INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY

Student Textbook
Grade 9

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ISBN: 978-99944-2-245-6 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Ministry of Education Price: ETB 23.15 Ministry of Education
 INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
STUDENT TEXTBOOK

Grade 9

Authors
Dixit J.B.
Saurabh Gupta

Evaluators
Gelan Tulu
Genene Tadesse
Zekarias Kebede

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Laxmi Publications

Ministry of Education
Ac k n ow l ed g e m en ts

The development, printing and distribution of this student textbook has been funded through the General Education
Q uality Improvement Pr oject (GEQ IP) , which aims to improve the quality of education for Grades 1- 12 students in
government schools throughout Ethiopia.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia received funding for GEQ IP through credit/ financing from the
International Development A ssociations (IDA ), the Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund (FTICF) and other development
partners—F inland, Italian Development Cooperation, the N etherlands and U K aid from the Department for
International Development (DFID).
The M inistry of Education wishes to thank the many individuals, groups and other bodies involved—d irectly and
indirectly—i n publishing the textbook and accompanying teacher guide.

© Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, M inistry of Education

First edition, 20 2 (E.C.)
ISB N : 978- 99944 -2- 245- 6

Developed, printed and distributed for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, M inistry of Education by Laxmi
Pu blications Pv t. Ltd., India under GEQ IP Contract N o. ET-M oE/ GEQ IP/ IDA / ICB / G-02/ 09- D

A ll rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written
permission of the copyright owner or a licence permitting restricted copying in Ethiopia by the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia, Federal Negarit Gazeta, Proclamation No. 410/2004 Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection
Proclamation, 10th year, No. 55, Addis Ababa, 19 July 2004.

D i sc l ai m er
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright owners of material used in this document. W e apologise in advance
for any unintentional omissions. W e would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any future
edition.

Pr inted in India.
 CONTENT S

U n i t 1: I n trod uc ti on to I C T _ _ 1
1.1 Overview of ICT ........................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Generation of Computers ........................................................................................................... 9
1.3 Types of Computers .................................................................................................................... 13
1.4 Introduction to Data Representation ........................................................................................ 18
1.5 Computer System ......................................................................................................................... 28
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 43
U n it2 : Ap p l i c at i on S of tw ar e _ 45
2.1 W ord Pr ocessor............................................................................................................................. 45
2.2 Pr esentation Software and Techniques ..................................................................................... 58
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 6
U n it3 : I n f orm at i on an d C om p uter S ec uri ty _ 68
3.1 Information and Computer Security ........................................................................................ 68
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 75
U n it4 : Ap p l i c at i on S of tw ar e _ 7
4.1 Spreadsheets .................................................................................................................................. 7
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 90
U n it5 : U si n g I n ter n et _ 92
5.1 U sing Internet ............................................................................................................................... 92
5.2 U sing E-mail.................................................................................................................................. 105
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 16
U n it6 : C on trol an d L ear n i n g w i th L O G O _ _ 17
6.1 Control and Learning with LOGO .......................................................................................... 17
Review Q uestions............................................................................................................................ 132
G l ossar y _ 134
 PREFACE
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is so important in the world today that it makes it
imperative for every person to be competent in the use of ICT for the many tasks that one will have
to accomplish. This book is written to provide the basic skills in ICT for Grade 9 students of Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It is expected that the knowledge and skills gained through this book
will help the students to use ICT in almost all their courses at school. The book covers selected basic
topics in ICT which offer hands-on activities to help students in acquiring the required ICT skills.
The key features of this book will help the students to:
l understand the development of computers and communication technology.
l develop interest and use ICT for learning in other subjects.
l understand information and computer security
l acquire the knowledge for application of ICT in word processing, presentation and spreadsheet
application.
l use the Internet to communicate effectively.
l access and share information through the Internet.
l follow basic ethics in the use of ICT.
l learn LOGO language.
The text has been designed in a simple and user friendly way. This text focuses on the fundamentals
of ICT, which change slowly. This not only makes the information remain useful to a student when
one graduates, but also makes the student focus on the foundation concepts on ICT. This book also
illustrates the latest developments in the rapidly changing world of ICT. Review questions have also
been given at the end of each unit.
Suggestions for the improvement of this book will be gratefully acknowledged.

Authors
 Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

Unit 1 INTRODUCTION
TO ICT

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 know the term data, information, technology and the sources of information;
 understand the differences between computers of one generation from the other;
 recognize the types of computers used today and their difference;
 understand the computer system.

1.1 OVERVIEW OF ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to technology that provides access to information
through telecommunications (the transmission of signals over long distances). It focuses primarily
on communication technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other
communication media.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become a major factor in social and economic
development of the society. The advances in technology
and reductions in costs have made ICTs suitable for less
developed countries. ICTs are no longer luxury for the elite,
but becoming absolute necessity for those in rural areas.
Therefore, Ethiopia is not leaving ICTs as a sector for just
commercial interests or free market and privatizat ion, but
rather regards them as part of the general public welfare,
participation, use and debate.
The ability to participate in ICTs requires participation,
partnership, understanding of social implication of new
technologies and management of changes at national
level. The immediate potential benefits of ICTs in Ethiopia Fig. 1.1: Use of ICT for the general public welfare
include:
1. Efficient communications for manufacturing, service and tourism sector.
2. Fast response to natural disasters and effective rural health and family planning services.
3. Effective governance and administrative effectiveness.
4. Efficient education, research and communication of research results.
5 . A ccess to global market and research information.
Information Communication Technology — Grade 9 Student Textbook 1
Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

6 . Employment opportunities for small and medium enterprises.

7 . Effective and enhanced data and information gathering and distribution for better planning.
8 . Enhanced national cohesion and integration of heterogeneous social composition or geographical
dispersal.
Government, individuals and institutions should work hard in improving the use of ICTs in
Ethiopia.

Basic Terms Related to ICT

Let us have an overview of the basic terms related to ICT:

l Data vs Information
The frequency of the use of the words data and information are very high in our daily lives. Depending
on the context, the meanings and use of these words differ. B oth data and information are types of
knowledge or something used to attain knowledge. Though used interchangeably, there are many
differences between the meanings of these two words.
Data is a collection of raw facts and figures or a raw input which when processed or arranged makes meaningful
output. Data is the plural of the Latin word “ datum” . For example, students fill an admission form when
they get admission in school/ college. The form consists of raw facts about the students. These raw facts
are student’ s name, father name, mother name, address, etc. The purpose of collection of this data is
to maintain the records of the students during their study period in the school/ college.
In computer terms, symbols, characters, images, or numbers are data. These are the inputs for the
system to give a meaningful interpretation.

U sers need data to create useful information.

