Database

DATABASE

A database is an integrated collection of logically related records or files consolidated into a common pool that provides data for one or more multiple uses.

One way of classifying databases involves the type of content, for example: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, image. Other classification methods start from examining database models or database architectures.

Software organizes the data in a database according to a database model. As of 2009[update] the relational model occurs most commonly. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships.

Types

Operational database
These databases store detailed data needed to support the operations of an entire organization. They are also called subject-area databases (SADB), transaction databases, and production databases.

For example:
1) customer databases
2) personal databases
3) inventory databases

Analytical database
These databases store data and information extracted from selected operational and external databases. They consist of summarized data and information most needed by an organization's management and other end-users. Some people refer to analytical databases as multidimensional databases, management databases, or information databases.

Data warehouse
A data warehouse stores data from current and previous years — data extracted from the various operational databases of an organization. It becomes the central source of data that has been screened, edited, standardized and integrated so that it can be used by managers and other end-user professionals throughout an organization

Distributed database
These are databases of local work-groups and departments at regional offices, branch offices, manufacturing plants and other work sites. These databases can include segments of both common operational and common user databases, as well as data generated and used only at a user’s own site.

End-user database
These databases consist of a variety of data files developed by end-users at their workstations. Examples of these are collections of documents in spreadsheets, word processing and even downloaded files.

External database
These databases provide access to external, privately-owned data online — available for a fee to end-users and organizations from commercial services. Access to a wealth of information from external database is available for a fee from commercial online services and with or without charge from many sources in the Internet.

Hypermedia databases on the web
These are a set of interconnected multimedia pages at a web-site. They consist of a home page and other hyperlinked pages of multimedia or mixed media such as text, graphic, photographic images, video clips, audio etc.

Navigational database
In navigational databases, queries find objects primarily by following references from other objects. Traditionally navigational interfaces are procedural, though one could characterize some modern systems like XPath as being simultaneously navigational and declarative.

In-memory databases
In-memory databases primarily rely on main memory for computer data storage. This contrasts with database management systems which employ a disk-based storage mechanism. Main memory databases are faster than disk-optimized databases since the internal optimization algorithms are simpler and execute fewer CPU instructions. Accessing data in memory provides faster and more predictable performance than disk. In applications where response time is critical, such as telecommunications network equipment that operates emergency systems, main memory databases are often used.

Document-oriented databases
Document-oriented databases are computer programs designed for document-oriented applications. These systems may be implemented as a layer above a relational database or an object database. As opposed to relational databases, document-based databases do not store data in tables with uniform sized fields for each record. Instead, they store each record as a document that has certain characteristics. Any number of fields of any length can be added to a document. Fields can also contain multiple pieces of data.

Real-time databases
A real-time database is a processing system designed to handle workloads whose state may change constantly. This differs from traditional databases containing persistent data, mostly unaffected by time. For example, a stock market changes rapidly and dynamically. Real-time processing means that a transaction is processed fast enough for the result to come back and be acted on right away. Real-time databases are useful for accounting, banking, law, medical records, multi-media, process control, reservation systems, and scientific data analysis. As computers increase in power and can store more data, real-time databases become integrated into society and are employed in many applications.

Relational Database
The standard of , relational databases are the most commonly used database today. It uses the table to structure information so that it can be readily and easily searched through.

Role of IT in education

THE ROLE OF ICT IN EDUCATION SECTOR
By: NURUL SAKINAH BINTI AZMAN

Nowadays the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), especially internet in the education sector plays an important role, especially in the process of empowering the technology into the educational activities. Education sector can be the most effective sector to anticipate and eliminate the negative impact of ICT. Technology (internet) in another side can be the most effective way to increase the student’s knowledge.

Being aware of the significant role of ICT (internet) in our life, especially in the educational activities, education authorities should be wise enough in implementing the strategies to empower ICT in supporting the teaching and learning process in the classroom. ICT is not just the bloom of the educational activities, but also it will be the secondary option to improve the effective and meaningful educational process.

The main purpose of the Strategy for Information and Communication Technology Implementation in Education is to provide the prospects and trends of integrating information and communication technology (ICT) into the general educational activities.

There are some unavoidable facts in the modern education;

First, the ICT has been developing very rapidly nowadays. Therefore, in order to balance it, the whole educational system should be reformed and ICT should be integrated into educational activities.

Second, the influence of ICT, especially internet (open source tool) cannot be ignored in our student’s lives. So, the learning activities should be reoriented and reformulated, from the manual source centered to the open source ones. In this case the widely use of internet access has been an unavoidable policy that should be anticipated by schools authorities.

Third, the presence of multimedia games and online games by internet has been another serious problem that should be wisely handled by the educational institutions. The students cannot be exterminated from this case. They can have and do with it wherever and whenever they want. Schools, as a matter of fact, do not have enough power and time to prevent or stop it after school times. Meanwhile, most parents do not have enough times to accompany and control their children. So, the students have large opportunities to do with multimedia games or online games or browsing the negative and porn sites. Having been addicted, the students will have too little time to study, and even do not want to attend classes.

In such situation, education institutions play an important role to eradicate these problems. One of which is by facilitating the students to do edutainment or educational games. Schools can let their students be familiar with educational games adjusted by their teachers. Besides, they can also support and facilitate their students to have their own blogs in the internet. A lot of WebBlog providers are free to the users, such as WordPress. In their blogs, the students can create and write something, like an article, poem, news, short stories, features, or they can also express their opinion by an online forum provided in the internet. They are able to share experiences throughout their blogs to others from all over the world. I think it will be an interesting activity for them, and it will lessen their time to visit the negative or porn sites existed.

By doing so, I think our young generation will get more and more information and knowledge by browsing in the internet. They can also create innovation in web design that it may be out of the formal curriculum content, but it will be useful for their future.

Fourth, the implementation of ICT in education has not been a priority trend of educational reform and the state paid little attention to it. Therefore, there should be an active participation, initiative and good will of the schools and the government institutions to enhance ICT implementation at school.

Fifth, the teachers should be the main motivator and initiator of the ICT implementation at schools. The teachers should be aware of the social change in their teaching activities. They should be the agent of change from the classical method into the modern one. They must also be the part of the global change in learning and teaching modification.

The followings are the aim and objectives of ICT implementation in education:

• To implement the principle of life-long learning / education.
  
• to increase a variety of educational services and medium / method.
  
• to promote equal opportunities to obtain education and information.
  
• to develop a system of collecting and disseminating educational information.
  
• to promote technology literacy of all citizens, especially for students.
  
• to develop distance education with national contents.
  
• to promote the culture of learning at school (development of learning skills, expansion of optional education, open source of education, etc.)
  
• to support schools in sharing experience and information with others