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COMMUNICATION
 6.1 COMMUNICATION

 Communication systems that make use of ICT technology

 newsletters and posters
 websites
 multimedia presentations
 media streaming
 e-publications.
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Newsletters and Posters

easily produced using a word
processor
have photos (with permission
from copyright holder)
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Typical sequence
 Open word-processor application
 Photos could be obtained by:
 using a digital camera and taking photos
 searching for images/photos on the internet, or suitable photos could already
be stored on the hard drive or cloud
 using hard copy photos, which could be scanned in.
 If necessary, camera images would then be uploaded
 Photos from selected sources would then be saved to a file on the HDD or SSD.
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Typical sequence
 photos would be imported from the file stored on the HDD/SSD
 imported photos would need to be cropped, edited and/or resized
 text would be typed in using a keyboard
 alternatively, any previously saved text would need to be imported
 photos need to be placed in their correct position and the text wrapped
 the whole document would need to undergo proofreading for error and
then saved, ready for printing
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Other features used

Spell checker
 The language used in checking the spelling could
be different; (ex. British English and American
English often have different spellings of words.)
 Names or proper nouns might be highlighted as an
error by the spell checker, but may be acceptable.
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Other features used

Spell checker
 Similar sounding words need to be checked
(ex. where, were or wear all sound the same but have very
different meanings –will not be picked up by the spell checker
(might be picked up by a grammar checker).
 The (correct) highlighted word may not exist in the spell
checker dictionary.
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EXERCISE 6A
Find out what other word-processing features would
need to be used when producing a newsletter or
poster.

For each feature identified, write down how you

would use it to produce a professional-looking
document
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NEWSLETTER
 a very useful method for getting important information
to a target group
 can be either printed out or available online as an e-
publication
depends on who the target audience is
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NEWSLETTER (COMMON GUIDELINES)

❑ Do not try and squeeze too much information onto one page.
❑ Use very clear, easy-to-read fonts (for example, Arial or Trebuchet MS)
and use a suitable font size (11-, 12- or 14-point font size).
❑ Decide on whether to use columns (a useful feature if there are diagrams
and photos).
❑ Avoid using ALL capital letters as this appears to be ‘shouting’!
❑ Use bold text in headings rather than underlining text.
❑ Use real photos rather than clip art to make the newsletter more interesting.
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POSTERS
 are a good way of publicising, for
example, a sporting event or an
advertisement for a forthcoming movie
■ what the event is and where it will take place
■ date, time and place of event
■ admission fees (if any)
■ contact details
■ other information (such as whether there will
be a crèche or facilities for people with
disabilities).
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POSTERS
 are a good way of publicising, for
example, a sporting event or an
advertisement for a forthcoming movie
■ an image taken from the movie to give
some idea of the type of movie (that is,
comedy, horror, science fiction, and so on)
■ the date of release
■ a list of the main characters
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POSTERS
 posters can be printed out using high-quality printers or can be
posted online
 printed posters can be any size
 Large posters have the advantage that they are eye-
catching and usually very difficult to miss
 used in many countries on the sides of roads so motorists see
them on their way to work
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POSTERS
 placing the posters in strategic positions for certain people
Example
advertising expensive cars by placing the posters on buildings or
advertising hoardings in financial districts in big cities
Drawback
The drawback is the cost of display (the advertising areas can
only be rented) and that they are subject to weather conditions,
so only have a limited life.
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EXERCISE 6B
Using a word processor, produce two posters for the following:

a) an upcoming charity event where there will be

stalls selling food and gifts
b) a music band advertising the release of their
new song.
Refer to chapters in the second half of this book
wherever necessary.
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Instead
of this
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why
not
this
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WEBSITES
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WEBSITES
 require a company to either develop their own website or pay another
company to advertise on their website
 this method can therefore be expensive
■ may require the company to either employ a team of web
designers or go to a specialist company with experience in
website design
■ may also be necessary to buy hardware and software to develop
and store the website
 it will be necessary to use programmers to make sure that their website
is safe from hackers and from pharming attacks
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WEBSITES
It has become easier and cheaper for individuals
or small organisations to create and host their
own website
 using off-the-shelf content management
systems to organise content,
 pay hosting fees to rent space on a web
server
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WEBSITES – THE BIG ADVANTAGE