Information is the data that is organized, meaningful and useful for

making a decision. Computers process data to create information,
such as the total marks for each student, which are used to decide
who is the topper.
Data collected from census is used to generate different types of
information. The Ethiopian government can use it to determine the
literacy rate in the country. Government can use the information in
making important decisions such as to improve literacy rate and
implement ICTs etc.
Fig. 1.2: Census Information can be very
Data processing is the transformation of data into meaningful useful for Implementing ICTs in Ethiopia
information.
The whole purpose of a computer (and communications) system is to produce (and transmit) usable
information.

Figure 1.3 illustrates the processing of raw data into useful information, its recycling and its packaging
in a new form so that it is easier to understand, more attractive, or more useful.

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Fig. 1.3: Data versus Information

Data processing includes the following steps:
(i) Data Coding (ii) Data Input,
(iii) Data Editing, and (iv) Data M anipulation.
Table 1 .1 gives the differences between data and information.
Table 1.1: Differences between Data and Information
Data Information
It is a collection of facts and figures. It is a collection of final results.
It is in an unorganized (raw) form. It is in an organized form.
It is not in directly useful form. It is in directly useful form.
It needs processing. It does not need any processing.
It is also termed as input. It is also termed as output.
It requires observations and recordings. It requires analysis.

l Technology
Technology is the usage and knowledge of tools, crafts, techniques, or systems, or methods of organizations.
Science is concerned with how and why things happen. Technology focuses on making things happen.
Technology began to influence human beings as soon as people began using tools.
N ow-a-days, technology is an integrated part of lives of human beings. For example, the technology
in communications such as mobile phones help us to connect with the other people easily.
Technology has a simple but important role in our life now-a-days. W ithout it, we will not be
having the connection with the other people.

l Information Technology
“Information Technology”, or “IT”, refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking,
hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.
or
Information Technology is the study, design, development, implementation support and/or management of any
computer based information systems. This relates particularly to software applications and computer hardware.
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Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

The history of IT goes back several years. In order

to perform the functions associated with the field of
technology, the modern field uses computers, servers,
database management systems and cryptography.
Since we live in the “i nformation age”, information
technology has become a part of our everyday lives. That
means the term “I T”, already highly overused, is here to
stay. Fig. 1.4: Information Technology has become a part
of our daily lives (Courtesy: web.worldbank.org)
l Sources of Information
A n information ‘ source’ can be categorized by the type of information it contains. Sources are usually
classified as primary, secondary and tertiary. Table 1.2 illustrates the various sources of information.
Table 1.2: Sources of Information
Primary Sources Secondary Sources Tertiary Sources
Original ideas and research A nalysis, discussion or Significant knowledge is
interpretation of original combined, condensed and
ideas and research summarized
Examples: Examples: Examples:
Research articles, research Review articles, specialist texts, Encyclopedias, handbooks,
reports, diaries, letters, textbooks, newspaper articles. dictionaries, bibliographies.
performance recordings,
standards, legislation.

                
The use of information sources is influenced by the following factors:
(i) subject of the study,
(ii) nature of the information sought,
(iii) the attitude of the user,
(iv) the intensity of the need one feels, and
(v) working conditions.
Fig. 1.5: Use of Information Sources is
Documentary Sources Influenced by the Working Conditions
A s mentioned earlier the sources of information or evidence are often categoriz ed as primary, secondary,
or tertiary material. These classifications are based on the originality of the material and the proximity
of the source or origin. This informs the reader as to whether the author is reporting information that
is first hand or is conveying the experiences and opinions of others which is considered second hand.
Determining if a source is primary, secondary, or tertiary can be tricky. Let us describe the three
categories of information and give examples to help you make a determination.

P ri m a ry D oc um e n ta ry
Pr imary sources of information are original materials that often convey new ideas, discoveries, or
information. These sources originate from the time period under study. Examples of primary sources
include:
4 Information Communication Technology — Grade 9 Student Textbook
 Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

(i) original research studies (often in the form of journal articles in peer-reviewed publications), also
called empirical studies (e.g., psychology)
(ii) patents, technical reports
(iii) original documents such as diaries, letters, e-mails, manuscripts, lab data/ notes
(iv) newspaper articles from the time period under study
(v) autobiographies, first-person accounts, case studies
(vi) artifacts and archival material such as official documents, minutes recorded by government agencies
and organiza tions, photographs, coins, fossils, natural specimens
(vii) works of art such as literature, music, architecture, or paintings.

S ce on d ar y D oc um en tar y
Secondary sources of information are based on primary sources. They are
generally written at a later date and provide some discussion, analysis,
or interpretation of the original primary source. Examples of secondary
sources include:
(i) review articles or analyses of research studies about the same topic
(also often in peer-reviewed publications)
(ii) analyses of original documents or archival material
(iii) biographies, reviews, or critiques of an author. Fig. 1.6: A biography—One of the
Secondary Documentary Sources of
T e rti ar y D oc um en tar y Information

Tertiary sources of information are based on a collection of primary and secondary sources. Examples of tertiary
sources include:
(i) textbooks (sometimes considered as secondary sources)
(ii) dictionaries and encyclopedias
(iii) manuals, guidebooks, directories, almanacs
(iv) indexes and bibliographies.

How do you tell the difference?

It is not always easy to distinguish primary and secondary sources. The distinction between primary,
secondary, and tertiary sources can differ between subjects and disciplines, particularly between the
sciences and the humanities.
(i) In the sciences, research findings may be communicated informally through e-mail, then presented
at meetings before being formally published as a primary source. Once published, they will be
commented on by other scholars (secondary sources) and professionally indexed in a database or
printed index (tertiary sources).
(ii) In the humanities, primary sources for the cultural history of the 1950s might include the paintings,
novels, and films of the period.
(iii) A newspaper article is a primary source if it is reporting the news or the views of the day, but may
be a secondary source to the extent that it includes analysis and research based on other sources.
If a source does not fit the description of a primary source, it is most likely a secondary source.

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Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

Tip: Work Backwards

1. S tar t w i th ter ti ar y sourc es ( ref er en c e sourc es , d at ab as es , et c .)
Find background information on your topic by consulting reference sources and web pages for introductions
and summaries, and to find bibliographies or citations for secondary and primary sources.
2. T hen g o to sec on d ar y sourc es
Find articles, books, webpages, and other sources providing more extensive and in-depth analysis of a
topic. Check to see what other scholars and experts have to say about your topic.
3. T hen try p ri m ar y sourc es

Once you have some background knowledge on your topic, you will be better able to understand,
interpret, and analyze the primary source of information. See if you can find primary source evidence to
support or refute what other scholars and experts have said about your topic, or try an interpretation of
your own and look for more primary sources to confirm or refute your thesis. Wh en you present your
conclusions, you will have produced another secondary source to assist others in their research.

