Changes involving Information technology nowadays is really fast. Information technology has been used in all companies and establishments, especially in schools. The use Information Technology in schools is very important so that the students can know what the latest trends in IT are nowadays and also to help the students in sufficing their needs.
For me, these are the three changes likely to have substantial impact on the school services in the next three years:
Wifi for all students of the university
Wi-fi is the name of a popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that owns the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) term specifically defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards."Initially, Wi-Fi was used in place of only the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, however the Wi-Fi Alliance has expanded the generic use of the Wi-Fi term to include any type of network or WLAN product based on any of the 802.11 standards, including 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, and so on, in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.Wi-Fi works with no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency (RF) technology, a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. The cornerstone of any wireless network is an access point (AP). The primary job of an access point is to broadcast a wireless signal that computers can detect and "tune" into. In order to connect to an access point and join a wireless network, computers and devices must be equipped with wireless network adapters (See "How Wireless Networks Work" in the "Did You Know..." section of Webopedia).Wi-Fi is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs, mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics. Any products that are tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. For example, a user with a Wi-Fi Certified product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is also "Wi-Fi Certified". Products that pass this certification are required to carry an identifying seal on their packaging that states "Wi-Fi Certified" and indicates the radio frequency band used (2.5GHz for 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n, and 5GHz for 802.11a). A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked term meaning IEEE 802.11x.Wi-Fi allows the deployment of local area networks (LANs) without wires for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. Spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs. As of 2010 manufacturers are building wireless network adapters into most laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop, making it an economical networking option included in even more devices.[citation needed] Wi-Fi has become widespread in corporate infrastructures. Different competitive brands of access points and client network-interfaces can inter-operate at a basic level of service. Products designated as "Wi-Fi Certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance are backwards compatible. "Wi-Fi" designates a globally operative set of standards: unlike mobile phones, any standard Wi-Fi device will work anywhere in the world. Wi-Fi operates in more than 220,000 public hotspots and in tens of millions of homes and corporate and university campuses worldwide. The current version of Wi-Fi Protected Access encryption (WPA2) as of 2010 is considered[by whom?] secure, provided users employ a strong passphrase. New protocols for quality-of-service (WMM) make Wi-Fi more suitable for latency-sensitive applications (such as voice and video); and power saving mechanisms (WMM Power Save) improve battery operation.I think the students who have laptops will not need to go to internet cafes anymore if the students will have an access on the Wi-fi of the university.
Ebooks for learning-
An e-book (short for electronic book and also known as a digital book, ebook, and eBook) is an e-text that forms the digital media equivalent of a conventional printedbook, sometimes restricted with a digital rights management system. An e-book, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, is "an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a personal computer or hand-held device designed specifically for this purpose".[1] E-books are usually read on dedicated hardware devices known as e-Readers or e-book devices. Personal computers and some cell phones can also be used to read e-books.
Advantages
§ Availability- There are over 2 million free books available for download as of August 2009.[11] Mobile availability of e-books may be provided for users with a mobile data connection, so that these e-books need not be stored on the device. An e-book can be offered indefinitely, without ever going "out of print".
§ Portability and Storage- In the space that a comparably sized print book takes up, an e-reader can potentially contain thousands of e-books, limited only by its memory capacity. If space is at a premium, such as in a backpack or at home, it can be an advantage that an e-book collection takes up little room or weight.
§ Language Accessibility- E-book websites can include the ability to translate books into many different languages, making the works available to speakers of languages not covered by printed translations.
§ E-Reader Attributes- Depending on the device, an e-book may be readable in low light or even total darkness. Many newer readers have the ability to display motion, enlarge or change fonts[12], use Text-to-speech software to read the text aloud, search for key terms, find definitions, or allow highlighting bookmarking and annotation. Devices that utilize E Ink can imitate the look and ease of readability of a printed work while consuming very little power, allowing continuous reading for weeks at time.
§ Costs- While an e-book reader costs much more than one book, the electronic texts are generally cheaper. Moreover, a great share of books are available free of charge. For example, all fiction from before the year 1900 is in the public domain. Free samples are also available of many publications, and there are lending models being piloted as well. E-books can be printed for less than the price of traditional new books using new on-demand book printers.
§ Security- Depending on possible digital rights management, e-books can be backed up to recover them in the case of loss or damage and it may be possible to recover a new copy without cost from the distributor.
§ Distribution- Compared to printed publishing, it is cheaper and easier for authors to self-publish e-books. Also, the dispersal of a free e-book copy can stimulate the sales of the printed version.[13] An e-book can be purchased, downloaded, and used immediately, whereas when one buys a book one has to go to a bookshop, or wait for a delivery.
