ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Information and communication technologies

Information and communication technologies, or ICTs for short, are basically the tools and systems we use to share information and communicate with each other over long distances. These are devices like phones, computers, and the internet that we use to send messages, share pictures or video, and connect with people who are far away from us.

Imagine you have a toy telephone that you can use to talk to your friend who's across the room. Well, ICTs are like super cool toy telephones, but instead of reaching across the room, they can talk to someone who's far away. They work by sending small bits of information - kind of like sending letters in the mail - from one place to another using electricity and wires or waves in the air.

For example, when you use your computer to write an email to your grandma who lives in another city, the computer sends the email message over the internet to your grandma's computer. Then your grandma can write back to you in the same way. This is one way people use ICTs to communicate over long distances.

ICTs can also be used to share information and knowledge. For example, let's say you want to learn about animals that live in the rainforest. Well, you don't have to travel all the way to the rainforest to see them in person. Instead, you can use your computer to look up pictures and videos of rainforest animals on the internet. You can even watch live streams of animals in the wild from cameras that people have set up in the rainforest.

Now, all of these amazing tools are great, but it's also important to use them safely and responsibly. Just like you wouldn't talk to strangers on the street, you also need to be careful when talking to people you don't know over the internet. Always check with a trusted adult before sharing personal information or meeting someone you've only talked to online. And always use ICTs in a respectful and appropriate way, just like you would with any other toy or tool.