Non-documentary Sources
The non-documentary sources are also called Informal Information Sources. These include government
departments, research organizat ions, learned professional societies, industries, universities, colleagues,
corridor meetings at conferences and social gatherings.
Some examples of institutes which are excellent non-documentary sources in Ethiopia are given below
along with their U RLs (U niform Resource Locators).
(i) A ddis A baba U niversity (U RL: www.abyssiniacybergateway.net/ ethiopia/ )
(ii) A lemaya U niversity (U RL: www.alemayau.edu.et/ )
(iii) Institute of Ethiopian Studies (U RL: www.ies-ethiopia.org)
(iv) International Community School of A ddis A baba (U RL: www.icsaddis.edu.et/ )
(v) J imma Institute of H ealth Sciences (J imma, Ethiopia) (U RL: www.ju.edu.et/ )

Ac q ui ri n g I n f orm at i on T hroug h N on - d oc um en tar y S ourc es

A s far as non-documentary sources of information are concerned, private correspondence is still in wide
use. Oral transmission of a particular topic is quite useful for acquiring information.
A gencies of non-documentary sources of information include:
1. Communication among small groups, such as:
(i) Suggestions from colleagues/ friends,
(ii) Contacts with peers,
(iii)  Off-prints from authors,
(iv) J ournal clubs,
(v) Technological gatekeepers, and
(vi) Corridor meetings at conferences.
2. Communication among big groups, such as:
(i) Seminars and conferences, and
(ii) Invisible colleges (information exchange groups).

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3. N ew social information exchange tools like B logs (fun keeping journals on the Internet–ac cessible
to other users) and Twitter, such as:
(i)  www.twitter.com      (ii)  ethiopiatwitter.blogspot.com
(iii) www.ethiopianreview.com (iv) www.african-safari-information.com
(v)  twitter.com/ethiopiawire  (vi) green.blogs.nytimes.com

Activity 1.1
A REPORT ON SOURCES OF INFORMATION IN EDUCATION
Information can come from many sources — personal experiences, books, articles, expert opinions,
encyclopaedias, the World Wide Web — and the type of information can change depending on the situation.
In recent times, Ethiopia has shown encouraging signs in the expansion of utilizing ICT for multi-purposes. ICT
plays a vital role in studying the sources of information in education sector all over the world.
Sources of Information
Look at the following sources of information. Notice the similarities between them. Keep in mind the following
three questions:
1. Which sources can you find online?
2. Which sources guide you to other information on your topic?
3. Which sources would you use when writing a report?
Magazines Newspapers

Books Encyclopedias

World Wide Web

Library Catalogue

Fig. 1.7: Some Sources of Information

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Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

Searching Sources of Information in Education

The students can visit any school/college/institution in groups with their ICT teachers to know about the
sources of information in education. There, students may find several sources of information which may be
documentary (primary, secondary or tertiary sources) and non-documentary.
The students may find some sources of information in education like Periodicals, Laboratory Notebooks,
Bibliographies, Reference Books, Yearbooks and Directories etc. in the school/college/institution. They may
even look for some Blogs and Twitters on the World Wide Web.
Prepare a list of the sources of information in the form of a table as shown below.
Sources of Information
S.No. Primary Sources Secondary Sources Tertiary Sources Non-documentary
1. ............. ............. ............. .............
2. ............. ............. ............. .............
3. ............. ............. ............. .............
4. ............. ............. ............. .............
5. ............. ............. ............. .............
... ............. ............. ............. .............
Finally submit the report to your ICT teacher and get it evaluated.

KEY CONCEPTS
 Data is a collection of raw facts and figures or a raw input which when processed or arranged makes meaningful
output.
 Information is the data that is organized, meaningful and useful.
 Technology is the usage and knowledge of tools, crafts, techniques, or systems, or methods of
organizations.
 Information Technology (IT) refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware,
software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.
 An information ‘source’ can be categorized by the type of information it contains. The types are primary,
secondary and tertiary.

Assessment 1.1
Fill in the Blanks
1. ICT stands for ...................................... .
2. ...................................... consists of raw facts and figures that are processed into information.
3. ...................................... is the usage and knowledge of tools, crafts, techniques, or systems, or methods of
organizat ions.
4. The sources of information are usually classified as ....................., ..................... and .................... .

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 Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

State whether True or False

1. ICT is “ the study of International Crime Technology”.
.2 Wh en computer and communications are combined, the result is Information and Communications
Technology.
3. Information is data that has been summariz ed or otherwise manipulated for use in decision-making.
4. The non-documentary sources are also called Informal Information Sources.

Answer the Following

1. Define data and information.
2. Give the differences between data and information.
3. Explain the term technology and information technology.
4. Wr ite a short note on sources of information.

Suggested Activities
1. Explain and demonstrate the terms data, information and technology.
2. Explain and demonstrate the different sources of information.

Field Trips
1. Students should visit some big educational organiz ation in their city. Interact with faculties there and
prepare a report on “ B asic concepts of ICT and sources of information” .
2. Students should visit some places like shopping centre, hospitals and science laboratory in their city and
report on “I mpact of ICT on everyday life”.

1.2 GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

A computer is an electronic device that accepts, processes, stores and outputs data under the control of sets of
instructions.
Computers have come across a long way to acquire the current form and capability. It took around 50
years of continuous developments to bring the computer in its present form. The evolution of computers
is mainly divided into five main generations. The computers of each of these generations have different
properties.
Each new generation resulted in the following changes:

l First Generation Computers (1940–1956)

The U .S. census B ureau developed the first business computer in the year 1951. This computer was called
U niversal A utomatic Computer (U N IV A C). It used vacuum tube (see Fig. 1.8) circuits for processing. The

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Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

computers that used vacuum tube circuits were called the First Generation Computers. The vacuum tube
circuits contained a filament that was heated to emit electrons.
The main features of the first generation computers were as follows:
1. They used vacuum tubes.
2. They had a very big size.
3. They consumed huge electricity.
4. They were prone to failures.
5. They generated a lot of heat. Fig. 1.8: Vacuum Tube
6. They only supported machine language.

l Second Generation Computers (1956–1964)

B ell Labs of U .S.A . invented transistors (see Fig. 1 .9) that were used instead of vacuum tubes. Transistors
are electronic circuits that are small in size. They do not emit electrons and do not require any heating. The
computers that used transistors were called the Second Generation Computers.
The main features of the second generation computers were as follows:
1. They used transistors instead of vacuum tubes.
2. They were smaller in size as compared to the first generation computers.
3. They generated lesser heat.
4. They were more reliable and faster than the first generation computers.
5. They used core memories, magnetic tapes and disks.
6. They used lesser electricity.
7. They could be programmed by using machine as well as assembly
language. Fig. 1.9: Transistor

l Third Generation Computers (1964–1971)

The Third Generation Computers used Large Scale Integrated (LSI) circuits for processing. The LSI circuits
were invented in mid 196 0s . LSI circuits integrate several circuit components into a single chip.
The main features of the third generation computers were as follows:
1. They used integrated circuits (see Fig. 1.10) .
2. They had a small size as compared to the second generation
computers.
3. They consumed less electricity.
4. They were faster and reliable than the second generation
computers.
5. They supported high level language. Fig. 1.10: Integrated Circuit

l Fourth Generation Computers (1971–Present)

V ery Large Scale Integrated (V LSI) chips were invented in the year 1969. The computers that used V LSI
chips were called the Fourth Generation Computers.

