SS 1 ICT 1ST TERM LESSON NOTES FOR WEEK 1 - 10.

Scheme of work
● Week 1: Computer System
● Week 2: Overview of Computer System/Data and Information
● Week 3: PowerPoint Presentations
● Week 4: Storage Devices and Media
● Week 5: Computing Devices 1
● Week 6: Computing Devices 2
● Week 7: Mid-term break
● Week 8: File Management and Images
● Week 9: Document Production
● Week 10: The Effects of using ICT
● Week 11: Examination
● Week 12: Examination
● Week 13: Vacation

Week 1
Definition of Computer System
Computer System can be defined as an electronic device which manipulates data and produces
output using step-by-step instructions.

Definition of Computer
A computer may be defined as a machine that can solve problems by accepting data,
performing certain operations and presenting the results of those operations under the direction
of detailed step-by-step instructions.

Constituents of a computer
● Hardware
● Software

Hardware
Hardware can be defined as all the parts of the computer you can see, touch or handle.

Classification of hardware
● Input unit: Examples are keyboard, light pen, joystick, mouse, etc.
● Output unit: Examples are monitor, projector, printer, etc.
● Processing Unit: An example is the CPU
 ● Memory Unit: Examples are RAM and ROM, flash drive, hard disk, etc.

Note
System Unit: System unit is that part of the computer that houses electronic components of the
computer used to process data.

Peripherals: The term peripherals refer to all hardware devices that are attached to the
computer and are controlled by their computer system.

Application Software.
This is software that allows the users to accomplish one or more specific tasks.

Examples of Application Software

● Word processing software
● Spreadsheet software
● Presentation software
● Database packages
● Graphics packages
● Gaming software, etc.

Characteristics of Computers
● Accuracy
● Speed
● Storage
● Versatility
● Automation
● Interactive
● Electronic in nature

Types of Application Software

● User Application Software: User Application Software is designed to meet the needs
of specific users.

● Application Packages: These are commercialized software designed to perform

various categories of user functions.

Categories of Application Packages

● Application-Specific Packages: These are programs designed to carry out a
specialized task.
 ● General-Purpose Application Packages: They are designed to provide users with a
general set of facilities to handle a wide variety of problems.

Packages for specialized areas Application-Specific:

● Payroll programs
● Education Management Software
● Accounting Software
● Web Design Software, etc.

General-Purpose:
● Word processing software
● Graphics software
● Games software
● Database software
● Spreadsheet software

Week 2
Data and Information

Data are raw facts. They are figures, words and symbols that have not been processed or put
into meaningful form.
The data about a triangle are: the

Information means processed data. For example, the area of a triangle is obtained by
calculating it from the base length and height. Therefore, the area is the information.

Week 3
PowerPoint Presentations.

PowerPoint is a presentation program used to display information in the form of a slide show.

Features of PowerPoint
● Creation of Slides: A slide is a single screen of a presentation. Slides contain any
mixture of text, images, video, animations, links and sound
● Animation: Animation effects allow the various elements on each slide to appear after a
certain amount of time or when a presenter presses a button.
 ● Transitions: This is how the presentation software “moves” the display of one slide to
another. Transitions usually include dissolving from one slide to the next or the current
slide being moved in some way to show the next slide as though it was underneath.

MS PowerPoint Environment.
Steps Involved in activating MS PowerPoint.
● If the icon of the package is on the desktop, double-click on it for it to open.
● If the icon is not on the desktop, follow the step below:
● Click the Start Button
● Click on all program
● Select and click Microsoft Office
● Select and click Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint Operations.
● Create new presentation
● Insert text, pictures and graphs
● Animate contents
● Add new slide
● Save presentation
● Run slide show
● Print presentation
● Close Presentation

Guidelines for Creating a Good MS PowerPoint Presentation.

● Font size should be such that the text is readable from the back of the room by all
viewers.
● Message/Points should be brief/concise and precise (straight to the point).
● Maintain consistent use of colour on all Slides.
● Avoid too many texts on a slide, contrast text colour and backgrounds.
● Transitions and animations sound should be used sparingly and consistently to avoid
distractions.
● Add images to compliment messages and not decorate slides.

Benefits of Presentation Package.

