How Information Technology Has Influenced Our Organizations in This Modern World
Human development is largely dependent on the environment. A compromise accepted by many in the seminal nature-nurture debate is that the environment determines how heredity expresses itself. Society has changed much in the last eighty years, and the degree of change within the last twenty to thirty years has been more rapid than in any other period of human history. Basic skills sets have always changed based on the availability of technology and the dynamics of social convention. The advent of the computer age has changed human occupational, social, and educational development significantly in a very short period of time. The computer is likely responsible for the single largest developmental shift across many areas of learning and performance; this is especially true of not only what children, adolescents, and young adults are expected to be able to do, but how they conceptualize problem solving and the degree to which abstract reasoning is important in concept formation. The workplace has changed significantly due to the automatization of many formerly manual jobs. Education has changed on several fronts as well; not only do the computers (and other sophisticated electronic devices) require special skills to use, they are also now part of standardized education in many areas and will only become further ingrained in education service delivery at all levels. Occupations formerly considered to be non- or low skill vocations now require at least some degree of technological sophistication. This level of knowledge is considered minimal compared with other, more technology dependent occupations, but for the unskilled person trying to learn a new job, these basic skills can pose a significant obstacle. A computerized notepad used for tracking deliveries, for example, is relatively uncomplicated compared to the tracking web of an air traffic controller, but for one who has never been exposed to this notepad or related devices, it is a completely novel skill. Because