1.

Analyse how the use of cloud-based services has impacted on the gap between the information
rich and the information poor. (8)

With the enhancement of internet services available worldwide, cloud-based services has also
advanced. Cloud-based services has affected upon the poor people who couldn’t afford the
expensive software licenses. These people could now use cloud based applications such as google
docs, spreadsheets, etc to improve their work spaces.

Online education system such as VLE has provided these people to learn remotely from their rural
areas with the services of same standards with other people. Online interactive teaching methods
such as video, animation, quiz can assist in their understanding of difficult topics.

Collaborative working can be achieved with the latest tools such as working on the same file or
document at the same time. Discussion and knowledge sharing can be made in the forum so that
their knowledge base will be expanded. Community will also grow according to the knowledge and
skill sharing from the community members. By learning these skills and knowledges, they can have
more employment opportunities and can improve social skills as well.

Due to the availability of cloud-based services, some of the apps only available in desktop can even
be used with smartphones so that people who couldn’t afford purchasing laptop or desktop do not
have to worry. Hosted applications and storage can save users their storage and processing costs as
well. So users who couldn’t afford the expensive device which has more storage and more processing
power don’t have to worry about being own one since hosted apps and storage enable them to fulfil
their requirements.

However, in some part of the world, restricted access to technologies has impacted upon people
severely. Due to country’s economy situation, internet services cannot reach to rural areas and not
available to everyone. For these people, they have less employment opportunities and less cultural
knowledge as they can’t catch up the current trends and circumstances.

Due to country’s political situation, some apps and websites were banned so that people has less
information flow and knowledge as well as no communication with the world.

Even though, the gap between info rich and poor has been narrowing due to the availability of cloud
services, there are still some factors such as political and economy situations still exist and those are
the huge deterrent for the learning and employment opportunities for people with restricted access.
2. Discuss the impact of VLEs on learners. (8)

Virtual learning environments has impacted many students positively and negatively. VLE has
enabled open access to many students around the world. For example, people from rural areas can
have access to higher standard eduction via VLE.

In virtual learning system, teaching materials and resources are shared online so that every learners
can access these materials anytime, anywhere with internet connection. Availability of the system is
24/7 and 365 so that flexible learning is advantaged to many users. For example, people with full
time job can learn after office hours.

In VLE, noticeboard, discussion boards are provided to enable learners to discuss the topics that they
don't understand. They can also implement knowledge and skill sharing on discussion board. Instant
quizzes and MCQs are provided with immediate result. These techniques can boost the learners'
moral. With animation, audio, video learning, it is very engaging for kids and teens. Group
assignments can be completed collaboratively since resources are shared and edited by every
members.

The downside of VLE is that face-to-face contact is removed thus resulting in reducing moral.
Questions are fixed and pre-built so it is limited and lack of instant Q&A discussion. In some part of
the world, VLEs system might be restricted so people from that area could not participate.
Distractions could arise for some users because they may use other internet applications or social
media platform and never come back to VLE.

Even though there are drawbacks to VLE, it is incomparable to the benefits gained to the learners
due to VLE accessible from every part of the world giving huge opportunities for learners to
experience the high standard education system.

3. Discuss the factors that influence the choice of landline broadband or mobile broadband
connectivity for rural communities. (8)

While some factors describe the landline broadband would fit for rural communities; other factors
also depict that mobile broadband would be suitable for rural communities. We will discuss these
factors for each scenario.

Firstly, the cost of infrastructure will play the most crucial role. Comparing the two broadband
connections, obviously the landline broadband would cost more because cable, network devices,
setup fees would mount up according to the area of geographical. For mobile broadband, only the
wireless tower needs to be built and the connection signal will be captured by individual devices.
Since it is wireless, safety for individuals is improved by the fact that there are no trailing wires at
home as well as preventing wire shock in the street. Even though mobile broadband is portable, data
speeds and bandwidth can’t be compared to landline. Landline has more stable connection and
better speeds. Therefore, people from rural communities can work or make online transactions more
reliable. Furthermore, latency issues can exist for mobiles if rural community exist in mountainous
terrain. The high mountains will block the signal as obstacles causing high latency to the users who
won’t satisfy with the usage when they are working from home. However, these days, with the rapid
advancement of technology, 5th generation mobile networks are developing and 5G connectivity is
widely used. 5G solves all the problems described above.

Another factor that we need to consider is the usage of data. People from rural areas are mostly
unfamiliar with technologies and can be considered that they will not use much data in their daily
lives apart from those few who work from home. For this case, monthly fees for landline would be
wasted if they only use 1 or 2 hours a day. Mobile prepaid subscription will fit better for them as they
are only paying for what they use. Because of portability, mobile will be flexible for the farmers,
fishermen, hunters, etc.

