Introduction to Information Technology: The Future Online courses are less expensive than traditional

Now courses.

Chapter 1 Distance learning is useful to students in rural areas.

Unit 1A: The Mobile World, Information Technology, Tutoring, simulation, and avatars are also aspects of
& Your Life
Health
 Two Parts of IT: Computers &
• Health: High-Tech for Wellness
Communications
Computers are playing important roles in our personal
• Part 1: Computer Technology
lives. Like
A computer is a programmable, multiuse
Telemedicine: Medical care via telecommunications
machine that accepts data—raw facts and figures—
lets doctors treat patients from far away.
and processes, or manipulates it into information we
can use. 3D Computer models allow accurate cancer location
inside a brain; X-rays, MRIs, CT scans can be done
• Part 2: Communications Technology
remotely.
Also called telecommunications technology,
Robots—automatic devices that perform functions
consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for
ordinarily performed by human beings—permit
communicating over any distance.
precise microsurgery.
Education
Health websites provide medical information. Many
• Education has become heavily involved in health records are stored electronically.
information technology.

• And is used for:

Money & Business
Personalizing students’ education
• Money & Business: Toward the Cashless Society?
Automating tedious and rote tasks and managing classes
Information technology is reducing the use of
Reducing instructors’ workload (course-management traditional money and through the use of virtual
software) money

Graphical presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) Virtual means something that is created, simulated,
or carried on by means of a computer or a computer
• What is misuse?
network.
Text messaging or emailing friends during class
Virtual money includes cash-value cards, automatic
Surfing the Internet for entertainment transfers, and digital money

Doing assignments for other classes “Electronic wallets” (e.g., PayPal)

Sharing answers Electronic payroll deposit

•Education: The Promise of More Interactive Online bill paying via debit and credit cards

& Individualized Learning Micropayments for online products and to help

charities
Online Learning, or distance learning, is becoming
common. Smartphones are used for “showrooming” and
shopping. (Showrooming means examining the
Not all online schools/courses are accredited; students product/service before buying it)
should check.
 Technology can also be used to telecommute (e- • Know what the basic computer system components are.
work) and to start businesses and earn money.

• Government & Electronic Democracy:

• Your Personal Life
Participating in the Civic Realm
Computers are playing important roles in our personal
Information technology is helping governments to lives.
deliver services and is affecting political activism.
• Online relationship sites, or online dating sites
IT can help governments to improve services, provide electronic forums that people may join in the
including police services, which use databases, hope of meeting compatible companions or mates.
computer systems with a collection of interrelated files.

Online voting is becoming common. Information is 1.2 Information Technology is Pervasive: Cellphones,
easier to disseminate. Email, the Internet, & the E-world

The Phone Grows Up

Watchdog are growing. The telephone is not what it used to be.

Easier fund raising from small donors. • 1973: First cellphone call

BUT: it has its downsides • Mobile phone use estimated to rise to 7 billion users in
2014
Gerrymandering is becoming easier—redrawing
voting districts for partisan advantage. (Gerrymandering • Today’s smartphones can: Make voice calls
means to gain favor on one party by manipulation.) • Connect to Internet and web for all sorts of activities
(partisan = bias to one)
• Send and receive text messages
Voting machine problems can occur.
• Take and send pictures and download music and video
Invasion of privacy is becoming an important issue
• Obtain news and TV programs
•Jobs & Careers
• Scan special barcodes that take users to a website
People now use computers to post résumés (CVs)
and find jobs. • Provide maps

IT is used in starting new business ventures • Do research

IT is used to prepare résumés and find jobs on • Pay for products and services
many websites.

To find jobs, participate in social media and write

• Email’s Mass Impact
comments on blogs (weblogs), frequently updated sites
on the web intended for public consumption that contain Email revolutionized communication, and has many
a writer’s observations, opinions, images, and links to benefits, but in many areas it is being supplanted by
other websites. texting.

• Basic computer skills are needed for most jobs: • Introduced in 1981
•Know how to use a keyboard.
• Reached 10 million users in about one year
• Use email.
• Be able to use a word processor (usually Microsoft • 1998 surpassed hand-delivered mail
Word).
• Know basic spreadsheet and database software skills. • In 2013 about 144 billion messages per day
• Understand the basics of file sizes, computer memory • In business, at least, email requires writing skills
limitations, and network arrangements.
• For personal activities, texting is replacing email Mobile devices & PDAs

• Texting, or text messaging, is sending and receiving E-readers

short written messages between mobile phones or other Also called embedded computers, Microcontrollers
portable or fixed devices are tiny, specialized microprocessors inside
appliances and automobiles they are in microwaves,
The Internet, the World Wide Web, & the programmable ovens, blood-pressure monitors, air bag
“Plumbing”of Cyberspace sensors, vibration sensors, MP3 players, digital cameras,
keyboards, car systems, etc.
The net, the web, and cyberspace are not the same
things. •Servers

Cyberspace • A server, or network server , is a central computer

that holds collections of data (databases) and
Term coined by William Gibson in Neuromancer programs for connecting or supplying services to PCs,
“novel” (1984) to describe a futuristic computer workstations, and other devices, which are called
network people “plugged” into directly with their clients. These clients are linked by a wired or wireless
brains network.

