are another instrument that might support healthy agile work [ 60 ].

The social level includes interactions between employees, as well as aspects of teamwork and leadership. ReProNa, WiViTe, and SANDRA can also be understood in terms of the social level, since they provide important information for teamwork if all or some team members are working mobile. Focusing on agile work, the project diGAP recommended for health-oriented agile project work to strengthen the self-organization of the team, e.g., by providing adequate resources [ 60 ]. diGAP also addressed the challenge of using agile methods not as a locally organized (office-based) form of work but, rather, in trans-local teams. It was found that, consequently, both process- and subject-relatedness between team members decreased. Proposed strategies to deal with this challenge referred to socializing events, joint kick-offs, distributed roles, and the usage of chat groups. Especially the latter might be seen as a way of trying to reproduce a local room digitally [ 61 ]. Comparably, case studies conducted within the project CollaboTeam showed that digital, collaborative applications have a potential for reducing the corrosive effects of distance. Enterprise Social Media seems promising for low-threshold communication—provided by the firm, the usage of nonprofessional and potentially insecure products can be avoided [ 62 ]. However, as proposed in vLead, a team mental model on media—including a shared understanding of media characteristics, media use, and the respective rules of conduct—might support task-, team-, and time-related team mental models [ 63 ]. Similarly, praevierull recommended the requirement to establish rules on communication and media use. Regarding mobile work and distributed teams, an important part of leaders’ roles will be to guide the connection and interaction between team members and experts, as well as to provide an overview and process-related knowledge [ 64 , 65 ]. Leadership plays an important role for mobile work and also relates to the social level. In this regard, the objective of the project teamIn was to use artificial intelligence (AI) as a means to support leaders in organizational tasks such as personnel planning in order to enable more time for leadership functions such as motivating [ 66 ]. The development of qualification modules for conversational leadership in socio-digital systems was targeted by eLLa4.0 [ 67 ].

On the individual level, demands and resources, skills, and competencies related to mobile work were also addressed in the projects. In this regard, praevierull pointed out that, with the increase in ICT-based communication, the extraction of relevant information amongst an abundance of information should be recognized as an increasing demand for leaders and employees. Therefore, competences regarding technology use and social-communicative competences are gaining importance [ 64 ]. As time schedules in mobile work arrangements become less predictable, SANDRA can also be seen as a project referring to the individual level of the company, since the assistance system contributes to individual availability management. The project prentimo analyzed mobile work in various facets (including service technicians, as well as IT consultants), including an individual point of view. Examining different occupations and forms of mobility, certain characteristics were found to be similarly demanding, including time pressure, limited social support, and recreational possibilities across the respective occupations [ 59 ]. In conclusion, the projects analyzed addressed different aspects of mobile work. The social level prevailed but was intricately linked to the organizational and individual levels.

5. Discussion

In the following section, the strengths and limitations of the study will be presented. Furthermore, the results will be discussed against the background of the current literature, and proposals for future research will be derived.

5.1. Strengths and Limitations

In the ongoing discussion concerning mobile work arrangements, the well-structured approach presented within the paper proved to be useful. All relevant stakeholders and their positions were considered using the framework, thus showing the complex dependencies and relations between them. It was shown that OHS systems need to be prepared for flexible work arrangements, especially when used at the broad scale, such as recently practiced due to the Coronavirus. By analyzing the current status quo, we were able to point out strengths and shortcomings in the current legislation. However, aspects such as information security and working hours could only be touched upon.

The project analysis was an innovative approach for establishing an overview on the research landscape. It can provide useful information in combination with other methods, such as literature reviews. Since there might be some form of time lag regarding scientifically published results, relying on information from the project database allowed a timely overview of the current research. The examined line of research is interdisciplinary and encompasses strong efforts to include psychosocial, ethical, or legal issues into the analysis. Additionally, as the analyzed line of research explicitly required collaborative projects between researchers and companies, the projects can be seen as positive examples for research to practice, as well as application-related solutions. Drawing from these trends in the current research, propositions for future system designs can be made. Due to the qualitative approach, research projects dealing with different aspects of mobile work were considered, even if they were not explicitly termed that way (e.g., knowledge management, project work, and distributed teams).