In conclusion, based on the facts that we’ve considered, mobile broadband connection has a better
chance to suit with the people from rural areas because of portability, lower cost of infrastructure,
maintenance, lower usage and the developing 5G connection.

4. Discuss the choices society must make about the rights of individuals when monitoring
movements and communications. (8)

There are many methods of monitoring and tracking of individual’s movements and communications.
Some methods can help build a better society while others can harm individual rights.

The first thing people are concerned about monitoring and tracking is their privacy. Individuals can
understand if their privacy is broken for the good. For example, their conversations, CCTV records
could be handed to the authorities to solve the criminal activities. These are the situations that
everyone can understand and freely open to provide their information. But in some cases,
authorities might closely watch certain personnel if they think this certain individual is suspicious of
breaking the law. For example, in some countries, freedom of speech is limited. Certain journalists or
activists might be under surveillance. When these individuals openly express their opinions about
politics, they can be detained. Certain groups maybe targeted, for example, the black community
because they have history. This can eventually lead to racial discrimination.

In recent times, with the help of technology, all netizens have been targeted to monitor and control
their behavior on the internet. Microphones and cameras from smartphones are used to capture
their conversations and images. GPS is used to locate their whereabouts. Even though permission is
given by the individual, only a few people read about their privacy policy. Only a few people have
realized that they are monitored most of the time. This is happening because the organizations that
are collecting our personal data never frequently alert the users. It is obvious that personal
information is being used for advertising purposes. This is acceptable for most situations. However,
sometimes personal data could be sold to other data harvesting companies. In this case, individuals
have rights to counter according to the data protection act. Companies holding data about
individuals must fairly process the data. Individuals should be informed of the process they are going
to perform and request approval from the users.

In conclusion, society can accept if their data is vital for the betterment of society. However, being
used for the good of certain organizations or for the sake of government power is an unacceptable
policy that everyone can negate.

5. Discuss the impact of transaction tracking on the information that individuals see online. (8)

The contents that we are seeing online on a daily basis are personalized according to the user profile.
This is based on the transaction of the individual takes place on a daily basis. Some might prefer it,
others might have concern over privacy.

Users may aware that almost every website nowadays show the alert first before being entered into
the website. Accept or reject cookies is the first thing that the user needs to input. We are seeing this
first because laws have described that individuals consent needs to be confirmed before being
tracked online. It is the user's choice that he/she can accept it or reject it. Even after accepting,
cookies can be deleted.

Cookies store user activities such as previously visited web pages, browsed items, and account
information such as user id, password. Websites use this information to process and analyze to
generate a personalised experience for users. For example, you have visited a shopping website and
browsed the headphones products. Another time you come back to that website, it will show you
the related products that is similar to your browsed data. Even search engines nowadays use
personalised experience for the user by showing the results related to previous searches. The
downside of this is that the information from the search result might be biased because the result is
based on your preference. Search results will also be different for each user so the question of which
is more accurate result arises. Some websites make full use of this approach to show the website
contents to the user. For example, news website tailor the content to be suited to individual users
and may show only one particular topics because that individual mostly view sports section. But
sometimes, this can become irrelevant for him when the similar content is generated repeatedly and
he might lose interest.

Another concern of using cookie is when devices are shared between family members or public
places, this becomes totally irrelevant for individuals. Age-inappropriate content might come up to
the children because previous person has browsed these pages.

Third party cookies track and store the users' activity to use for advertising purposes. Some people
may prefer it because they are seeing the ads that is related to their interests. However, some people
have privacy concerns over their personal data. Third party companies may sell personal data of
users to other data harvesting companies that will use this data for their marketing.

In conclusion, not only personalized experience can provide the most users ease of use and
satisfaction but also privacy concerns from the users may arise. It is the user's choice to opt in or out
from the transaction tracking considering the positive and negative impacts.

6. Evaluate the tools that are available to help individuals stay safe online. (8)

With increased access to networks, internet users are at risk of cyber attacks and losing their
personal data. Individuals should be aware of the safety methods to protect from security issues.
First off, malware is the most notorious weapon for targeting cyber criminals. Virus, phishing,
pharming, ransomware are the example of malware attacks. Individuals can prevent from malware
infecting their computers by installing anti-malware software. Anti-malware software should be
updated regularly since new viruses are being created every seconds. Users should also have
knowledge of how these malwares arrive to their device so that they can initiate the prevention
measures first. Malware normally comes from unsecure websites or malicious software. Therefore,
they should always be aware of the padlock symbol (https) when accessing the web pages.

