Republic of the Philippines

Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

Bachelor of Science in Criminology

Course Number : COMP 1 Instructor : Sheena May B. Villanueva

Course Title : COMPUTER APPLICATIONS W/ LAB Mobile No. : 0965-207-9004
Credits : 3 units (3 hours lecture; 2hours lab) Email Address :
Module No. : 2 – UNIT 2 [email protected]
Duration : 1 week (September 20 - 24, 2021)

I. LEARNING OUTCOME(S):

After reading this module, you are expected to:

1. determine the functions of the computer;
2. describe the characteristics of a computer;
3. differentiate various computer classifications; and
4. discuss the advantages and disadvantage of using computer.

II. TOPICS:
COMPUTER CONCEPT AND DECRIPTION: UNIT 2 - BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

Lesson 1: Basic Computer Functions

Lesson 2: Characteristics of a Computer
Lesson 3: Classification of Computer
Lesson 4: Advantage and Disadvantages of Using Computer

III. REFERENCES
a. ONLINE RESOURCE
i. https://techdifferences.com/difference-between-supercomputer-and-mainframe-
computer.html
ii. https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_concepts/computer_concepts_introduction_to_comp
uter.htm

b. TEXTBOOK RESOURCE
iii. Introduction to Computers and Basic Programming (Computer and Society) by Management
Dynamics, Inc Staff. (e.g. Ms. Aurora Felizardo, M. arah Russel Lazo, Mr. John Balili, Mr.
Eduardo Lim, Mr. LIno Dizon; et.al )

IV. COURSE CONTENT

Introduction

Being a modern-day kid you must have used, seen, or read about computers. This is because they are an
integral part of our everyday existence. Be it school, banks, shops, railway stations, hospital or your own home,
computers are present everywhere, making our work easier and faster for us. As they are such integral parts of
our lives, we must know what they are and how they function. Let us start with defining the term computer
formally.

The literal meaning of computer is a device that can calculate. However, modern computers can do a lot more
than calculate. Computer is an electronic device that receives input, stores or processes the input as per user
instructions, provides output in desired format and stores the information for future use.

Lesson 1: Four Basic Computer Functions

What is a Computer?

A computer is an electronic device that accepts data from the user, processes it, produces results, displays
them to the users, and stores the results for future usage.

Data is a collection of unorganized facts & figures and does not provide any further information regarding
patterns, context, etc. Hence data means "unstructured facts and figures".

Information is a structured data i.e. organized meaningful and processed data. To process the data and
convert into information, a computer is used.

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 1
 Computer input is called data and the output obtained after processing it, based on user’s instructions is
called information. Raw facts and figures which can be processed using arithmetic and logical operations to
obtain information are called data.

Input – refers to the action that involves entering data into the computer
Processing – this function is performed by the computer by manipulating the information entered into it to
produce output (gather, compute, analyze, distribute and display data)
Output – this computer function presents processed data to the user in a meaningful and understandable
form (displayed on monitor)
Storage – data processed by the computer can be kept for temporary to long term keeping

Lesson 2: Characteristics of Computer

To understand why computers are such an important part of our lives, let us look at some
of its characteristics.

The characteristics of the computer system are as follows −

Speed
A computer works with much higher speed and accuracy compared to humans while performing mathematical
calculations. Computers can process millions (1,000,000) of instructions per second. The time taken by computers
for their operations is microseconds and nanoseconds.

Accuracy
Computers perform calculations with 100% accuracy. Errors may occur due to data inconsistency or inaccuracy.

Diligence
A computer can perform millions of tasks or calculations with the same consistency and accuracy. It doesn’t feel
any fatigue or lack of concentration. Its memory also makes it superior to that of human beings.

Versatility
Versatility refers to the capability of a computer to perform different kinds of works with same accuracy and
efficiency.

Reliability
A computer is reliable as it gives consistent result for similar set of data i.e., if we give same set of input any
number of times, we will get the same result.
Automation
Computer performs all the tasks automatically i.e. it performs tasks without manual intervention.

Memory
A computer has built-in memory called primary memory where it stores data. Secondary storage are removable
devices such as CDs, pen drives, etc., which are also used to store data.

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 2
Lesson 3: Classifications of Computer

All modern computers and computing devices use microprocessors whose speeds and storage capacities are
skyrocketing day by day. The developmental benchmark for computers is now their size. Computers are now
classified on the basis of their use or size −

 Desktop
 Laptop
 Tablet
 Server
 Mainframe
 Supercomputer
Let us look at all these types of computers in detail.