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The main features of the fourth generation computers are:

1. They contain high-speed microprocessors.
2. They contain huge storage volumes in the form of magnetic and optical
storage.
3. They contain main memories up to GB s (Gigabytes).
4. They are companied by great developments in the fields of networks.

l Fifth Generation Computers (Future) Fig. 1.11: VLSI chip

Recent research has focused on developing “t hinking computers”. These
computers are called the Fifth Generation Computers.
Fifth generation computers will have the power to learn and apply knowledge to solve a problem. They
would be able to work like humans do. Y ou can watch a movie named “ A I” by Steven Spielberg to have
an idea of such computers.
Table 1.3 summarizes the key technologies and features of the various generations of computers.
Table 1.3: Comparison of Generations of Computers
Generation Period Circuitry Input Storage Output Language Examples
1s t 1940–56 V acuum Pu nched Cards M agnetic Pu nch M achine U nivac, IB M 650,
Tubes tapes Cards Language B urroughs 20

2n d 1956–4 Transistors Pu nched Cards, M agnetic Pu nch M achine, IB M 140,

M agnetic tapes tapes Cards A ssembly H oneywell 20,

3r d 1964–71 Integrated K eyboards M agnetic M onitor P ascal, IB M System- 360

Circuits Disks Fortran,
(ICs) Cobol, RPG

4t h 91 71– V ery Large M ouse, M agnetic M onitor, RDB M S, etc. IB M System

present Scale Integ- Scanners, Disks with Pr inters 3760, H P 30
ration (V LSI) Sound, etc. higher
of circuits capacity
5t h Future W ith
A rtificial
intelligence

Activity 1.2
INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
In small groups students will discuss “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” based on the following information.
The group leader from each group will give a brief presentation to the class based on the discussions.

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Unit – 1 Introduction to IC T

Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or other machines to perform those activities that are
normally thought to require intelligence.
or
Artificial Intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like
humans.
The term was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in
Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States).
Artificial intelligence includes:
1. Games playing: Programming computers to play games such as chess and checkers.

Fig. 1.12: Games Playing

2. Expert systems: Programming computers to make decisions in real-life situations (for example, some
expert systems help doctors diagnose diseases based on symptoms).
3. Natural language: Programming computers to understand natural human languages.
4. Neural networks: Systems that simulate intelligence by attempting to reproduce the types of physical
connections that occur in animal brains.
5. Robotics: Programming computers to see and hear and react to other sensory stimuli.

Fig. 1.13: A Robot — An AI tool

Currently, no computers exhibit full artificial intelligence (that is, are able to simulate the human behaviour).
The greatest advances have occurred in the field of games playing.
Today, the hottest area of artificial intelligence is neural networks, which are proving successful in a number
of disciplines such as voice recognition and natural-language processing.

KEY CONCEPTS
 The computers that used vacuum tube circuits were called the First Generation Computers.
 The computers that used transistors were called the Second Generation Computers.
 The Third Generation Computers used Large Scale Integration (LSI) circuits for processing.
 The computers that used Very Large Scale Integrated (VL SI) chips were called the Fourth Generation Computers.
 Recent research has focused on developing “thinking computers”. These computers are called the Fifth
Generation Computers. They would be able to work like humans do.

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Assessment 1.2
Fill in the Blanks
1. The evolution of computers is mainly divided into ............................ main generations.
2 . Each new generation of computers resulted in decrease in ...................... and ..........................
3. The computers that used ............................ circuits were called the First Generation Computers.
4. ............................ generation computers will have the power to learn and apply knowledge to solve a
problem.

State whether True or False

1. The computers of all the five generations have different properties.
2. The computers that used transistors were called the First Generation Computers.
3. The Third Generation Computers used integrated circuits.
4. The Fourth Generation Computers are companied by great developments in the fields of networks.

Answer the Following

1. List the generation of computers.
2. Compare the differences amongst each generation of computers.

Suggested Activity
Explain and demonstrate (pictorially or physically) each generation of computers.

Field Trip
Organize a field trip to various places such as government organizat ions and science laboratories to find out
and report on:
Different generations of computers.

1.3 TYPES OF COMPUTERS

Computers can be classified into super computers, mainframe computers, minicomputers, and
microcomputers (personal computers) on the basis of the following:
1. Size
2. Cost
3. P erformance
(i) Speed of processing data
(ii) Storage capacity
(iii) A bility to handle input and output devices
Let us classify the types of computers used today:

l Super Computers
(i) Super computers are the largest and fastest computers. They are also the costliest computers.
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(ii) They are used in fields like science and defence. These
computers are used for designing and launching
missiles, weather forecasting, biomedical research,
aircraft design and automobile design.
(iii) There are only a few super computers throughout
the world. Some examples are IB M B lue Gene/ L, IB M
Roadrunner and Cray J aguar.
Fig. 1.14: Super computer
l Mainframe Computers
(i) M ainframe computers are more powerful than minicomputers.
(ii) They have high processing speeds and can store large amounts of
data. They are used in wide area networks and support hundreds of
users. H owever, these computers consume more electricity.
(iii) Some examples are IB M 30 series and U nivac 180.
Fig. 1.15: Mainframe computer
l Minicomputers
(i) M inicomputers are small general-purpose computers, also called mid-
range servers. These computers can perform more complex tasks and cost
more than microcomputers.
(ii) They are larger in size and they have small to medium storage
capacity.
(iii) They are used for processing data and analysing results of experiments.
They are also used for controlling and monitoring production
processes.
(iv) Some examples are PD P 1/ 42 and V A X 1 .
Fig. 1.16: Minicomputer
l Microcomputers
(i) M icrocomputers are also called P ersonal Computers (PC s). These computers use microprocessors.
(ii) They are small in size. A lso, they do not have large storage capacities.
(iii) They can perform difficult tasks. They are used mainly for desktop publishing, accounting, statistical
analysis, graphics designing and project management.
(iv) Some examples are A pple II, IB M PC , PS / 2 and M acintosh.

