Leccion Uno Clase Edpe 3129

ICDL/ECDL Information Technology Lesson 1 Overview In this lesson on Information Technology you will be introduced to what IT is, what IT encompasses with respect to computer hardware, software, and the associated services and personnel

Objectives By the time this lesson is completed, you will be able to: 1. Explain the meaning and purpose of IT 2. Identify the major components of hardware, software, and services is IT 3. List and explain the five major components of acomputer system 4. Describe in detail the hardware associated with input, processing, output, memory, and control

Information Technology Meaning of “Information Technology (IT)”: A general term which includes all of the computer system hardware, software and services associated with computer operation.

Definitions:

Hardware: the objects that are what you see after turning off the power swith.

Software: the instruction that tell the computer what to do with the supplied data.

Services: the activities provided bye the IT specialist which are crucial to the entire operation.

Copyright © Norman T. Bell, 2007

Types of Computers Two Major Categories of Computers 1. Mainframe computers- large, powerful, very expensive. 2. microcomputadoras- small, powerfull inexpensive. Three Major Categories of Microcomputers 1. desktop computers 2. laptop 3. Personal Digital Assistants Major Uses of the Major Categories of Microcomputers 1. Desktop: all types of applications available

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2. Laptop: all types of applications available for use on the road. 3. PDA: fewer applications use while away from desktop or laptop.

The Block Diagram of the Computer System

control

Input

processing

output

Memory

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Input Devices

Keyboard scanners Trackball, mouse, touchpad modem, network plug-in Internal drives(hard and 3.5 floppy) CD/DVD External hardrives, thumb drive Camera/microphone for internet Printer with camara card touch screen

Processing

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Calculate (+ and -)

controls components

Controls operational logic

speed (megahertz)

Contains RAM for calculations operations per second Output Devices

monitor printer with card slots internal drives external hard drives modem, network plug in

speaker system CD/DVD recorder Thumb drive

Memory Devices

Read only memory (ROM) memory that permanently retains. Operating system info. 5

Ramdom access memory = memory that temporarily stores data volatile in that the data disappear when the system is powerd down.

Measurement of memory: bit (0 or 1), byte (8bits), kilobyte megabyte (1024 Kbytes or approx. one million bytes) gigabyte.

Control control input

processing

output

memory

operating system- windows XP applications programs- Microsoft office specialized programs on ROM- plug- in

IT Input Processing computer 6

Review of Key IT Terms information technology putting information into the computer doing something with the information put into the

Output getting information out of the computer Memory storing and retrieving information in the computer. Control directing input, processing, memory and output. Monitor a visual display of information stored in memory CPU the central processing unit Applications programs developed to produce products System Software the programs that perform system operations Byte 8 bits (a string of 8 zeros and/ or units) CD-ROM compact disk-read only memory Diskette a storage device holding 1-2 megabytes of data Digital discrete, as opposed to analogous Analog analogous, representing relative size e-Commerce business conducted on the internet e-Mail mail sent and received via internet Freeware computer software which is free to the user Bit a zero or a one Touchscreen a special display that outputs video and inputs location of touch. Review of Key IT Terms, continued Mouse a means by which any area of the screen can be reached Trackball an alternative to the mouse Touchpad another alternative to the mouse, mostly on notebook comp. Modem a means by which data can be sent and received via teleph Megahertz a measure of speed Gigahertz a measure of speed aprox. Trillion cycles per second Kilobyte a measure of quantity Megabyte a measure of quantity 1024 Kbytes aprox. One million bytes

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Hardware peripherals PDA

the physical parts of the computer and a hand held computer Summary

In this lesson you have considered the following topics: 1. Explanation of the meaning and purpose of IT 2. Identification of the major components of hardware, software, and services in IT 3. A listing and explanation of the five major components of a computer system 4. A description in detail of the hardware associated with input, processing, output, memory, and control 5. Definitions of terms associated with IT

Quick Quiz Directions: Using the system explained by your instructor, answer the following questions related to Information Technology. 1. Which of the following are included as part of the concept, Information Technology? a. Hardware c. Personnel b. Software d. All of the above responses