they offer worldwide advertising capability
no need to buy paper and other consumables
no need top pay people to deliver newsletters or
flyers
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WEBSITES - ADVANTAGES
 sound/video/animation can be added
 links to other pages and websites can be
added in hyperlinks and hot spots
 buttons to navigate/move around the
website, leading to more information
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WEBSITES - ADVANTAGES
 ‘hit counters’ allow the owner to see detailed
information about how many people have visited
the website
 can be seen by a global audience
 cannot be defaced or thrown away
 it is much easier to update a website (no need to do
a reprint and then distribute the new version)
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WEBSITES - DISADVANTAGES
 websites can be hacked into and modified or
viruses introduced
 risk of potential pharming
 it is necessary for the potential customers to have a
computer and internet connection
 it is not as portable as a paper-based system
(although with modern smartphones and phablets
this is fast becoming untrue)
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WEBSITES - DISADVANTAGES
 possible for customers to go to undesirable websites
(either by accident or as a result of a pharming attack) –
this can lead to distrust from customers
 there is a need for the company to maintain the website
once it is set up – this can be expensive
 because it is a global system, it is more difficult to
target the correct audience using website advertising
 still need to find a way for people to find out about the
website
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS
 sound/video/animation can be added
 links to other pages and websites can be
added in hyperlinks and hot spots
 buttons to navigate/move around the
website, leading to more information
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS
 use animation video and sound or music

 more interesting than static

presentations done on
slides or paper
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS
 produced using one of the many software packages
on the market
 used with a multimedia
projector so that the
whole audience can see
the presentation
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS - ADVANTAGES

 use of sound and animation/video effects
which are more likely to grab the attention
of the audience, and can make the
presentation easier to understand
 use of transition effects allow a presentation
to display facts in a key or chronological
order
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS - ADVANTAGES

 possible to have interactive hyperlinks built
into the presentation;
this means the presentation could
access a company’s website or even
key files stored on the cloud (video
footage, images, spreadsheets, etc)
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS - ADVANTAGES

 can be interactive
 more flexible
because of the links to websites and
other external systems (for example,
the cloud), the presentation can be
tailored to suit a particular audience
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS - DISADVANTAGES

 a need to have special equipment which can

be expensive
 danger that equipment could fail while
giving multimedia presentations there may
need to be internet access
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MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS - DISADVANTAGES

 danger when using multimedia in

presentations that the focus is on the
medium (the multimedia presentation) rather
than the message or facts
 very easy to make a bad presentation with
too many animation effects and too much
text or images.
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MEDIA STREAMING
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MEDIA STREAMING
 when users watch movies/videos or listen to music
on devices connected to the internet
 there is no need to actually
download and save the
video or audio files
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MEDIA STREAMING
Streaming is a continuous transmission of video or
audio files from a remote server where the files are
stored. This means data is transmitted and played in real
time.
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HOW STREAMING WORKS

 The file is sent as a series of packets of data.
 Each packet is interpreted by the web browser
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HOW STREAMING WORKS

Streaming only works well if the
internet speed is stable, and at least
25 Mbits/second (for an HD video).
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BUFFERING
Buffering makes sure the video plays back smoothly without
freezing. While the buffer is receiving data packets, it will be
sending the data from the previous data packets to the
playback device
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BUFFERING
The playback of the media files is usually much faster than the rate
at which data is received over the internet, data packets are buffered in
the computer.
Buffering makes sure the video plays back smoothly without
freezing. While the buffer is receiving data packets, it will be
sending the data from the previous data packets to the
playback device.
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BUFFERING
Buffering make it appears to be no gaps in the received data.
The larger the buffer, the better (reduced possibility of freezing
the playback).

Data Data Data

Packet Packet Packet Data packets being received
9 8 7
BUFFER
Data packets sent to playback
device
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Buffering the process of preloading

data into a reserved area of memory
that's called a buffer.
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e-publications
Most material which is published on paper is also available in an
electronic format.

 e-books
 digital magazines
 digital newspapers
 digital libraries.
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e-publications
Most material which is published on paper is also available in an
electronic format.
 the publication can be downloaded to a device connected to the internet
where it can be read
 swipe a finger across the screen to move between pages
 pages can be expanded in size and it is possible to include media
 some devices allow a library of e-books to be stored on the device
 cheaper (no printing costs are incurred)
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EXERCISE 6C
Write down as many advantages and disadvantages you can think
of for offering customers e-publications rather than paper-based
publications. Write a paragraph describing each advantage and
disadvantage.
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EXERCISE 6C ANSWERS
Advantages with student explanation:
 no need to buy physical copies of books
 no need for customers to carry heavy books around with them
 can read anywhere
 easy to page mark
 easier to use text in customers' documents.