§ Environmental Concerns- The production of e-books does not consume paper, ink, etc. Printed books use 3 times more raw materials and 78 times more water to produce
Drawbacks
§ Changing Technologies- The formats and file types that e-books are stored and distributed in change over time, for instance from advances in technology or the introduction of new proprietary formats. While printed books remain readable for many years, e-books may need to be copied to a new carrier over time. PDF and epub are growing standards, but are not universal.
§ Availability of Works- Not all books are available as e-books.
§ Aesthetic Appeal- Paper books can be bought and wrapped for a present and a library of books can provide visual appeal, while the digital nature of e-books makes them non-visible or tangible. E-books cannot provide the physical feel of the cover, paper, and binding of the original printed work.
§ Power and Shelf Life- A book will never turn off or be unusable. The shelf life of a printed book exceeds that of an e-book reader, as over time the reader's battery will drain and require recharging. Additionally, "As in the case of microfilm, there is no guarantee that [electronic] copies will last. Bits become degraded over time. Documents may get lost in cyberspace...Hardware and software become extinct at a distressing rate." [15]
§ Durability- E-book readers are more susceptible to damage from being dropped or hit than a print book. Due to faults in hardware or software, e-book readers may malfunction and data loss can occur. As with any piece of technology, the reader must be protected from the elements (such as extreme cold, heat, water, etc.), while print books are not susceptible to damage from electromagnetic pulses, surges, impacts, or extreme temperates.
§ Artistry and Author's Vision- An author who publishes a book often puts more into the work than simply the words on the pages. E-books may cause people "to do the grazing and quick reading that screens enable, rather than be by themselves with the author's ideas." [16]. They may use the e-books simply for reference purposes rather than reading for pleasure and leisure.[17]
§ Costs- The cost of an e-book reader far exceeds that of a single book, and e-books often cost the same as their print versions. Due to the high cost of the initial investment in some form of e-reader, e-books are cost prohibitive to much of the world's population. Furthermore, there is no used e-book market, so consumers will neither be able to recoup some of their costs by selling an unwanted title they have finished, nor will they be able to buy used copies at significant discounts, as they can now easily do with printed books through Amazon's marketplace and other online retailers.
§ Security- Because of the high-tech appeal of the e-reader, they are a greater target for theft than an individual print book. Along with the theft of the physical device, any e-books it contains also become stolen. E-books purchased from vendors like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.com are stored "in the cloud" on servers and "digital lockers" and have the benefit of being easily retrieved if an e-reading device is lost. Not all e-booksellers are cloud based; if an e-book is stolen, accidentally lost, or deleted, in the absence of a backup it may have to be repurchased.
§ Limitations of Readers- The screen resolutions of reading devices are currently lower than actual printed materials.[18] Because of proprietary formats or lack of file support, formatted e-books may be unusable on certain readers. Additionally, the reader's interaction with the reader may cause discomfort, for example glare on the screen or difficulty holding the device.
§ Digital Rights Management and Piracy- Due to digital rights management, customers typically cannot resell or loan their e-books to other readers.[19] However, some Barnes & Noble e-books are lendable for two weeks via their 'LendMe' technology.[20] Additionally, the potential for piracy of e-books may make publishers and authors reluctant to distribute digitally.[21]
§ Environmental Concerns- E-book readers require various toxic substances to produce, are non-biodegradable, and the disposal of their batteries in particular raises environmental concerns. As technologies rapidly change and old devices become obsolete, there will be larger amounts of toxic wastes that are not easily biodegradable like paper.
§ Privacy Concerns - E books and software can easily track data, times, usage, pages, and details about what one is reading and how often. Similar to this is the growing amount of data available through Google search engines, Facebook, and through data mining. For the first time in history it is now far more easy to track and record what specific people might be reading. The notions of privacy, private writing, solitude, and personal reading are changing.
§ Picture Books - Books with large pictures (such as children's books) or diagrams are more inconvenient for viewing and reading.
I have heard from a staff of the library that ebooks will also be available in the university library.
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows certain data on certain products. Originally, barcodes represented data in the widths (lines) and the spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1D (1 dimensional) barcodes or symbologies. They also come in patterns of squares, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns within images termed 2D (2 dimensional) matrix codes or symbologies. Although 2D systems use symbols other than bars, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well. Barcodes can be read by optical scanners called barcode readers, or scanned from an image by special software.