A desktop microcomputer A tower microcomputer

Fig. 1.17: Two Microcomputers

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P ersonal computer or PC s are the popular form of computers. Individuals as well as organizat ions use
these computers. The classification of P Cs is as:
1. Desktops: These CP s are those in which the case or main housing sits on a desk, with keyboard in
front and screen (monitor) often on top.
2. Portables: These PC s are so small that they can be placed on your lap.
The difference between portables and desktops is that portables can be carried while travelling unlike
desktops. The portables are classified as:
(i) Laptops: These are small-sized machines that have the same power of a desktop. The weight of a
laptop is around 7 to 12 kg. The drawback of a laptop is that it is too bulky. Examples: Toshiba 520 0C
and SLT/ 286.
(ii) Notebooks: These are smaller than a laptop and are designed to overcome the drawbacks of a
laptop. They have the size of a notebook but are as powerful as a desktop. They weigh 3 to 4 kg.
Examples: Contura 3/ 20 and A cer A nyW are.
(iii) Palmtops or Personal Digital Assistants ( PDAs) : These are handheld computers which have the size
of a pocket calculator. They are not as powerful as a desktop. PD A s combine personal organizat ion
tools — schedule planners, address books, to-do lists — with the ability in some cases to send e-mail
and faxes. Example: H P95L X .

A Laptop A Notebook A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Fig. 1.18: A laptop, a notebook and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

l Characteristics of a Computer
Computers are capable of performing highly complex tasks, which human beings cannot perform efficiently.
The following are the main characteristics of computers, which make them so powerful:
1. Speed
Computers work at an amazi ng speed without any mistakes. The work, which a normal person would
complete in a few hours can be done within fractions of a second by a computer. Speed of computers
– 3 – 6
is measured in terms of milliseconds (10 seconds), microseconds (10 seconds) or nanoseconds
– 9
(10 seconds).

2. Accuracy
A computer performs its task with great accuracy. It never commits mistakes in processing the data. It
produces errors when we enter inaccurate input, i.e., Garbage In Garbage Out (GIGO).

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3. Reliability
Computers are more reliable than human beings as they do not get bored of the repetitive tasks and
never get tired.

4. Storage Capacity
A computer can store large amount of data. It can store various documents, articles, pictures, etc., in
its memory which can be used whenever required. On the other hand, a human being can keep only a
limited information in his/ her mind and rest of the things, he/ she forgets.

5. Versatility
A computer can perform various types of jobs. On a computer system, we can listen to songs while
typing text or play games while working on any other package, do calculations, make drawings, surf
the net, send e-mail, etc.

6. Reduction in Manpower
Earlier, the work in industries/ factories was done by a number of persons. B ut with computers, it can
be completed by a few persons and that too more accurately and efficiently. The advent of computer
has reduced the need of manpower.

7. Paper Work can be Reduced

The use of computer reduces the burden of paper work in any organizat ion. For example, record of
each student of a school can be kept in the computer itself rather than keeping manual files for each
student. A lso, information regarding any student can be obtained easily and quickly with the help of a
computer.

l Limitations of a Computer
Despite having various advantages, computers do have the following limitations that are the strengths of
human beings. These are:

1. No Decision-making Ability
Computers cannot take any decisions. H uman beings assist the computer to take the decisions. For
example, suppose a street hawker is selling flowers. If such kind of flowers are already in our house, we
will decide not to purchase them. Taking decision in this way, without the assistance of human beings,
is not possible by a computer.

2. No Intelligence
Computers do not have intelligence of their own, they work according to the instructions given by
humans.

3. No Emotions and Feelings

Computers are far away from emotions and certainly being machines, they cannot have feelings and
instincts.
These limitations of computers are characteristics of human beings. Thus, computers and human beings
work in collaboration to make a perfect pair.
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Activity 1.3
USES OF COMPUTERS
In small groups students will discuss “Some uses of computers” based on the following information. The group
leader from each group will give a brief presentation to the class based on the discussions.
Computers are everywhere. Some of the modern uses of computers are:

1. Traffic Control System

Computers are used to control the movement of people, goods,
and vehicles in order to ensure their safe, orderly, and expeditious
(done with speed and efficiency) flow throughout the transportation
system. Each of the five areas of transportation—roadways, airports
and airways, railways, coastal and inland waterways, and pipelines—
have unique systems of control.
The traffic control system has improved worldwide so much that
being mobile (whether walking or riding) has become a lot safer. Fig. 1.19: An air traffic control system
2. Ticket Machines
The ticket machines are computerized vending machines that generate
tickets. Whatever the size, the process is the same. The person chooses
the ticket type and quantity from the display. After choosing the payment
method, the ticket is generated.

3. Cash Machines in Banks

A cash machine or an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) is an unattended
machine (outside some banks) that dispenses money when a personal Fig. 1.20: A ticket machine
coded card is used.
The central bank of Addis Ababa is known as the National Bank of
Ethiopia (NBE). Besides the central bank, there are many other banks in
Addis Ababa. The ATM counters in Addis Ababa can be located at:
(i) Hilton Hotel, Ground Floor
(ii) Sheraton Hotel, Lounge
(iii) Wabe Shebelle Hotel, Ground Floor Fig. 1.21: A cash Machine or
an ATM
(iv) Dembel Shopping Mall, Ground Floor

KEY CONCEPTS
 Super computers are the most powerful computers among digital computers.
 Mainframe computers are designed to handle huge volumes of data and information.
 Minicomputers are small general purpose computers, also called mid-range servers.

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 Microcomputers are also called Personal Computers (PCs). These are classified into desktops and portables.
 The main characteristics of a computer are: speed, accuracy, reliability, storage capacity, versatility, reduction
in manpower and reduction in paper work.

Assessment 1.3
Fill in the Blanks
1. ........................... can be classified into super computers, mainframe computers, minicomputers and
microcomputers.
2. ........................... are the largest and fastest computers.
3. ........................... are those computers in which the case or main housing sits on a desk, with keyboard in
front and screen (monitor) often on top.
4. P ersonal Digital A ssistants (PD A s) have the size of a ........................... .

State whether True or False

1. W e cannot classify the computers on the basis of size.
2. M ainframe computers are more powerful than minicomputers.
3. M inicomputers cannot be called mid-range servers.
4. Laptops are small sized machines that have the same power of a desktop.