Another way of unauthorized users gaining access to your personal information is through insecure
connections. When you are transmitting your personal or sensitive information via online, these data
could be intercepted by the hackers. Encryption should be used at this point since encryption can
secure your data by encoding data into unreadable form so that attackers would not understand
what is being transmitted.

Firewalls could be used to protect your network from unauthorized access and viruses as well.
Firewall block the insecure data and traffic before being transferred to your network. So firewall is a
barrier to all the malicious attacks.

When using social networking, you are at risk of your privacy, cyberbullying, and imposter profile. If
someone personally attack you online via chat or posting inappropriate content, you can flag the
post or report that person. The moderators will trace the issues and ban or block these users from
their platform for not following acceptable use policies. Some rude comments and racist words are
filtered automatically by system tools so that community is free from discrimination and cyber
bullying. You should also be careful with your account privacy settings. It is safer to turn off your
profile, location and contents to public because groomers and attackers can approach you to steal
your personal information or far worse kidnapping you outside.

Considering the issues that may arise from the cyber world, users should take advantage of applying
safety tools to their daily lives to protect from cyber criminals and unauthorized person who can
steal your personal information and make profit for their advantage.

7. Hugh uses a desktop computer to write, create and distribute his music.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to Hugh of selecting a desktop computer rather than a
laptop, smartphone or tablet computer.

In your answer you should consider: components, portability, connectivity, cost and maintenance.
(8)

Since Hugh is going to use desktop computer in his music creation process, considerable amount of
processing power is required to create the instrumentals, record and mix tracks, distribute to music
platform, etc.

First off, desktop computer is a very flexible option as each component can be upgraded according to
your requirements. Hugh could benefit from this since he needs a powerful processor to render and
process the audio. Using the powerful processor means he could do audio processing faster as well
as run the complex software features. But the side effects would be the need to cool down the
components as these powerful components consume more power producing more heat and noise.
The noise come out from the fans and other components might disturb his music recordings.
Even though desktop computers are known for the lack of portability, modern day solutions can fix
this problem. For example, touch screen monitor can be used to connect as a peripheral to desktop
making audio work more natural. You can control and play live music easily with touch screen input
peripherals. However, more portable devices such as laptop, tablet, smartphone are easier to work
on the move, allowing instant recording of ideas. They have long battery life, smaller size and weight.
Desktop computers are mostly connected with wired connections which are faster and more reliable
than wireless. Therefore, he can share his music project with co-workers quickly. They can share their
instant ideas between band members immediately and work collaboratively. More stable connection
can benefit his live music streaming to the audience with less latency and lag. The cost is cheaper
compared to laptop as desktop can be custom built. As Hugh is primarily using his computer for his
music creation, he can prioritize which component to use more budget. For example, he would
consider RAM and processor to be in big budget options while he could reduce other components'
budgets.

In recent times, the cost of mobile devices is decreasing due to the continuous release of
convergence devices. In some cases, tablet might be a better budget option as the cost is fewer than
building a desktop.

Among the computers, desktop has the best upgradability and maintenance factors. If one
component fails, the user can simply replace with a new one without requiring to go to the repair
shop. Upgrading each component is an easier option as well. You can purchase the second hand
component in lower price. This recycling practice enable the sustainability of the environment as
well.

In conclusion, desktop computer is the best choice for Hugh in his music creation due to powerful
processing enabling faster rendering, stronger connection benefitting live music without pause,
cheaper cost, and the ability to upgrade and maintain easily.

8. Evaluate how online communities have impacted on how we socialise. (8)

Increased access to technology has impacted positively and negatively on how we socialise.
Naturally, people make friends with people from their neighbors, school, or work. These are the
people we know and trust in real world. In social networking, it is very easy to add as a friend with
only a click of a button. On positive side, we can extend our social network to a wider range of
people. Apart from our neighbor, classmates or co-workers. we're expanding our network to a global
scale in which we can discover about different cultures, societies, and lifestyles. We can share
knowledge and expertise by creating a group that share the same interests via group chat, video
conferencing, etc. In this way, the opportunities become limitless. On the other hand, these people
are the strangers that we do not know well in real life. So, there might be fake person with fake
profile, spy from government agency and groomer who pretend initially as honest. Eventually, these
people might dig our information to use for inappropriate purposes. They can harm or attack us in
some way.

Cyberbullying is another side effect of online community. Cyberbullying can reach to wider group of
people so the victim has to suffer more. Cyberbullying can attack the victim by the means of memes
(images, videos, animations) and the posts shared among the online communities. So cyberbully can
impact more than in person bullying.