However, there are several limitations that have to be taken into consideration. The present paper focuses on the German OHS system and legislation. Furthermore, the projects analyzed were mostly financed and conducted in Germany. Thus, the generalizability of the results is constrained.

Since only a specific line of funding was examined, other important research might have been missed. Despite our efforts for the transparent selection and categorization of projects, different assignments and a certain ambiguity in the project categorization cannot be ruled out.

Another limitation concerning project analysis refers to the different stages of the project’s progress. As described in Section 2.2 , parts of the research have already been completed, while other undertakings have just started. Therefore, assertions concerning the projects’ success in accomplishing their objectives cannot be made. Prior to the funding decision, project outlines have been evaluated by experts, and a general applicability seems to be given, though.

Despite some limitations in terms of transferability to different national contexts, the results can be discussed, and recommendations for the design and accessibility of mobile work can be made.

5.2. Discussion of Results

The analysis presented within the paper was able to show that, on an institutional level, the current legislative framework offers a foundation for OHS in mobile work that is enforceable in principle. However, as the world of work changes, the traditional understanding of workplaces must be reassessed. As of today, contractual agreements play an important role for making flexible work arrangements such as mobile work accessible to representation, protection, and specific forms of regulatory supervision. In this regard, it is imaginable to extend the workplace an ordinance’s scope of application on mobile work or to introduce standards for work with mobile display units [ 31 ]. Generally, it can be assumed that an expansion of regulation could contribute to a higher level of protection [ 49 ]. A current EU-tender concerning the Workplace and Display Screen Equipment Directives (EMPL/LUX/2020/OP/0006) is supposed to elicit options for updating both regulations [ 68 ] and might be seen as a starting point for further political activities.

With regards to institutional agents, increasing the invisibility of the workforce and decreasing possibilities for access aggravate enforcement. This problem is exacerbated by a continuous downscaling of OHS inspectors during the last years [ 69 ]. Additionally, thus far, the use of technical equipment in inspectorates is limited [ 70 ]. However, reports of positive experiences concerning e-government functions or the provision of risk assessment tools have been described [ 71 ]. Increased ICT use or the use of new technologies such as AI have also been suggested to be related to potential benefits, such as savings and the increased effectiveness of inspections and enforcements, although implementation costs should not be underrated [ 71 , 72 ]. In the project analysis, there were no projects focusing specifically on institutional OHS, which can be explained by the funding program chosen for the analysis. Nevertheless, technological approaches such as platform-enabled interconnections might offer starting points for collaboration and communication between institutional OHS agents and companies, although rigorous requirements on data protection must be fulfilled. In a similar vein, using digital tools such as augmented or virtual reality for OHS planning [ 73 ] could also facilitate cooperation between organizational and institutional agents.

The organizational level plays an important role for the implementation of mobile work, as the employer has responsibility for his employees’ safety and health. In this regard, conducting adequate risk assessments is a major obligation, which is highlighted by the results on psychosocial demands related to mobile work. The project analysis was able to show that research on risk assessment methods specifically designed for mobile work is being conducted. However, there is a general lack of compliance related to the implementation of risk assessments in companies [ 10 ]. A possible reason why companies refrain from conducting risk assessments is a rather physical understanding of the risk factors and the alleged absence of such [ 74 ]. However, there is a gap between the use of digital technologies and the consideration of their possible health-related impacts on workers, as findings from a survey on new and emerging risks in enterprises indicates [ 9 ]. In the light of cautious findings on a positive relation between technostress and decreased mental health [ 75 , 76 ], psychosocial risk assessments are an important means of occupational prevention. Therefore, raising awareness for the impact of work equipment and work organization on OHS in a psychosocial and physical understanding already is, and will be remaining, a challenge.