Benefits
In point-of-sale management, the use of barcodes can provide very detailed up-to-date information on key aspects of the business, enabling decisions to be made much more quickly and with more confidence. For example:
§ Fast-selling items can be identified quickly and automatically reordered to meet consumer demand,
§ Slow-selling items can be identified, preventing a build-up of unwanted stock,
§ The effects of repositioning a given product within a store can be monitored, allowing fast-moving more profitable items to occupy the best space,
§ Historical data can be used to predict seasonal fluctuations very accurately.
§ Items may be repriced on the shelf to reflect both sale prices and price increases.
§ This technology also enables the profiling of individual consumers, typically through a voluntary registration of discount cards. While pitched as a benefit to the consumer, this practice is considered to be potentially dangerous by privacy advocates.
Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in shipping/receiving/tracking.
§ When a manufacturer packs a box with any given item, a Unique Identifying Number (UID) can be assigned to the box.
§ A relational database can be created to relate the UID to relevant information about the box; such as order number, items packed, qty packed, final destination, etc.
§ The information can be transmitted through a communication system such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) so the retailer has the information about a shipment before it arrives.
§ Shipments that are sent to a Distribution Center (DC) are tracked before being forwarded to the final destination. When the shipment gets to the final destination, the UID gets scanned, so the store knows where the order came from, what's inside the box, and how much to pay the manufacturer.
The reason barcodes are business-friendly is that the scanners are relatively low cost and extremely accurate compared to key-entry, with only about 1 substitution error in 15,000 to 36 trillion characters entered.[14] The exact error rate depends on the type of barcode.
Use
Barcodes—especially the UPC—have slowly become an essential[citation needed] part of modern civilization. Their use is widespread, and the technology behind barcodes is constantly improving. Some modern applications of barcodes include:
§ Almost every item purchased from a grocery store, department store, and mass merchandiser has a UPC barcode on it. This greatly helps in keeping track of a large number of items in a store and also reduces instances of shoplifting involving price tag swapping, although shoplifters can now print their own barcodes. Since the adoption of barcodes, both consumers and retailers have benefited from the savings generated.
§ Barcodes are widely used in shop floor control applications software where employees can scan work orders and enter the time spent on a job.[10]
§ Retail chain membership cards (issued mostly by grocery stores and specialty "big box" retail stores such as sporting equipment, office supply, or pet stores) use bar codes to uniquely identify a consumer. Retailers benefit by being able to offer customized marketing and greater understanding of individual consumer shopping patterns. Shoppers typically get special offers at the point of sale (coupons, product discounts) or special marketing offers through the address or e-mail address provided at registration.
Example of barcode on a patient identification wristband
§ When used on patient identification, barcodes permit clinical staff to instantly access a wealth of vital patient data, including medical history, allergy warnings and other potentially life-saving medical information.
§ Document Management tools often allow for barcoded sheets to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications.
Barcoded parcel sent from the Ukraine
§ The tracking of item movement, including rental cars, airline luggage, nuclear waste, mail, express mail and parcels.
§ In 2003 Paul Hebert suggested using bar coding techniques for organization of species. The barcode assigned is based on the CO1 gene.[11]
§ Since 2005, airlines use an IATA-standard 2D barcode on boarding passes (BCBP), and since 2008 2D barcodes sent to mobile phones enable electronic boarding passes.[12]
§ Recently, researchers have placed tiny barcodes on individual bees to track the insects' mating habits.
§ Entertainment event tickets can have barcodes that need to be validated before allowing the holder to enter sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, fairgrounds, transportation etc. This can allow the proprietor to identify duplicate or fraudulent tickets more easily.
§ Used on automobiles, can be located on front or back.
§ Joined with in-motion checkweighers to identify the item being weighed in a conveyor line for data collection
§ Some 2D barcodes embed a hyperlink to a web page. A capable cellphone might be used to read the barcode and browse the linked website.
§ In the 1970s and 1980s, software source code was occasionally encoded in a barcode and printed on paper. Cauzin Softstrip and Paperbyte[13] are barcode symbologies specifically designed for this application.
§ The 1991 Barcode Battler computer game system, which used any standard barcode to generate combat statistics.
§ 1992, Veterans Health Administration developed Bar Code Medication Administration system (BCMA).
§ At the turn of the century, many artists started using barcodes in art, such as Scott Blake's Barcode Jesus.
I have also heard from a staff of the university library that if the university id will have barcodes, the students don’t need to have two different id’s for the university and the library. Students can also enter the library if the university ID will have barcodes because these will be the ones to be used in borrowing books from the library.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Wi_Fi.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book
