GENERAL EDUCATION ELECTIVE 3 | 4.

They can use social media sites to advertise

LIVING IN THE IT ERA their products and connect with their
customers
CHAPTER 1
ICT for Personal Finance and Shopping
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY 1. Many banks, utility suppliers and
government sites give individuals the
Information and Communications Technology opportunity to pay their bills and taxes
is a set of technologies that help us create online
information, access information, analyze 2. With the growth in internet usage, many
information and communicate with each other. businesses have e-Commerce sites which
allow individuals to buy groceries, clothes,
ICT tools include the Internet, cell phones, cosmetics, sporting equipment, etc.
global positioning systems (GPS), texting, video Practically anything can be bought online
games, digital cameras, MP3 players, wikis, today!
blogs and more. Some of these tools are being
used today in classrooms all over the world, and BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTER
will be used even more in the future to support
learning. Computer is an electronic device that
manipulates information, or “data.” It has the
USE OF ICT ability to store, retrieve and process data.

ICT for Leisure Types of Computers

1. We use mobile phones to make and receive 1. Mainframe Computer

calls and text messages. Text message is  large, powerful and expensive
also known as Short Message Service computers,
(SMS).  often used within large systems and
2. We use computers or mobile phones to organizations,
access the internet:  can be used by more than one user
a. To shop simultaneously.
b. To talk to family and friends
using social media 2. Personal Computer – PC (Desktop
c. To book holidays and flights Computer)
d. To watch movies and TV shows  First PC was made by IBM in 1981,
 It was originally made for executing a
ICT in the Workplace single task by a single user at the time.
 Today: a single person can execute
1. Businesses can use mobile phones to make many tasks simultaneously
and receive text messages (SMS) and calls (multitasking).
2. They can use computer software to email  Apple Macintosh (Mac) is a personal
clients, type letters, and other computer made by Apple company,
correspondence, generate invoice and pay
staff 3. Portable Computer or Laptop computer
3. They can use the internet to take orders (notebook)
through their website and pay suppliers  relatively small computers, easily
carried around,
  consists of LCD display and a small c) printer
keyboard, d) plotter
 do not fall behind PCs by their functions e) speakers
f) earphones
4. Personal Digital Assistant - PDA (Palm) or
Handheld Computer Software is the set of instructions that enables
 small computers that can fit into a the computer to perform its functions.
pocket or user's palm,
 meant for performing basic Types of Software
personal/business functions:
• managing personal or business 1. Operating System Software is the set of
tasks and assignments, instructions that looks after the internal
• maintaining the address book, running of a computer and manages the
• accessing and browsing the computer’s resources.
Internet,
• sending/receiving e-mails, etc. Examples of Operating System Software
 PDAs have now been replaced by a) MS-DOS (not user friendly system)
modern smart phones that combine the b) Microsoft Windows (e.g. Windows 8)
features of a c) Apple Macintosh (e.g. Mountain)
• PDA with a mobile phone and d) Linux
camera. e) UNIX

Hardware refers to the physical parts of the 2. Application Software are computer
computer, anything you can touch. programs that are written to perform a
specific task.
Divisions of Computer Hardware
Examples of Application Software
1. Input Device is any device that allows a) MS Word – Writing letters, etc.
information to be entered into a computer b) MS Excel – accounting
by typing, selecting, importing or download. c) MS Powerpoint – creating
presentations
Examples of Input Devices d) Internet Explorer (RIP)– Browsing the
a) keyboard Internet
b) scanner
c) touchpad Computer memory is any physical device
d) mouse capable of storing information temporarily or
e) trackball permanently.
f) joystick
g) microphone Two types of Computer Memory
h) stylus
i) camera (web, digital) 1. Random Access Memory (RAM) is the main
working memory of the computer.
2. Output Device is any device that outputs It is used to store information on a
information from a computer. temporary basis.
2. Read Only Memory (ROM) is used to store
Examples of Output Devices information that the Central Processing Unit
a) monitor (CPU) needs in order to run the computer.
b) projector
 This is where you install application It is used for identification, data storage
software and save your files. and application processing.

Computer Memory is measured in bits. The

measurements of computer memory are:

1 Bit = 1 0r 0 (smallest measurement)

1 Byte = 8 Bits (equivalent to 1 Character or
letter)
1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes
1 Megabyte = 1024 kilobytes
1 Gigabyte = 1024 megabytes
1 Terabyte = 1024 gigabytes

Storage Devices is any piece of hardware that

stores data. The most common type of storage
device is a hard drive.

Examples of Storage Device

a) Hard Drive (Internal and External)
It is used to store the computer’s
operating system, applications and
user’s files.
b) USB Flash Drives
They are a very popular storage
medium.
Used to store office documents, music,
pictures, etc.
c) CD-ROM
It can store pictures, music and office
documents.
d) DVD
Suitable for storing movie files
e) Online File Storage
Allows the users to store file to a
specific hard drive on the internet.
Often used by businesses to backup
data or to allow employees working in
different locations to share files.
f) Smart Media & Micro Drives
Used for digital camera storage
g) Memory Stick
Removable memory card launched by
Sony.
h) Smart Card
Pocket sized plastic card with an
embedded microchip.