Measu remen t of Memor

2. Which of the following peripherals functions as both an input and output device? a. mouse c. trackball b. touch screen d. touchpad 3. What you see after turning off the computer’s main power switch is termed a. hardware c. software b. systems applications d. user applications 4. That computer component which tells the computer what to do with supplied data is called 8

a. firmware b. directions

c. software d. all of the above

5. The smallest of the various types of general purpose computers is called the a. calculator c. programmable calculator b. memory-based calculator d. PDA 6. Which of the following would be classified as input devices? a. touchpad c. trackball b. touch screen d. all of the above 7. A flat-bed scanner is classified as a/n ____________ device a. processing c. control b. memory d. input 8. Which of the following are both input and output devices? a. 3.5” floppy drive c. DVD player b. CD player d. all of the above 9. The device which is used to modulate and de-modulate signals is called a/n a. modem c. de-modulator b. modulator d. converter 10.Which of the following is a task of the central processing unit? a. calculations c. control logic b. control components d. all of the above 11. A central processing unit, the heart of the computer, is approximately how large? a. 1 foot by 1 foot c. less than 4” square b. 8” by 12” d. no more than .25” square 12. The speed of the CPU is measured in a. cycles/minute c. cycles/hour b. operations/second d. all of the above

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13. In terms of output devices, which of the following is probably the most used? a. monitor c. printer b. CD-writer d. tape recorder 14. ROM stands for _______________ memory a. random operational c. read-only b. read-once d. recursive operational 15. Which of the following is true of RAM? a. It is permanent c. It is highly volatile b. It is extremely expensive d. all of the above 16. Which of the following is a good definition of a “bit”? a. a zero or a one c. one-eighth of a byte b. a binary digit d. all of the above 17. Memory is measured in bytes. What is the definition of a byte? a. eight zeros or ones c. 1/10,000 of a terabyte 10 b. 2 bits d. 10 bits 18. A kilobyte is a. exactly 1024 bytes b. one million bits

c. 25 bits d. exactly 1024 bits

19. A terabyte is one million megabytes or approximately ____________ bytes. a. one thousand c. ten million b. one hundred thousand d. one trillion 20. Windows XP is an example of a/n a. MS Office application c. Operating System b. Off-line storage system d. all of the above 21. Which of the following would be classified as an application program? a. Word c. Photoshop

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b. PowerPoint

d. all of the above

22. The type of monitor that can serve not only as an output device but also as an input device is called a/n a. touchscreen c. touchpad b. trackscreen d. input/output video display 23. Which of the following can be read from a CD-ROM? a. word processing files c. digital pictures b. digital movies d. all of the above 24. The CPU is the central processing unit. With a desktop computer, CPU also may refer to the a. box, either metal or plastic, that contains the CPU and peripherals b. control-program unit c.. monitor, the visual output display d. main memory (both RAM and ROM) 25. Which of the following can function as an output device? a. mouse c. trackball b. CD-ROM reader d. monitor

Activity 1-1 Directions: In this first activity you will be exploring the Information Technology employment opportunities. You will first have the opportunity to read about such opportunities by means of a search on the Internet. You will see in this activity what the actual employment opportunities are and what are the needed skills for those desiring such employment. 1. Study the following excerpts from the classified ads, announcements of job opening which are all in the area of information technology. What are some of the major conclusions you can draw from announcements such as these? Results of an Internet search related to jobs in the IT field.

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Note that the Category is Information Technology and 39,319 job postings were found. These jobs are listed in the “Newest jobs first” order, and the names of the companies and locations are indicated. Further exploration of this website produces the Job Title/Description, Company, Location, and Date Found categories for each of the opportunities listed.

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Continued exploration of any of these job postings will provide information concerning the details of the job and the required background.

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Scrolling further down the required experience/knowledge is listed.

Note that in this class, you will be studying Windows XP, one of the requirements.

Activity 1-2 Be on the lookout for job listings in the area of Information Technology. Such listing may be found in newspapers, magazines related to Information Technology, and on the Internet. Be prepared for the next class session to share your findings concerning preparation for employment in the IT field.

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