© boardworks ltd 2004 1 of 26 ict and employment ict in society for more detailed instructions, see...

© Boardworks Ltd 20041 of 26

ICT and Employment

ICT in Society

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable.


Printing industry

The printing industry, like many other industries, has gone through many changes over the years.

Technology has played a very important part in these changes.


In the early days of printing a type (block) had to be made for every letter and character, in every size and style that the printer wanted to use.

Printing industry – mid-15th-century

The type was transferred line by line to a galley tray and the finished layout was coated with ink and printed.

Type was sorted and stored in a tray with compartments for each letter, called a case.

The letters were placed in a composing stick from left to right, spelt normally, but upside-down.


How long will it take you to lay up the type for this headline?

Have a go


In 1886 the linotype machine was first used. It could set type six times faster than it could be set by hand because it could set a whole line of type at once, and was known as hot metal printing.

Printing industry – 1886 until the 1950s

This method of printing continued to be used for the following sixty to seventy years.

The next technological advance in typesetting, in the 1950s, was the introduction of photo composition machines.


Printing was a skilled job, and so was highly paid. In 1985 Rupert Murdoch moved the printing of The Sun, News of the World, The Times and Sunday Times to a new computerized plant in Wapping and many printers lost their jobs.

Printing industry – 1985

This caused a strike that went on for over a year.

How do you think the printers felt about the

changes in technology?


We will retrain some of you and you will learn

new skills.

Retraining – you mean become machine

minders!

There will be new jobs – we need computer

programmers.

You spend all this money on new machinery, you

won’t be able to pay for it and then you’ll close down.

We are losing our jobs.


Technology and jobs

Sometimes new technology means that jobs are lost.

Sometimes workers need to retrain – many newspapers trained their printing workers on the new technology.

Some people feel that skills are lost and people become machine minders. However, if businesses become too expensive to run, they close down and then nobody has a job.

New jobs can also be created by the technology – computer programmers for instance.

New technology may be expensive to start off with but usually reduces labour costs.


Jobs on the move

Many people have jobs that mean they travel around a lot.

You won’t believe

the story I’ve

found!

I’ll get the new sales figures from head office right now.

I hope my next appointment is less scary!

I’ve got the first pictures

of the earthquake!


They need to get in touch with people who may be in a different town or even in a different country.

News story

Sales figures

Appointment schedule

Photographs for TV news


Communication devices

There are many ways that people can send and receive the information they need to do their jobs.

With thanks to Evesham Technology.


Ways to connect

There are several ways people can send and receive information even if they are not close to a telephone point they can plug a modem into.

WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol, and is a way of viewing web pages on the screen of a mobile phone.

WAP content can be delivered much more quickly over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).

Some mobile phones have infra-red ports that can be used to connect PDAs and laptops to the Internet without using wires. The devices must be close together with the ports lined up, like a TV remote control.


Bluetooth

Bluetooth uses short-range radio links to connect digital devices, and is available worldwide.

Because Bluetooth uses radio waves, it does not even require a line-of-sight connection in order to communicate.A laptop could send information to a printer in the next room, or you could use your mobile phone to control your home alarm system.

Two devices with Bluetooth wireless technology just have to be within a 10-metre range of each other.

Image courtesy of Logitech


Call centres

When you ring a bank or an insurance company, your call is probably taken in a call centre. This is a place where people are employed to answer customer telephone calls.

Call centre staff also phone customers to conduct market research, gather information and sell products and services.

Customers phone in with queries or to ask for technical support.

In 2003, over 800,000 people were employed in around 4,300 UK-based call centres.

Some companies have call centres of their own, and employ the staff who work there.


Technology used in call centres

CTI – computer and telephone integration. Incoming calls are diverted, the number checked against a list of telephone numbers, and information placed on the computer screen so staff can answer the call with the company name and salutationintelligent scripting – provides a set of questions to ask the caller. Answers are entered into the computer and decision-making logic generates the scriptinformation screens – point and click information screens give access to company information and FAQs.

Other call centres take calls from several different companies, using the following technologies to help the operator answer queries for many different clients:


Telephone technology

Automatic call distribution: with voice recognition or touch tone phones – routing calls to appropriate section.

Press 1 for sales,2 for customer support.

Please note your call may be recorded.

We are sorry you have to wait. You are currently 4th in

the queue.

Call recording: calls can be monitored, recorded and retrieved for quality control and staff training.

Call queue pass: the customer is told what number they are in the queue and average time to answer.


Benefits and drawbacks

staff do not have any knowledge other than what is on the system, and that can be frustrating for customers

calls are timed and monitored very closely, and this can put great pressure on staff

call centres are sometimes open 14 hours a day, which may mean staff working unsocial hours.

Companies who use group call centres do not have to buy the equipment or train the staff, and so save money. However:


Modems not motors

The average commuter spends up to four hours a week travelling to and from work.

Is teleworking the answer?

Based on a 40-hour week, that’s the same as spending an extra five weeks at work each year.


Teleworking

Teleworking involves people working from home for part or all of their working week.

They use their computers to send and receive the files they need for their work.

Many jobs suit telework, including telephone sales, translation, writing, graphic design, research and secretarial work.

Some rural areas have set up telecottages that provide computer facilities for local people.

Some teleworkers work for a company, and some are self employed, such as freelance journalists, who don’t work for a newspaper, but sell their work to whoever will buy it.


Summary

Modern technology has reduced jobs in some areas and increased them in others.

Some dirty, difficult manual jobs are now done by robots, making the workplace safer.

Workers need different skills, and need to be prepared to retrain from time to time.

Call centres can monitor workers very closely, which can be stressful.

Some people work at home through teleworking.

Teleworkers may feel isolated, but spend less time and money travelling to work.

© boardworks ltd 2004 1 of 26 ict and employment ict in society for more detailed instructions, see...

Documents