Disadvantages with student explanation:

sometimes harder to read than a book
devices are not cheap to buy
no physical object to own.
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MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
 Mobile phones communicate by using towers inside many
cells networked together to cover large areas.

 The towers allow the transmission of

data throughout the mobile phone
network
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MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
 Each tower transmits within its own cell.
 If you are driving a car and get to the edge of a cell, the mobile
phone signal starts to weaken. This is recognized by the network
and the mobile phone then picks up the signal in one of the
adjacent cells.
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MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
 Mobile devices use a SIM (subscriber identity module) card to allow it to
connect to the mobile phone cellular network, or they use wireless internet
connectivity.
 Features
 SMS (short message service) messaging
 phone calls
 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication
 video calling
 internet access
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SMS (TEXT) MESSAGING

 allows a very quick way of communicating with another person by
typing on a keyboard

 the other person does not need to be available,

and can pick up the message as and when they
want
 SMS/text messaging between phones using the
same cellular network may be free-of-charge
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FEATURES OF SMS (TEXT) MESSAGING

 quicker and less expensive than making phone calls
 can be sent at any time of the day even if the recipient’s
phone is switched off the system completes a word from the first few
letters keyed in;
 predictive texting Example:
key in ‘preci’ and the phone completes the word as
‘precious’;

predictive texting also allows the system to remember

frequently used words – together they increase typing
speed
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PHONE CALLS
 they are an ideal way of keeping in touch anywhere
 so small and they have their own power source, provided
there is a network signal

 mobile phone networks are still not

as stable as landline systems
 landline phones are still in common
use
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VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VOIP)

AND VIDEO CALLING

 One of the most common forms of

internet telephony (having a
telephone conversation via the
internet)
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VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VOIP)

AND VIDEO CALLING
 used to talk to people using the internet.
 VoIP converts sound into discrete digital
data packets that can be sent to their
destination via the internet
 The internet can be accessed via a mobile phone network or a
broadband network
 the voice calls are sent over the internet using VoIP technology
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VOIP - ADVANTAGES
 phone calls themselves are free, no matter where in the world the
caller and receiver are
there may be a cost to send lots of data over the internet via a
mobile phone network

 the device’s built-in cameras (microphones) can

also be used so that it becomes a type of video call
 cheaper (no need for special software and
hardware)
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VOIP – MAIN PROBLEMS

 usually sound quality (echo and ‘weird sounds’ are both common faults)
 security
 identity theft
 viruses and malware (malicious software)
 spamming (unwanted emails)
 phishing attacks the act of sending an email to a user, falsely
claiming to be an established legitimate
enterprise, in an attempt to scam the user into
surrendering private information that will be
used for identity theft
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SOME VIDEO CALLING SOFTWARE

❑ FaceTime
 makes use of the built-in smartphone
cameras, microphone and speakers
 split screen allows you to see a number of
people at the same time (although the small
screen size limits the potential of this
feature)
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SOME VIDEO CALLING SOFTWARE

❑ Zoom
 cloud-based video calling service
that allows live video
 chatting on any device.
 possible to record sessions to be
played back at a later date.

Cloud-based video calling doesn’t need expensive infrastructure; users

can simply dial into a virtual meeting room (cheaper than conventional
video conferencing).
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VIDEO CALLS FEATURES

❑ live video and audio chat
❑ screen-sharing during the call
❑ recording during sessions.
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INTERNET ACCESS (MOBILE DEVICES)

 any mobile device can connect to the internet either using a
wireless broadband connection or via the mobile phone network

 smaller screens (web pages are

optimized for mobile devices)
internet pages displayed on mobile
phones are often different to those on
desktop or laptop computers
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INTERNET ACCESS (MOBILE DEVICES)

 mobile devices automatically select wireless broadband
connectivity (if possible), instead of the mobile phone
network
 less expensive
mobile phone company ‘data plans’ often have
a cap on how much data can be downloaded,
and charge for exceeding this maximum
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INTERNET ACCESS (MOBILE DEVICES)

 mobile devices automatically select wireless broadband
connectivity (if possible), instead of the mobile phone
network
 lower power consumption
Wi-Fi routers are usually much closer than the
mobile phone towers; the longer the range, the
greater the power consumption
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INTERNET ACCESS (MOBILE DEVICES)

 mobile devices automatically select wireless broadband
connectivity (if possible), instead of the mobile phone
network
 quality of service
Wi-Fi usually offers greater bandwidth than
the mobile phone network giving the
possibility of downloading more data more
quickly
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