Answer the Following

1. Classify the types of computers used today.
2. List the characteristics of each type of computer.

Suggested Activity
Categorize the computers in terms of size, processing speed and capacity only.

Field Trips
1. Determine what types of computers are being used in your school. In which departments are the different
types of computer used? Wh at are they used for? H ow are they connected to other computers?
2. Organize a field trip to various places such as science laboratories and government organizat ions to find
out and report on:
Types of computers and their uses.

1.4 INTRODUCTION TO DATA REPRESENTATION

A digital computer works with binary number system. The binary number system has only two digits
0 and 1. Inside the computer, binary number is represented by an electrical pulse. 1 means a pulse of
electricity and 0 means no pulse.
Data is divided into three types—a lphabetic data, numeric data and alphanumeric data. A lphabetic
data is used to represent the alphabets. It consists of capital letters A –Z , small letters a–z and blank
space etc. A lphabetic data is also called non-numeric data. N umeric data consists of ten digits
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0, 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, two signs + and – and decimal point. A lphanumeric data is used to represent
alphabetic data, numeric data, special characters and symbols.
One digit in binary number system is called a bit and combination of eight bits is called a byte. A byte
is the basic unit that is used to represent the alphabetic, numeric and alphanumeric data.
A ll the data that is entered into a computer is first converted into the binary form and after processing,
it is again converted to human readable form as shown in Fig. 1.2.

Fig. 1.22: Conversion of a letter to Binary form and back

W e will learn about computer coding system later in this unit.

l Number Systems
There are different types of number systems that are used to represent data. Y ou are already familiar with the
decimal number system. The other useful number systems are binary, octal and hexadecimal. Y ou may regard
each digit as a box that can hold a number.
Let us discuss the various number systems:

Binary Number System

In the binary number system, there can only be two choices for representing data—ei ther a " 0" or a " 1" .
The base or radix of the binary number system is 2.

Octal Number System

In the octal number system, there can be eight possibilities:
" 0" , " 1" , " 2" , " 3" , " 4 " , " 5" , " 6" , " 7" .
The base or radix of the octal number system is 8.

Hexadecimal Number System

In the hexadecimal number system, we have 16 symbols:
" 0" , " 1" , " 2" , " 3" , " 4 " , " 5" , " 6" , " 7" , " 8" , " 9" , " A " , " B " , " C" , " D" , " E" , and " F" .
The base or radix of the hexadecimal number system is 16.

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A s shown in Table 1.4, there is a direct correspondence between the binary system and the octal system,
with three binary digits corresponding to one octal digit. Likewise, four binary digits translate directly into
one hexadecimal digit. In computer usage, hexadecimal notation is especially common because it easily
replaces the binary notation, which is too long and human mistakes in using the binary numbers are too
easily made.
Table 1.4: Base Conversion Table
Decimal Binary Equivalent Octal Equivalent Hexadecimal Equivalent
0 0 0 0
1 01 1 1
2 01 2 2
3 01 3 3
4 01 4 4
5 01 5 5
6 01 6 6
7 01 7 7
8 10 10 8
9 10 1 9
10 10 12 A
1 10 13 B
12 10 14 C
13 10 15 D
14 10 16 E
15 1 17 F

l Conversion of Numbers from One Number System to the Other

W e can convert a number in one system to the other system by following rules specified by the number
systems. Following conversions are generally performed in calculations.

Decimal to Binary Conversion

To convert a decimal number to its equivalent binary number, follow these steps:
1. Divide the number by 2 and store the remainder.
2. Divide the quotient by 2 and store the remainder.
3. Repeat these steps until quotient becomes 0.
4. Wr ite the remainders from bottom to top order.
This arrangement of remainder digits will be the binary equivalent of the number. Let us describe this
conversion process with decimal number 23.

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2 2 3 Remainder
2 1 1 1
2 5 1 = 10
2 2 1
2 1 0
0 1

Converting Decimal to Octal

To convert a decimal number to its equivalent octal number, follow these steps:
1. Divide the number by 8 and store the remainder.
2. Divide the quotient by 8 and store the remainder.
3. Repeat these steps until quotient becomes 0.
4. Wr ite the remainders from bottom to top order.
The steps are same as in decimal to binary conversion with only one difference that the number is
divided by 8 because, 8 is the base in octal number system. For example, 837 in decimal will be equal to
15 05 in octal.
8 8 37 Remainder
8 1 04 5
8 13 0 = 150
8 1 5
0 1

Converting Decimal to Hexadecimal

To convert a decimal number to its equivalent hexadecimal number, follow these steps:
1. Divide the number by 16 and store the remainder.
2. Divide the quotient by 16 and store the remainder.
3. Repeat these steps until quotient becomes 0.
4. Wr ite the remainders from bottom to top order.
The steps are same as in decimal to binary conversion with only one difference that the number is
divided by 16 because, 16 is the base in hexadecimal number system. For example, 175 in decimal will be
equal to 6B 3 in hexadecimal.
16 175 Remainder H exadecimal equivalent
16 107 3 3
16 6 1 B = 6B 3
0 6 6

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Converting Binary to Decimal

Y ou can convert a binary number back to decimal number by multiplying each digit from right side with
increasing power of 2 and adding the result. This means, the first digit from right will be multiplied by 2 0 ,
the second digit with 2 1 and so on. For example,
(101) 2 = ? 1 0
0 1 2 3 4
= 1 × 2 + 1 × 2 + 1 × 2 + 0 × 2 + 1 × 2
= 1 + 2 + 4 + 0 + 16
= 23

Converting Octal to Decimal

W e can also convert an octal number to decimal number by multiplying each digit from right side with
increasing power of 8 and adding the result. This means, the first digit from right will be multiplied by 8 0 ,
the second digit with 8 1 and so on. For example,
(150) 8 = ? 1 0
= 5 × 8 0 + 0 × 8 1 + 5 × 8 2 + 1 × 8 3
= 5 + 0 + 3 20 + 512
= 837

Converting Hexadecimal to Decimal

W e can also convert an hexadecimal number to decimal number by multiplying each digit from right
side with increasing power of 1 6 and adding the result. This means, the first digit from right will be
multiplied by 1 6 0 , the second digit with 1 6 1 and so on. For example,
(6B )3 1 6 = ? 1 0
0 1 2
(6B 3) 1 6 = 3 × 61 + 1 × 16 + 6 × 16 (H ere, B = 1)
= 3 + 761 + 1536
= 175

Converting Binary to Octal

To convert a binary number to its equivalent octal number, follow these steps:
1. Divide the binary number into groups of three bits each beginning from right side.
2. A dd 0s to the left, if last group is incomplete.
3. Convert each group into decimals.
For example, consider the following:
(101) 2 = ? 8
= 10 01
= 5 3
A s 10 = 1 × 2 + 0 × 2 1 + 1 × 2 2
0