Desktop

Desktop computers are personal computers (PCs)

designed for use by an individual at a fixed location.
IBM was the first computer to introduce and popularize
use of desktops. A desktop unit typically has a CPU
(Central Processing Unit), monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Introduction of desktops popularized use of computers among common people as it was compact and affordable.
Riding on the wave of desktop’s popularity many software and hardware devices were developed specially for the
home or office user. The foremost design consideration here was user friendliness.

Laptop

Despite its huge popularity, desktops gave way to a more

compact and portable personal computer called laptop in 2000s.
Laptops are also called notebook computers or simply notebooks.
Laptops run using batteries and connect to networks using Wi-Fi
(Wireless Fidelity) chips. They also have chips for energy efficiency
so that they can conserve power whenever possible and have a longer
life. Modern laptops have enough processing power and storage capacity
to be used for all office work, website designing, software development and even audio/video editing.

Tablet

After laptops computers were further miniaturized to develop

machines that have processing power of a desktop but are small
enough to be held in one’s palm. Tablets have touch sensitive screen
of typically 5 to 10 inches where one finger is used to touch icons and
invoke applications.

Keyboard is also displayed virtually whenever required and used

with touch strokes. Applications that run on tablets are called apps.
They use operating systems by Microsoft (Windows 8 and later versions)
or Google (Android). Apple computers have developed their own tablet called
iPad which uses a proprietary OS called iOS.

Server

Servers are computers with high processing speeds that provide one or more services to other systems on
the network. They may or may not have screens attached to them. A group of computers or digitaldevices connected
together to share resources is called a network. Servers have high processing powers and can handle multiple
requests simultaneously. Most commonly found servers on networks include –
COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 3
  File or storage server
 Game server
 Application server
 Database server
 Mail server
 Print server

Mainframe

Mainframes are computers used by organizations like banks, airlines and railways to handle millions and trillions
of online transactions per second. Important features of mainframes are −

 Big in size
 Hundreds times Faster than servers, typically hundred megabytes per second
 Very expensive
 Use proprietary OS provided by the manufacturers
 In-built hardware, software and firmware security features

Supercomputer

Supercomputers are the fastest computers on Earth. They are used for carrying out complex, fast and time
intensive calculations for scientific and engineering applications. Supercomputer speed or performance is measured
in teraflops, i.e. 1012 floating point operations per second.

Chinese supercomputer Sunway TaihuLight is the world’s fastest supercomputer with a rating of 93 petaflops per
second, i.e. 93 quadrillion floating point operations per second.
Most common uses of supercomputers include −

 Molecular mapping and research

 Weather forecasting
 Environmental research
 Oil and gas exploration

Comparison Chart

BASIS FOR
SUPERCOMPUTER MAINFRAME COMPUTER
COMPARISON

Basic Supercomputers fastly perform large and Mainframe computers act as a server, stores
complex mathematical computations. large database and serve a large number of
users simultaneously.

Invention IBM invented the first successful mainframe

The first successful Supercomputer was computer and is still a dominant company for
invented by Seymour Cray in the year 1976 producing the mainframe computers.
Cray 1.

The supercomputer can execute billions of Mainframe computers can execute millions of
Speed floating point operations in a second. instruction simultaneously.

Size Supercomputers are the largest computers Mainframe computers are also large computers
in the world. but somewhat smaller than supercomputer.

Expense Supercomputers are the most expensive Mainframe computers are also expensive but
computers of the worlds. less than supercomputers.

Operating The modern supercomputers have Linux Mainframe computer has the ability to run
system operating system and derivative variants of multiple operating system. simultaneously.
Linux operating system.

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 4
Lesson 4: Advantage and Disadvantages of Using Computer

Advantages of Using Computer

Now that we know the characteristics of computers, we can see the advantages that computers offer−
 Computers can do the same task repetitively with same accuracy.
 Computers do not get tired or bored.
 Computers can take up routine tasks while releasing human resource for more intelligent functions.

Disadvantages of Using Computer

Despite so many advantages, computers have some disadvantages of their own −

 Computers have no intelligence; they follow the instructions blindly without considering the outcome.
 Regular electric supply is necessary to make computers work, which could prove difficult everywhere
especially in developing nations.

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 5
V. EVALUATION

1. Fill the figure with the correponding computer function and explain.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Give at least five characteristics of the computer and discuss each briefly.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 6
3. Compare and contrast the following types of computer.

DESKTOP LAPTOP

SUPERCOMPUTER MAINFRAME COMPUTER

4. With the rapid growth of technology, discuss how computer affects your life and give its advantages as well as its
disadvantages.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

COMP ED 1 - MIDTERM 7