● Easy to create colourful and attractive design/presentation.
● Easy to convey messages to the audience.
● Easy to present and maintain eye contact with large audience.
● Enhances the assimilation of information.
● It makes the presentation interesting.
● It supports multimedia, etc.
Week 4
Storage Devices and Media

Magnetic media and magnetic storage devices

● Magnetic tape drives: A magnetic tape is a very thin strip of plastic which is coated in a
magnetic layer (iron oxide).

Advantages of magnetic tapes

1. They are generally less expensive.
2. They have a huge data storage capacity.
3. The data transfer rate is actually fast.

Disadvantages of magnetic tapes

1. Very slow data access times.
2. They are affected by magnetic fields.

● Hard disk drives (HDD): Data is stored in a digital format on the magnetic surfaces of
the hard disks (platters).

Advantages of fixed hard disk drives

1. They have a very fast data transfer rate and fast access times to data.
2. They have very large memory capacities.

Disadvantages of fixed hard disk drives

1. They can be fairly easily damaged as they have many moving parts.
2. Their read/write operation can be quite noisy when compared to solid state drives.

● Portable hard drives: Portable hard disk drives are essentially HDDs external to the
computer and can be connected to the computer using one of the USB ports.

Advantages of portable hard disk drives

1. The data access time and data transfer rate are very fast.
2. They have a large memory capacity.

Disadvantages of portable hard disk drives

1. As with fixed disk drives, they can be easily damaged.
2. Data transfer rate is not as fast as for fixed hard drives.

Optical media and optical storage devices

 ● CD/DVD optical disks: CDs and DVDs can be designated as: 'R' (write once only), 'RW'
(can be written to or read from many times) or 'ROM' (read-only).
Both CDs and DVDs use a light-sensitive organic dye coating to store data.

● Blu-ray discs: They are called Blu-ray rather than Blue-ray because it was impossible
to copyright the word 'Blue'.

Advantages of Blu-ray discs

1. Very large storage capacity.
2. Very fast data transfer rate.

Disadvantage of Blu-ray discs

1. Relatively expensive discs.

Solid-state media and solid-state storage devices

● Floating gate and control gate transistors: Floating gate and control gate transistors
use CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide s
Semi-conductor) NAND technology.

● Solid-state drives (SSD): Solid-state drives have enabled laptop computers to become
thinner and much lighter.

Advantages of SSDs
1. They are more reliable.
2. They are considerably lighter.
3. Low power consumption.
4. Data transfer speed is faster than for HDDs.
5. They run much cooler than HDDs.

Disadvantage of SSDs
The main drawback of SSDs is the longevity of the technology.

● Pen drives: Pen drives (memory sticks) are small portable devices that make use of
solid-state technology.
They connect to the computer through USB.

Advantages of memory sticks/pen drives

1. They are not affected by magnetic fields.
2. They do not need additional software to work on most computers.
3. Very compact and portable media.
Disadvantages of memory sticks/pen drives
1. Easy to lose due to the small physical size.
2. The user needs to be very careful when removing a memory stick from a computer.

● Memory cards:
1. SD cards (Secure Digital card)
2. XD cards (Extreme Digital card)
3. CFast card (Compact Fast card

The XD card is a type of removable card designed for use in digital cameras.
The SD card is a type of very small card with high-capacity memory. They are primarily used in
portable devices such as digital video recorders, digital cameras, audio players, smartphones
and tablets.
A CFast card is a memory card format which was developed to allow solid state technology to
be used in a very small portable device. CFast cards are primarily used as removable memory
for higher-end digital photo and video cameras.

Advantages of memory cards

1. Very compact.
2. They are solid state, thus durable.

Disadvantages of memory cards

1. They are more likely to be lost, stolen or damaged.
2. They have a lower storage capacity than hard disks.

Week 5
Computing Devices I (Pre-computer Age to 19th Century)
● Abacus
● Napier’s Bone
● Slide Rule
● Pascal’s Calculator
● Leibniz Calculator
● Jacquard’s Loom
● Difference Engine
● Analytical Engine
● Hollerith Census Machine
● Burrough's Machine.

Abacus
The first calculating device was probably the Abacus. The Chinese invented it to do simple
addition and subtraction.
Napier’s Bone
In 1617, an eccentric (peculiar, unusual person) Scotsman mathematician named John Napier,
invented Logarithm. It allows multiplication to be performed via addition.

