The ultimate glossary of ICT terms and their definitions – critical for teachers starting on their digital education journey!
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| Term | Definition |
| 21st Century skills | skills needed to live in the digitised 21st Century, e.g. information technology and media skills; learning and innovation skills such as collaboration, critical thinking and creativity |
| adaptive learning tools/systems | programs that adapt (change) the content and process of learning offered to learners on the basis of their response to questions and tasks |
| analytics | data generated by user engagement with content and assessment that can provide insight and guidance for intervention if required |
| animations | a series of slightly different pictures, photos or illustrations that are viewed rapidly in succession to create the illusion of movement similar to that of a video or film. |
| Android | Android is an operating system developed by Google for smartphone |
| asynchronously | not occurring at the same time |
| augmentation | digital technology that directly substitutes print, for example, and improves either the quality or variety of the content that is made available for teaching and learning purposes |
| bandwidth | the rate at which an internet connection can send and receive a volume of information |
| broadband | always-on internet access |
| blogging | a personal journal/record of events captured on a website |
| central processing unit (CPU) | a component of a device that provides processing power, necessary for the running of programs or applications |
| collaborative learning | the practice of learners working together to complete a task or solve a problem |
| collaborative tools | digital tools that allow learners to work together in online environments |
| computing-based tools | tools that require a computer |
| connectivity | the ability to connect with other computer devices via the internet |
| content delivery systems | computing-based systems that structure and manage the delivery of content and assessment to learners |
| desktop computers | (also known as personal computers (PCs): designed to fit onto a desk top |
| digital education | the use of electronic tools that create, store and process information to deliver and enhance teaching and learning |
| digital learning programs | computer programs that teach content and test learners’ understanding of the content |
| e-learning | another term for digital education |
| embedded | placed in a computer file or program |
| enhancements | additions that improve the quality of something |
| ePDF | a digital document that is formatted as an embedded portable document (PDF stands for portable document format; commonly referred to as books behind glass, ePDFs are simply digitised versions of paper books |
| ePUB | an electronic publication that can be used across devices and operating systems; it allows text to reflow and resize in order to fit the type of device on which it is viewed |
| formats | arrangements of data in a file or program that allows it to perform certain unique functions |
| functionality | the ability to do something |
| gamification | turning an experience into a game-like process by using elements of game design |
| hardware | computer equipment such as monitor, mouse, keyboard and CPU |
| hyperlinks | links in a digitised document that, when clicked on, take the user to another part of the document or to an external location, such as a website |
| information and communication technologies (ICTs) | information and communication technologies |
| interactive whiteboards | electronic whiteboards that are connected to a computer and can perform the same functions as the computer to which they are connected |
| internet | a global network of computers that connects them to one another |
| iOS | iOS is an operating system developed by Apple for smartphones |
| laptop computers | computers that are small enough to fit on the user’s lap and can perform all the same functions as desktop computers |
| learner management system | another term for content delivery system |
| mobile learning | the use of mobile devices and/or mobile networks to deliver teaching and learning |
| modification | the degree to which something is changed; in the context of SAMR, the learning tasks that are set are substantially different from those that are set without the benefit of digital tools |
| offline | not connected to the internet |
| online | connected to the internet |
| online discussion forums | online websites that allow users to engage with one another usually from remote locations |
| Open Educational Resources (OERs) | educational material – typically electronic or digital – available at little to no cost and can be used, shared and/or adapted |
| operating systems | the software program that enables a computer or other digital device to perform certain functions |
| platforms | the software or hardware used to host a particular website or other type of digital tool |
| podcasts | a popular form of audio broadcasting on the internet |
| redefinition | to change the definition of something; in the context of SAMR, to allow learners to perform tasks that were not previously possible |
| SAMR | (substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition): a framework for understanding the impact of digital tools on education |
| simulations | virtual representations of real-world scenarios and tasks |
| smartphones | mobile phones that are connected to the internet |
| software | computer programs |
| substitution | replacement; in the context of SAMR, learners use digital platforms as a direct replacement of other forms of content delivery without any change in the nature of the task or the teaching and learning method |
| synchronously | occurring at the same time |
| tablets | handheld computers that have flat screens and can connect to the internet |
| touch screens | a computer display screen where the user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen; this includes the keyboard which exists as software in a tablet |
| USB disk | a portable storage device for digital files |
| virtual | not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so |
| website(s) | a set of pages on the World Wide Web published by a single person or organisation about a particular subject or closely related topics |
| widget(s) | interactive component that responds to user input |
