Introduction to Information

Technology
 Learning Objectives
• What is information technology, and how does it affect
education, health, money, leisure, government, and careers?
• How does information technology facilitate email, networks,
and the use of the Internet and the web; what is the
meaning of the term cyberspace?
• What does being tech smart mean, and what are its practical
payoffs?
• What are the different sizes of computers, and what are
clients and servers?
• What four basic operations do all computers use, and what
are some of the devices associated with each operation?
How does communications affect these operations?
• What are three directions of computer development and
three directions of communications development?
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 Why become computer savvy?

Know what computers can do for you

 Know the limitations of computers
Know how computers can harm you
 Know how to solve computer problems
 Know when & how to get help

Discussion Question: What was your worst computer problem?

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 IT & Your Life: The Future Now

• Definition: Information Technology (IT) describes any

technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store,
communicate, and/or disseminate information
• IT merges computing with high-speed communications links
carrying data, sound, and video. Examples of information
technology include personal computers but also various forms
of handheld devices, televisions, appliances, and other
machines

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 Two Parts of IT
• COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY: computer is a programmable, multiuse
machine that accepts data, raw facts and figures, and processes, or manipulates, it
into information we can use, such as summaries, totals, or reports. Its main
purpose is to speed up problem solving and increase productivity
• COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY: also called telecommunications
technology, consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for communicating
over any distance. The principal examples are telephone, radio, satellite,
broadcast television, and cable TV. We also have communication among
computers which is what happens when people “go online” on the Internet

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 How is IT being used in
Education?
• 99% of schools have internet access
• 85% of college students own their own computer
• ¾ of college students use the internet for more hours
per week
• ½ of all college professors require students to use
email in their classes
• Many college classes are either taught online or have
a class website
• Definition: Distance Learning is online education
Discussion Question: Have you ever used the computer in your classroom for
something other than the work in that class?
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The uses of information technology in
college
When properly integrated into the curriculum and the
classroom, information technology can
 (1) allow students to personalize their education,
 (2) automate many tedious and rote tasks of teaching
and managing classes, and
 (3) reduce the teacher’s workload per student, so that
the teacher can spend more time on reaching
individual students

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 Rules for Computers in
Classrooms
• Problem: Computers in the classroom can be used or
misused.
• What should they be used for?
– Following the lecture slides
– Working along with the instructor
– Performing instructor-assigned internet searches ▪
Completing assignments for this class
• What is misuse?
– Text messaging or emailing friends
– Surfing the internet for entertainment
– Doing assignments for other classes

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 Health: High Tech for
Wellness
• Telemedicine: Medical care via telecommunications lets
doctors treat patients from far away
• 3D Computer models allow accurate tumour location
inside a skull
• Robots permit precise microsurgery
• Handheld computers allow patients to measure blood
sugar
• Medical implants allow stroke patients to directly control
computers to talk for them
• Health websites provide medical information

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 Money: Cashless Society?
• Definition: Virtual means something that is created,
simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or a
computer network but also that it seems almost real.
• Virtual airline tickets
• Virtual money
• PayPal
• Online bill paying

Discussion Question: How important is security if all

your money is virtual?

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 Leisure: Infotech in
Entertainment & the Arts
• Videogames
• Downloading
• Movies
• Music
• Ethical/legal questions
• Most movies use computer animation
• Digital editing
Discussion Question: How are your leisure activities affected by
information technology?

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IT in Government & Democracy
• Governments can’t control information
• Individuals can find multiple viewpoints on internet
• Email makes it easier to contact the government
• Competing websites promote & criticize politicians
• Blogs are a tool for political candidates.

Discussion Question: How have computers changed government

and politics? What could happen in the future?

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 Jobs & Careers
• Hotels: Desk clerks use computerized reservations systems
• Law Enforcement: Officers use computers
– On patrol
– To check stolen cars
– To check criminal records
– To check arrest warrants
• Entertainment:
– Office uses like budgets, payroll, ticketing
– Also virtual set design, 3-D animation, special effects

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 Jobs & Careers
• Office careers: Budget, payroll, letter-writing, email

• Teaching: Automated grading systems, emailing

• Fashion: Sales/inventory control systems, ordering, personnel
• Job-hunting:
– ▪ Use word processor to create resumes
– ▪ Post resumes online
– ▪ Online job searches

Discussion Question: Can anyone think of a career that does

NOT require computer skills

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 The Telephone Grows Up
• 1973: First cellphone call
• 2006: Nokia estimates 2 billion mobile phone subscribers

• Today’s cellphones:
– Are mobile
– Can take and send pictures
– Can connect to the internet
– Can send and receive text messages

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 Email
• Introduced in 1981
• Fastest growing technology
• Reached 10 million users in about one year
• 1998 surpassed hand delivered mail
• Requires writing skills

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 Internet, World Wide Web, &
Cyberspace
• Internet

– The worldwide computer network

– Links thousands of smaller networks

– Links educational, commercial, military entities, and individuals

– Originally developed to share only text and numeric data

Discussion Question: How do you access the web?