= 1 + 0 + 4 = 5
and 01 = 1 × 2 0 + 1 × 2 1 + 0 × 2 2
= 1 + 2 + 0
= 3
Therefore, (101) 2 = (53) 8
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Converting Octal to Binary

To convert an octal number to its equivalent binary number, follow these steps:
1. Convert each digit octal number to its equivalent three digit binary number.
2. Combine all the binary groups into a single group.
For example, consider
(53) 8 = ? 2
(53) 8 = 5 3
= 10 01
as 10 = 5 and 01 = 3 in decimal (refer to Table 1.4)
Therefore, (53) 8 = (101 1) 2

Converting Binary to Hexadecimal

To convert a binary number to its equivalent hexadecimal number, follow these steps:
1. Divide the binary number into groups of four bits each beginning from right side.
2. A dd 0s to the left, if last group is incomplete.
3. Convert each group into decimals.
For example, consider the following
(110) 2 = ? 1 6
= 01 01
= 3 5
as 01 is 3 in decimal and 01 is 5 in decimal (refer to Table 1.4) .
Therefore, (110) 2 = (35) 1 6

Converting Hexadecimal to Binary

To convert a hexadecimal number to its equivalent binary number, follow these steps:
1. Convert every digit i.e., A to F of hexadecimal number (if any) to decimal equivalent.
2. Convert every decimal number to its equivalent four digit binary number.
3. Combine all the binary groups to form a single binary number.
For example,
35 1 6 = ? 2
3 = (001) 2 (refer to Table 1.4)
5 = (010) 2
Therefore, (35) 1 6 = (110) 2

It must be remembered that whatever number system one may use, the information stored in the
computer memory is always in terms of binary digits. It is only for our convenience that we use octal
or hexadecimal numbers.

l Computer Coding System

W e are already familiar about different types of number systems. The computers convert the information,
numeric or non-numeric, into binary form. Therefore, one must know how the data/ information is stored
in computer memory.
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A computer handles non-numeric data in addition to numerical data, that is, alphabets, punctuation
marks and other special characters. Some predefined codes are used to represent the numeric and non-
numeric characters. These codes are known as al p han um er i c c od es . A ny data or information is represented
internally using the bits 0 and 1.
A computer system’ s data/ information storage capacity is represented by bytes, kilobytes, megabytes,
gigabytes and terabytes.
1 B yte = 8 bits
1 0
1 K ilobyte (K B ) = 2 bytes = 1024 bytes
1 0 1 0 2 0
1 M egabyte (M B ) = 1024 K B = 2 × 2 bytes = 2 bytes
1 0 2 0 3 0
1 Gigabyte (GB ) = 1024 M B = 2 × 2 bytes = 2 bytes
1 0 3 0 4 0
1 Terabyte (TB ) = 1024 GB = 2 × 2 bytes = 2 bytes

Let us discuss some useful codes for data representation:

BCD (Binary Coded Decimal)

Binary Coded Decimal (B CD) code is one of the early computer codes. The idea of this coding scheme is to
convert each digit of a decimal number into its binary equivalent instead of converting the entire decimal
value into a binary number. This makes the conversion process easier.
Table 1.5 shows B CD equivalent of each decimal digit. Since 8 and 9 require 4 bits, all decimal digits
are represented in B CD by 4 bits.
Table 1.5: BCD equivalent of decimal digits
Decimal Digits BCD Equivalent
0 0
1 01
2 01
3 01
4 01
5 01
6 01
7 01
8 10
9 10
N ote that each decimal digit is independently converted to a 4- bits binary number, and hence, the
conversion process is very easy. A lso note that when four bits are used, altogether 16( 2 4 ) combinations are
possible (refer to hexadecimal number system). H owever, from Table 1.5 you can see that only the first 10
of these combinations are used to represent decimal digits. The remaining six arrangements (101, 10,
10, 10, 10 and 1) have decimal values from 10 to 15. These arrangements are not used in B CD
coding. That is, 10 does not represent 10 1 0 in B CD. Instead,

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10 = 01 0  or 00010000 in BCD
1 0 1 0
Similarly,
01  or 00010101 in BCD 15 = 01
1 5 1 0
In the discussion above, we have used a group of four bits to represent a digit (character) in B CD. 4- bits
B CD coding system can be used to represent only decimal numbers because four bits are insufficient to
represent the various characters used by a computer. H ence, instead of using four bits with only 16 possible
characters, computer designers commonly use six bits to represent characters in B CD code. In 6- bit B CD
code, the four B CD numeric place positions are retained but two additional zo ne positions are added. W ith
six bits, it is possible to represent 64( 2 6 ) different characters. This is sufficient to code the decimal digits
(10) , alphabetic letters (26 in number), and other special characters (28 in number). Table 1.6 illustrates
coding of alphabetic and numeric characters in B CD.
Table 1.6: Alphabetic and numeric characters in BCD along with their Octal equivalent
Character BCD Code Octal Character BCD Code Octal
Equivalent Equivalent
Zone Digit Zone Digit
A 1 01 61 S 01 01 2
B 1 01 62 T 01 01 23
C 1 01 63 U 01 01 24
D 1 01 64 V 01 01 25
E 1 01 65 W 01 01 26
F 1 01 6 X 01 01 27
G 1 01 67 Y 01 10 30
H 1 10 70 Z 01 10 31
I 1 10 71
0 0 0 0
J 10 01 41 1 0 01 01
K 10 01 42 2 0 01 02
L 10 01 43 3 0 01 03
M 10 01 4 4 0 01 04
N 10 01 45 5 0 01 05
O 10 01 46 6 0 01 06
P 10 01 47 7 0 01 07

Q 10 10 50 8 0 10 10
R 10 10 51 9 0 10 1

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Example 1.1 Write the binary digits used to record the word BASE in BCD.
Solution. In B CD notation:
B  =  110010 A = 110001 S = 010010 E = 10
H ence, the binary digits
10 10 01 10 10
B A S E
will record the word B A SE in B CD.
Example 1.2 Using Octal notation, write the BCD coding for the word DIGIT.
Solution. In B CD notation:
D  =  64 I = 71 G = 67 I = 71 T = 23
H ence, the B CD coding for the word DIGIT in octal notation will be
64 71 67 71 23
D I G I T
ASCII
Pr onounced “a sk-ee”, A SCII (American S tandard C ode for I nformation I nterchange) is the binary code
most widely used with microcomputers. It has replaced many of the special codes that were previously
used by computer manufacturers.
A SCII 7- bit code can represent up to 128 characters. A letter, digit or special symbol is called a character.
It includes upper-case and lower-case alphabets, numbers, punctuation marks, special characters and
control characters.
A SCII 8- bit code can represent up to 256 characters. Table 1.7 shows A SCII 8- bit coding scheme for
alphabets and digits.