The way we socialise nowadays has always been changing according to the rise of new technologies.
There are so many ways to use as communication tools such as instant messaging, social networks,
chat rooms, SMS, voice call, video calls, video conferencing, etc. The availability of these tools
encourages us even more to socialise. You can communicate everywhere at any time with network
connection. The downside is that people are used to communicating virtually and become social
anxious to meet face-to-face. They become shy or socially awkward when face-to-face
communication happen. Since most online communication occurs virtually, people lost their skill in
body language, tone of voice and sometimes emotionless behavior is expressed. We can become
distracted from in person communication when all the notifications from various social apps alert. A
group of friends may sit in one table but they all are focusing on their phone rather than talking to
each other because they are fear of missing out something from their notification. They rather
practice the always available culture, however, leading to less meaningful interactions and
emotionless conversations.

In conclusion, online communication has great effects on how we socialize on positively and
negatively. Considering the negative impacts, we cannot run away or omit from online communities
since this becomes one of the cultures among the societies. Knowing the down sides of this and
maintaining the great balance between virtual and real world is vital. Taking advantage of
communication tools as better communication methods in our daily lives and learning opportunities
define a better life.
9. Discuss the use of wireless and wired connectivity for a home network. (8)

In an internet era, both wired and wireless connection is used for various purposes by multiple users.

Firstly, the setup cost for wired connection is higher due to the needs of the cables. For wireless, it's

easier to setup and less expensive. Even though, wireless setup cost is cheaper, connection speed is
slower than wired. Wired can provide more stable connection and higher bandwidth. Wireless can
be sometimes interfered by obstacles such as thick walls and blockages which increases the latency.
Wired connection doesn't have this interference problem due to cable being used. Wireless has more
advantage over the wired in portability. Home users can move around and use anywhere within the
range of wireless connection. Wired connection is fixed so mobility is limited. However, wired
connectivity can provide the power supply every time since the power is always plugged in. Wireless
users might encounter the needs to frequently charge their devices.

For security aspects, wired uses cables to transmit data while wireless uses radio wave which can be
easily intercepted by the hackers. Therefore, wired connectivity has better security.

Traditionally, most devices do not come up with wireless adaptors so if the user wants to connect to
wireless, they require to purchase the separate adaptor. But nowadays, technology has advanced,
and most devices have built in wireless technology.

In conclusion, wired connectivity is better suited to home users who needs better speed and have
security concerns with their data. Wireless connectivity is good for the users who prefer
mobility/flexibility in their usage and less expensive options.

10. Evaluate the choices society must make between the expanding use of ICT and the need to
protect the environment. (8)

Increased access to technology has impacted the environment in recent times as one of the main
factors. To protect the environment and maintain sustainability is extremely important for the future
generations.

Firstly, what causes the effect of ICT on the environment is continuous manufacturing of new
devices. Marketers always have been encouraging consumers to purchase the newly released
devices. Consumers are convinced even though their current devices are in good condition. Because
of the consumers' demands, manufacturers are using materials to produce the new products.
Intensive usage of materials and the wastes from the manufacturing process can endanger the
environment and the species. For example, the factory residing near the river might produce their
waste into the river. In this case, the sea animals’ lives can be affected from the toxins released. The
pollution released from the factories can also pollute the air around that area. People living near the
industrial areas are mostly impacted.

Not only the manufacturing process can harm but also the disposal of obsolete devices can harm.
People nowadays rather dispose the product if it is broken instead of repairing. When the electronic
waste is thrown as the garbage in the landfill, the components are difficult to dispose. Furthermore,
the chemical and toxins leaked from the battery can destroy the land.

Another obvious reason is the high-power usage from those devices. Nowadays, at least one device
is used by a people. These devices consume power which is generated using a lot of natural
resources. More power usage means more natural resources damaged. Therefore, people need to be
aware of this issue and should use their devices in power saving options. For example, setting the
power saver mode in mobile phone, set the timer for the computer to go into sleep mode after a few
minutes of inactivity.

Instead of disposing, many should recycle their products. Even one component fail to operate, other
components might still be working so that refurbished companies can take advantage of that
components and sell the second-hand devices.

Other ways of using ICT to benefit the environment are giving awareness to the general public using
communication technologies such as promoting in social media, educating via electronic news, etc.
By using social networking, volunteers can be recruited via online campaign to do particular activities
or movements to protect the environment. Additionally, expert system can be used to control and
monitor the climate change to prevent from severe weather conditions. Using technology to monitor
the wildlife to protect the rare species. These are the bright side of ICT using for environmental
sustainability.

In conclusion, while ICT is advantaging many people lifestyles on positive side, it is disadvantaging
the environment on negative sides. It is our responsibility to maintain the sustainability of the
environment by reducing power usage, recycling, and reusing of old devices and practicing the
minimalist lifestyle.