Task 7: The impact of the availability of electronic information on individuals and society

 Produce a report that explains the impact of the availability of electronic information on individuals and society, and the effect on those who do not have access to ICT  words ◦ ½ page on own experience ◦ 1 page on business experience ◦ ½ page on digital divide

Mark Band 1Mark Band 2Mark Band 3 The candidate describes how the availability of electronic information affects people and situations they are familiar with, such as the candidate and their family; The report may contain errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar; The candidate explains clearly how the availability of electronic information affects people and situations they are familiar with, such as the candidate and their family, and society in general and individuals within it, including people and situations outside their normal experience; The report will contain few spelling, punctuation and grammar errors; The candidate explains in detail how the availability of electronic information affects people and situations they are familiar with, such as the candidate and their family, and society in general and individuals within it, including people and situations outside their normal experience, including how organisations now communicate with individuals and society and the effect on those who do not have (or want) access to ICT; The report will be consistently well- structured and there will be few, if any, spelling, punctuation and grammar errors

Mark Band 1Mark Band 2Mark Band 3 Candidates describe the effects of the availability of information in personal terms, such as their ability to access information on this qualification by accessing the OCR website, or the ability of their parents to find train or flight information and book tickets on-line – the report will be made up of examples, with little attempt to explain the effects; Candidates provide some explanation of the impacts of the availability of electronic information on themselves and their family and then broaden the scope of their explanations to include individuals and situations outside their normal experience – this may include: people with disabilities, people who live in remote locations, early warning systems, earthquake detection systems, introduction of wireless access in Africa, political restrictions on access, etc.; Although some errors may be present, these should not be of the type that a spell or grammar checker would identify; In addition to evidence generated for Mark Band 2, candidates include in their more detailed explanations the increased use by organisations of , websites and other ICT to communicate with their customers individually, and with society in general, through ICT-based advertising; They explain in detail the effects of this increased use of electronic communication on those who do not have (or want) access to ICT; There will be very few errors in the report, which will be well- structured with headings and sub- headings and with explanations presented in a logical order.

 Businesses – cost savings, efficiency, access to prospective customers  Users – fast, easy access to information  Available 24/7  More leisure time?  The environment – less paper

 Impact on health ◦ Obesity, lack of fresh air, repetitive strain injury ◦ Information overload leads to stress  Spam  Less social contact  Advertising and resulting peer pressure  Security, privacy and threat of viruses  Coursework – copying, plagiarism, copyright  Music, video & software – piracy  Cyber bullying – anonymous  Credit card fraud and Phishing

 The Plymouth Brethren ◦ See BBC website for information ◦ Forbidden activities include:  Watching TV, listening to radio, going to university  The Amish ◦ Reluctance to adopt modern convenience ◦ No electricity, phones, cars  Older people who don’t want to use computers ◦ Sir Clive Sinclair, inventor of the ZX80 computer ◦ See article on The Guardian website

 Online banking and electronic billing – pay less if paperless and use direct debit  Some retailers are online only e.g. Amazon  Access to education e.g. The Open University  Transport ◦ Cheaper to buy tickets online ◦ Some airlines only take bookings online e.g. Ryan Air  Insurance – cheaper online  Government – online tax returns etc.  Schools – use of VLEs for homework

 Old vs young  Schools that spend money on ICT vs those that don’t  Able bodied vs disabled  Middle classes vs lower classes ◦ Gordon Brown article in Guardian 22/3/10 ◦ …market-driven process which would "create two nations: one digitally privileged, one digitally deprived“  Developed world vs developing/third world

 Comments: The candidate has discussed different methods of obtaining electronic information including television, the internet and telephones. For each, the candidate has discussed his own and his family’s use, attempted to broaden this out to society in general, discussed how businesses use the method and made some mention of people who do not have access. However, there is not much outside the candidate’s own experience and, although there are few errors, the report is poorly structured. Overall, the higher mark in mark band 2 is appropriate.