Slide Rule
Napier’s invention led directly to the slide rule, first built in England in 1632.
The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and functions such as roots,
logarithm and trigonometry.
/

Pascal’s Calculator
In 1642, Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and scientist at age 19, invented the Pascaline.
It was used for addition and subtraction of up to 8 digit numbers.

Leibnitz’s Calculator
The Leibniz's reckoning machine was the first two-motion calculator designed to multiply by
repetitive addition.
It can multiply, divide, add and subtract.

Jacquard's Loom
In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard (French), a silk weaver, invented an improved textile loom. The
Jacquard loom was the first machine to use the punched card.
It is used to produce a textile design as per the program on the punch card.

Difference Engine
In 1822, An English mathematics professor called Charles Babbage invented the Difference
engine.
It was used for calculating differential equations.

Analytical Engine
In 1832, Charles Babbage designed another machine called the Analytical engine which was
deemed to be the first mechanical computer.
It could store 1000 numbers of up to 50 decimal digits long. It was programmable.

Hollerith Census Machine

In 1880, a census Statistician Herman Hollerith, devised a card machine called “Tabulator"
It was used to process information obtained in the census of the population carried out in the
United States in 1890.

Burrough's Machine
Williams Burroughs(1857 – 1898) built his first experimental model of an adding machine with
printed output in 1884.
The machine performed addition only.

Week 6
Computing Devices II (20th Century to Date)
● ENIAC
● EDVAC
● UNIVAC 1
● Personal Computers
● Notebooks and Laptops
● Palmtop computer

ENIAC
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was the first electronic general-purpose
computer. ENIAC used a word of 10 decimal digits. It was designed by John Mauchly and J.
Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania, U.S. The addition of two numbers was
achieved in 200 microseconds and multiplication in 2,800 microseconds.

EDVAC
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was binary and a stored program
computer.
EDVAC’s addition time was 864 microseconds and its multiplication time was 2900
microseconds (2.9 milliseconds).

UNIVAC 1
UNIVAC stands for Universal Automatic Calculator. It was designed principally by J. Presper
Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC.
UNIVAC 1 was used for general-purpose processing with large amounts of input and output.

Personal Computers
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price
make it feasible for individual use.

Notebooks and Laptop Computers

Notebooks and laptop computers are portable computers that usually feature integral keyboards
and monitors.

Palmtop computer
A palmtop computer is a small, handheld computer that is about the size of a pocket calculator.
They have since been largely replaced by smartphones and tablets.

Week 7
Mid-term break

Week 8
File Management and Images
`
File Formats
Generic file formats are file types that are compatible and allow sharing between different
devices and software programs.
Non-generic file formats are file types that require special software or hardware to be
accessed.

1. Generic Images Files

● Joint Photographic Expert Group (.jpeg or .jpg): JPEG or JPG is widely used for
storing and transmitting digital photographs.

● Portable Network Graphics (.png): It is commonly used for web design, digital
illustrations, logos and icons.

● Portable Document Format (.pdf): The documents contain text, images, graphics and
even interactive elements.
 ● Graphics Interchange Format (.gif): It is used for short, animated images and simple
graphics.

2. Generic Video Files

● Moving Pictures Expert Group Layer 4 (.mp4): This is a multimedia container rather
than a single file format used for video, image and audio types.

● QuickTime Movie (.mov): It is used for storing video, audio and other media data.

3. Generic Audio Files

● Moving Pictures Expert Group Layer 3 (.mp3): It is a standard format for digital music
distribution.

● Waveform File Audio format (.wav): It preserves the original audio waveform.

4. Generic Text Files

● Text (.txt): It is used for storing plain text data.

● Rich Text Format (.rtf): This is a file format used for storing formatted text documents
that can contain different text styles, fonts, colours and other basic formatting elements.

● Comma Separated Values (.csv): It's a plain text file format used for storing data in a
structured manner. It consists of rows and columns, with each cell separated by a
comma.

5. Generic Compressed Files

● Zip (.zip): It is a container used for compression. It allows multiple files and folders to be
compressed into a single, smaller-sized archive.

● Roshal Archive (.rar): This is a container used for compression. It is similar to .zip.

6. Generic Web Development & Browsing Files

● Hypertext Markup Language (.html or .htm): It's a global file format used for creating
and structuring web pages.