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 Internet, World Wide Web, &
Cyberspace
• Cyberspace
– Term coined by William Gibson in Neuromancer (1984)
– Described a futuristic computer network people “plugged”
into directly with their brains
– ▪ Now means
• The Internet (web) – “The Mother of all Networks”
• Chat rooms
• Online diaries (blogs)
• The wired and wireless communications world

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 Internet, World Wide Web, &
Cyberspace
• World Wide Web
 The multimedia part of the internet
 An interconnected system of servers that support specially
formatted documents in multimedia form
 Includes text, still images, moving images, sound
 Responsible for the growth and popularity of the internet
Discussion Question: How much do you think the web
influences your life

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 Email Tips

• Always put a subject line in your message

– For short messages, that’s all you need

• Send attachments only when necessary

– Every recipient gets a copy
– For 500 people that’s 500 copies!
– For a short attachment, copy the text to the email itself instead of
sending the attachment
• Don’t open attachments unless you know the sender ▪ It could contain a
virus or malware
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 Email Tips

• Use discretion about sending emails

– Emails aren’t secret
– They can be easily forwarded to others
• Check grammar, spelling to bosses, customers
• Don’t use email to express criticism or sarcasm
• Email received at work is the property of your employer
• Deleting email messages does not remove them everywhere
• Don’t neglect real personal contact
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 Computer Types
Reading Assignment

– Super computers
– Mainframe Computers
– Workstations
– Microcomputers
– Microcontrollers

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 Servers
• A central computer
• May be any of the 4 larger computer types.
• “Server” describes a function
– Hold data (databases) and programs
– Connect to and supply services for clients
– Clients are other computers like PCs, workstations, other
devices

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 Understanding Your Own
Computer
• 3 key concepts
– Purpose of a computer
• Turn data into information
• Data: the raw facts and figures
• Information: data that has been summarized and
manipulated for use in decision making
– Hardware vs. Software
• Hardware is the machinery and equipment in the
computer
• Software is the electronic instructions that tell the
computer how to perform a task

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 Understanding Your Own
Computer
• 3 key concepts (continued)
– The basic operations
• Input: What goes in to the computer system
• Processing: The manipulation a computer does to
transform data into information
• Storage:
– Temporary storage: Memory is primary storage
– Permanent storage: Disks and media such as DVDs
and CDs are secondary storage
• Output: What comes out
– Numbers or pictures on the screen, printouts, sounds
• Communications: Sending and receiving data
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 Building Your Own PC
• What would you need?
– Keyboard & Mouse
– Inside the system cabinet
• Case and power supply
• Processor chip – the Central Processor Unit (CPU)
• Memory chips – Random Access Memory (RAM)
• Motherboard – the system board
– 1. Memory chips plug in
– 2. Processor chip plugs in
– 3. Motherboard attaches to system cabinet
– 4. Power supply is connected to system cabinet
– 5. Power supply wire is connected to motherboard

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 Building Your Own PC
• Storage Hardware:
– Permanently installed: floppy drives, hard drives, Zip drives,
CD/DVD drives, USB ports
– Removable media: floppy disks, Zip disks, CDs, DVDs, flash
drives
• Video and sound cards
• Monitor
• Speakers
• Printer
• Joystick
• Communications hardware
• Modem (internal or external)
• Network Card

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 Software
• System Software (Operating System)
– Must be installed before application software
– Operating System (OS) options for the PC
• Linux
• Windows
• Unix
• Operating System (OS) options for the Mac
– Mac OS
• Application Software
– Install after the OS
– Application depends on OS, for example
• Linux applications won’t work on Windows
• Windows applications won’t work on Linux
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 Future of Information
Technology
• 3 directions of Computer Development
– Miniaturization:Everything has become smaller

– Speed:Thanks to miniaturization and new material used in making

processors, computer makers can cram more hardware components into
their machines, providing faster processing speeds and more data storage
capacity
– Affordability:Processor costs today are only a fraction of what they were
15 years ago. A state-of-the-art processor costing less than $1,000
provides the same processing power as a huge 1980s computer costing
more than $1 million
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 Future of Information
Technology
• 3 directions of Communications Development
– Connectivity: refers to the connection of computers to one another by a
communications line in order to provide online information access
and/or the sharing of peripheral devices
– Interactivity :refers to two-way communication; the user can respond
to information he or she receives and modify what a computer is doing
– Multimedia :refers to technology that presents information in more
than one medium—such as text, pictures, video, sound, and animation
—in a single integrated communication

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 Convergence, Portability, &
Personalization
• Convergence: the combination of

– Computers

– Consumer electronics

– Entertainment

– Mass media

• Portability

• Collaboration: software that allows

– People to share anything instantly

– People to enhance the information as they forward
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 Cloud Computing, “Big Data” &
Artificial Intelligence
• Cloud computing: basically means that instead of storing your software and/or
data on your own PC or your own company’s computers, you store it on servers
on the Internet

– Read about SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, XaaS

• Big Data is data that is so large and complex that it cannot be processed using
conventional methods, such as ordinary database management software

• Artificial intelligence (AI) , a group of related technologies used for developing

machines to emulate human qualities, such as learning, reasoning,
communicating, seeing, and hearing. Much of AI is based on the use of
algorithms , formulas or sets of steps for solving particular problems.
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 Ethics
▪ Definition: Ethics is the set of moral values or
principles that govern the conduct of an individual or
group
Is ethics relevant for Information Technology?

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 The 10 Commandments of
Computer Ethics
The Computer Ethics Institute say:
 Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
 Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s computer work.
 Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files.
 Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
 Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.

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 The 10 Commandments of
Computer Ethics
The Computer Ethics Institute say:
 Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not
paid.
 Thou shalt not use other people’s computer resources without authorization
or proper compensation.
 Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.
 Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are
writing or the system you are designing.
 Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and
respect for your fellow humans.
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 quiz
1. Since the days when computers were first made available, computers
have developed in three directions. What are they?
A. increased expense
B. miniaturization
C. increased size
D. affordability
E. increased speed
2. Which of the following operations constitute the four basic operations
followed by all computers?
A. input
B. storage
C. programming
D. output
E. processing

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