Now the term cyberspace encompasses not only the

online world and the Internet in particular BUT also the The entire network is called a client-server network.
whole wired and wireless world of communications in clients to access and to supply
general. How Computers Work: Three Key Concepts
• The Internet (the “Net” or “net”) is a worldwide All computer users must understand three basic
computer network that connects hundreds of principles:
thousands of smaller networks. These networks link
(1) Data is turned into information;
educational, commercial, nonprofit, and military entities,
as well as individuals. (2) hardware and software have their own specific
functions; and
• The World Wide Web : the “Web” or the “web” is an
(3) all computers input, processing, storage,
interconnected system of Internet computers (called
servers ) that support specially formatted documents in and output, plus communications.
multimedia form.
1. Turning data into information
(The word multimedia, from “multiple media,” refers • Data: the raw facts and figures
to technology that presents information in more than
one medium, such as text, still images, moving • Information: data that has been summarized or
otherwise transformed for use in decision making
images, and sound.)
2. Hardware vs. software
•Microcomputers
• Hardware = the machinery and equipment in a
Microcomputers are used by individuals as well as computer system
businesses, and they can be connected to networks of
larger computers. • Software (programs) = the electronic instructions
3. The basic operations of a computer:
There are many types of microcomputers.
All computers use 4 basic operations +
• Personal computers that cost $500 to over $5,000 communications:
Used either stand-alone or in a network
• Input: What goes into the computer system
Desktop and tower PCs
• Processing: The manipulation a computer does to
Notebooks & netbooks transform data into information
Tablets
• Storage: Application Software—enables you to perform
specific tasks—solve problems, perform work, or
(a)Primary storage, or memory, is temporary storage entertain yourself.
for data waiting to be processed
• Compatibility: Application software is specific to the
(b)Secondary storage is permanent storage: media system software you use.
such as hard disk, DVDs, and CDs
• Linux applications won’t work on Windows.
• Output: What comes out—the results of processing,
such as on the screen, printouts, sound • Windows applications won’t necessarily work on
Linux.
• Communications: Sending and receiving data

1.6 Where is Information Technology Headed?

•Customizing a Desktop Computer
Computers are headed in three basic directions
What would you need?
Miniaturization, faster speeds, and greater
(input hardware) Keyboard & mouse affordability and communications are improving
(processing & memory hardware) Inside the system connectivity,and interactivity.

(power) Case and power supply • When Computers & Communications

Converge .Five Results:
(CPU) Processor chip – the central processing unit
• Convergence—combination of several industries
(RAM) Memory chips – random access memory or
primary storage Computers, Communications, Consumer electronics,
Entertainment, Mass media
Motherboard – the system board, the main circuit
board, with expansion slots to plug in components. 1. Portability

• Storage Hardware: Hard Drive, CD/DVD Drive 2. Personalization

Storage capacity is represented in bytes 3. Collaboration

1 byte = 1 character of data 4. Cloud computing

1 kilobyte = 1,024 characters 5. Artificial intelligence

1 megabyte = 1,048,576 characters • Cloud computing basically means that instead of

storing your software and/or data on your own PC or
1 gigabyte = over 1 billion characters your own company’s computers, you store it on servers
on the Internet.
1 terabyte = over 1 trillion characters
•Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a group of
1 petabyte = about 1 quadrillion characters
related technologies used for developing machines to
• Output hardware emulate human qualities, such as learning, reasoning,
communicating, seeing, and hearing. Much of AI is
Video, Sound cards, Speakers, Monitor, Printer, based on the use of algorithms, formulas or sets of
Communications hardware, Modem, DSL Router steps for solving particular problems. AI deals with
• Software Big Data, data that is so large and complex that it
cannot be processed using conventional methods
Computers use two basic types of software: system
software and application software.
System Software—enables the computer to
perform essential operating tasks and makes it
possible for application software to run.
• Most important part: Operating system (OS) Some
operating system options
• Windows, Unix , Linux, Mac OS