● Cascading Style Sheets (.css): It's a file format that is attached to an HTML document.

File Compression
● Lossy compression: Unnecessary data is removed and can significantly reduce file
sizes.
 ● Lossless compression: Allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the
compressed version without any loss of information or quality.

Images can be compressed by:

● Reducing the number of colours in the image (known as the bit depth).
● Reducing the resolution of the image (the total amount of pixels that make up the
image).

Videos can be compressed by:

● Reducing the video resolution.

● Reducing the number of video frames per second.

Sound can be compressed by:

● Removing frequencies that are outside of the human hearing range.

File Compression
● By converting the document to a pdf, the file size reduction is more than half.

● Compressing Multiple Images Together: Hold Ctrl and select all the images you
would like to compress, right click and choose ‘Compress to Zip file’.
3ed3xc
● Using WinRAR: Hold Ctrl and select all the images you would like to compress, right
click and choose ‘WinRAR followed by Add to Archive’. Give the archive a title and click
OK.

Note
Sometimes when using WinZip or WinRAR, the file sizes will not compress further as some file
types are already compressed, such as JPEG images.

Image Editing
Placing an image with precision: You can usually do this by selecting the image and dragging
it to the desired location.

Resizing an image: You can often do this by selecting the image and dragging its corners or
edges.
Maintaining the aspect ratio means the image's width and height change at the same rate,
preventing distortion.
Adjusting the aspect ratio can change the shape and proportions of the image

Cropping an image: This involves cutting out and discarding parts of an image.
\r
Rotating an image: This means turning the image around a central point.

Reflecting (flipping) an image: An image can be flipped horizontally (left to right) or vertically
(top to bottom).

Adjusting brightness and contrast: Brightness makes the image lighter or darker.
Contrast adjusts the difference between light and dark values.

Grouping and layering images: Grouping combines images so they can be moved or
transformed as a single unit.
Layering involves placing images on top of each other.

File Size Reduction

● Image resolution: The higher the resolution, the more pixels the image has, and the
larger the file size. Reducing resolution decreases the number of pixels and therefore
reduces file size.

● Colour (bit) depth: The more bits used, the more colours can be represented, but the
larger the file size. Reducing colour depth means using fewer bits and therefore fewer
colours, which can reduce the file size.

Week 9
Document Production

Highlight: Use the mouse to select the text or numbers you want to manipulate.

Delete: Remove the selected text or numbers from the document

Move: Cut removes the selection from its original location, copy makes a duplicate, and paste
inserts the cut or copied material.

Drag and Drop: Click on the selected material, hold the mouse button down, move the cursor
to the desired location, and then release the mouse button.

Placing Objects into the Document: You can add objects such as text, images, screenshots,
shapes, tables, graphs or charts, spreadsheet extracts, and database extracts into your
document.
Wrapping Text Around Objects: You can arrange your text to wrap around tables, charts, or
images in a variety of ways.

Tables
Creating a Table: Tables are created by specifying the desired number of rows and columns.
This can typically be done through a menu option or a shortcut in most word-processing
software.

Placing Text or Objects on a Table: Just click on the cell and start typing or pasting the object.

Insert rows and columns: Add more rows or columns to your table.

Delete rows and columns: Remove unnecessary rows or columns.

Merge cells: Combine two or more cells into one.

Formatting a Table
Set horizontal cell alignment: Choose whether the text is aligned to the left, right, center, or
justified within a cell using the normal alignment options

Set vertical cell alignment: Set text to align at the top, middle, or bottom of a cell.

Show or hide gridlines: Display or hide the lines that make up the table.

Wrap text within a cell: Make text automatically move to the next line when it reaches the edge
of a cell.

Shading/colouring cells: Apply a colour to the background of a cell.

Adjust row height and column width: Change the size of the cells in your table to better fit
your contents.

Headers & Footers

Headers and Footers are areas at the top (header) and bottom (footer) of a page in a document
where you can add text or graphics.
The contents of headers and footers can be aligned to the left margin, right margin or centred
within margins.

Placing Text & Automated Objects in Headers & Footers

You can insert text and automated objects into headers and footers.
These objects can include file information, page numbering, total number of pages, date and
time.
Assignment
Explain the following in details:
● Page Layout in Documents
● Find and Replace

Week 10
The Effects of using ICT