Furthermore, knowledge management plays an important role on a company level. While the projects examined put emphasis on a content- and task-related focus, OHS-related aspects could also be addressed, such as instructions and support for the implementation of mobile work or workstation design. As a study on telework indicated, almost 60% of participants did not receive advice or training on the installation of home-based equipment [ 43 ]. In this regard, digital tools might prove to be helpful in order to implement a participatory approach to ergonomics. Digital tools for cooperation and availability management were also addressed in the projects. Especially the latter is gaining importance, since mobile workers (telework and home office) were found to indicate longer working hours and more overtime [ 15 , 49 ]. Compulsory rest periods of eleven hours between the end of a working day and the start of new one are more often neglected than indicated by employees not working from home [ 15 ].

Mobile work heavily relies on the use of ICT, and mobile workers are challenged to increasingly organize themselves. Thus, tools for collaboration, as well as adequate ICT equipment, are essential. However, outside of telework agreements, employees often have to rely on their private ICT, which is a grey area not only in terms of product safety but, also, in terms of information security. The latter might be limited if employees are forced to fall back onto less professional options. The company-driven provision of ICT for mobile work should offer advantages regarding product safety and information security. In sum, interventions, such as the implementation of new technologies or new ways of work organization, cannot only be considered in isolation but cover the entire company [ 77 ] and should, therefore, be carefully monitored.

Based on the discussions and limitations encountered in the presented study, an agenda for future research can be proposed. On the one hand, there is a need for more longitudinal research on working conditions of ICT-enabled mobile work outside the traditional company workplace, as well as regarding the interplay of organizational, social, and individual requirements for occupational safety and health. Regarding the institutional level, to this date, the use of new technologies is limited in German labor inspectorates. Therefore, future research should address labor inspector’s demands and needs regarding technologies supporting their tasks (e.g., using mobile devices, AI, and digital access of company data). At the same time, inspector’s technology acceptance and technostress should be investigated, as both play an important role for successful implementation on an institutional level. Furthermore, efforts for improving the interplay between organizational and institutional agents (e.g., using platforms), as well as their backflow of information, should be made in order to gain a better understanding of the task and function design.

6. Conclusions

The current COVID-19 pandemic signifies a break of serious consequence, as the numbers in mobile work—specifically telework and home office—skyrocketed. Up to now, the new normal remains unclear, but it can be assumed that there is no going back regarding traditional attendance at the workplace [ 3 ]. However, experiences of the current situation are helpful in order to define the processes and structures necessary for OHS-appropriate mobile work arrangements in the long term. In these regards, the present study can be seen as a starting point for a continuative discussion of institutional and organizational OHS systems and their readiness for a changing world of work that should be further accompanied by research activities.

As the analysis presented herein showed, the current German OHS system is designed to be generally valid and can therefore cover many aspects of mobile work. However, a higher level of protection could be achieved by explicitly considering mobile work in the regulations. From the point of view of the institutional OHS system, mobile work poses a particular challenge for policy and agents. Answers to the question of what an appropriate enforcement of rules looks like must be found. From the point of view of the companies, however, clearer guidelines can be helpful. On the company level, new technologies and flexible work arrangements inherit a new quality of demands for employees, as well as challenges for corporate occupational health and safety actors, but they also hold the potential to be turned into new solutions. All in all, several challenges for occupational and institutional OHS systems to be prepared for a more mobile and digitized world of work remain. Nevertheless, using the project analysis, we were able to show that the current research offers a lot of potential for solutions and can provide new knowledge for better occupational health safety management. Promisingly, various approaches are referring to technical solutions, as well as organizational, social, or individual considerations. New technologies have enabled employees to step out of the boundaries of the traditional office. However, now is the time to make use of new technologies to make this step a health-oriented one.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to U. Rösler. M. Melzer, and L. Schlicht for providing a first compilation of research projects.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7498/s1 : Table S1: A cross-table for the interrater analysis. Table S2: Research projects referring to new ways of work within the project line analyzed.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.R. and S.S.; methodology, S.R. and S.S.; analysis, S.R.; data curation, S.R.; writing—original draft preparation, S.R.; writing—review and editing, S.R. and S.S.; visualization, S.R..; supervision, S.S.; and project administration, S.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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