Table 1.7: ASCII 8-bit Coding Scheme

Character Decimal ASCII–8 Character Decimal ASCII–8
A 65 01 0 01 a 97 01 01
B 6 01 0 01 b 98 01 01
     
O 79 01 0 1 o 1 01 1
P 80 01 01 0 p 12 01 0
Q 81 01 01 01 q 13 01 01
     
Y 89 01 01 10 y 12 01 10
Z 90 01 01 10 z 12 01 10

0 48 0 1 0 5 53 01 01
1 49 0 1 01 6 54 01 01
2 50 0 1 01 7 5 01 01
3 51 0 1 01 8 56 01 10
4 52 0 1 01 9 57 01 10

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UNICODE
U nicode uses two bytes (16 bits) for each character. It can handle 65, 536 character combinations. Thus,
it allows almost all the written languages of the world to be represented using a single character set.
Formally,
U n i c od e p rov i d es a un i q ue n um b e r f or ev er y c har ac ter ,
n o m at ter w hat the p l at f orm ,
n o m at ter w hat the p rog ram ,
n o m at ter w hat the l an g uag e.
U nicode standard covers the principal written languages of the A merica, Europe, the M iddle East,
A frica, India and A sia.

KEY CONCEPTS
 A digital computer works with binary number system.
 All the data that is entered into a computer is first converted into the binary form and after processing, it is
again converted to human readable form.
 There are different types of number systems (binary, octal, hexadecimal) that are used to represent data.
 We can convert a number in one system to the other system by following rules specified by the number
system.
 Some useful computer coding systems are BCD, ASCII and UNICODE.

Assessment 1.4
Fill in the Blanks
1. A digital computer works with ........................... number system.
2. A ........................... is the basic unit that is used to represent the alphabetic, numeric and alphanumeric
data.
3. 1 K ilobyte (K B ) = ........................... bytes.
4. The full form of A SCII is ........................... .

State Whether True or False

1. The binary number system has only one digit 1.
2. W e can convert a number in one system to the other system by following rules specified by the number
system.
3. B CD code is one of the early computer codes.
4. U N ICODE uses one byte (8 bits) for each character.

Answer the Following

1. Explain how data is represented in the computer.
.2 Discuss in brief the number systems—b inary, octal and hexadecimal.

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3. P erform the following inter-number system conversions:

(i) (101) 2 = ( )1 0 (ii) (25) 1 0 = ( )2
(iii) (759) 1 0 = ( )8 (iv) (746) 8 = ( )2
(v) (59F )1 6 = ( )2 (vi) (9D)1 6 = ( )1 0
(vii) (110) 2 = ( )8 (viii) (47) 8 = ( )1 0
(ix) (79) 1 0 = ( )1 6
4. Wr ite short notes on the following computer coding systems:
(i) B CD (ii) A SCII (iii) U N ICODE
Suggested Activity
Introduce an idea of the complexity of data representation in computer.

1.5 COMPUTER SYSTEM

A computer is an electronic device that can accept data and instructions, store and process it to produce
the required result.
The acronym for C O M P U T E R is “ C ommon O riented M achine P articularly U sed for T rade, E ducation
and R esearch” .

The computer mainly consists of hardware and software components. B oth of these work together to
process data. Figure 1.23 illustrates these two components.

Fig. 1.23: Hardware and software

Hardware
The physical components of the computer that can be seen and touched are called as hardware. The
term hardware is used to refer to all the components inside or outside the computer. In addition to
this, components used to interconnect two or more components, for example, wires are also regarded as
hardware. W e have several hardware devices that are used at various phases of data processing cycle.
The hardware that are used to supply input to computer are called as input devices. The hardware that are
used to process the data, are called as processing devices and the devices that are used to present output
of computer are called as output devices. Each of these categories has a broad variety of devices of various
brands and qualities.
Software
The sets of instructions that instruct the computer to do different tasks are called as software. For example,
word processing, games, painting, e-mail, spreadsheets etc.
Software is the driving force behind the working of computer. W ithout the presence of software, the
computer is as good as a piece of plastic and metal. H ardware can be considered as organs and the software
is life that moves inside these organs. B oth of them cannot perform their function without the presence of
each other.
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l Hardware Components
H ardware consists of all the machinery and equipment in a computer system. The hardware includes, the
keyboard, the monitor, the printer, and the “b ox” — the computer or processing device itself. Figure 1.24
illustrates hardware of a computer.

Fig. 1.24: Hardware of a computer

The hardware components are given in Fig. 1.25.

Fig. 1.25: Hardware components

Input Devices
Input devices allow people to put data into the computer in a form that the computer can use, for example,
keyboard and mouse.

Fig. 1.26: Input devices

Output Devices
Output devices translate information processed by the computer into a form that humans can understand—
print, sound, graphics, or video. For example, monitor, printer and sound speakers.

Fig. 1.27: Output devices

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System Unit
The system unit is also known as case. It is the box that houses the processor chip
(CPU ) i.e., the ‘ brain’ of computer, the memory chips, and the motherboard with power
supply, as well as some secondary storage devices—f loppy-disk drive, hard-disk drive,
and CD or DV D drive. The case comes in desktop or tower models. It includes a power
supply unit and a fan to keep the circuitry from overheating.
Fig. 1.28: Case or
Secondary Storage Devices system cabinet
W ithin the motherboard in the system cabinet, the secondary storage devices are connected to it. Secondary
storage or permanent storage stores your data as long as you want.
Let us discuss the commonly used secondary storage devices—C ompact Disk (CD) and Digital V ersatile
Disk (DV D):
C om p ac t D i sk ( C D )
The compact disk or CD is an optical storage medium. It is relatively cheap and has a storage capacity of
up to 7 0 M egabytes of data. There are three main types of CDs:
(i) CD-ROM (Compact Disk—Read Only Memory): It is an optical-disk format that is used to hold pre-
recorded text, graphics and sound, for example, encyclopedias, software, games, e-books etc. It is a
read-only disk. Read-only means that the disk’ s content is recorded at the time of manufacture and
cannot be written on or erased by the user.
(ii) CD-R (Compact Disk-Recordable): It is an optical-disk format on which data can be recorded only once
but can be read many times. It allows users to make their own CD disks, though it is a slow process.
Once recorded the contents cannot be erased. CD-R is often used by companies for archiving, that
is, to store vast amounts of information.
(iii) CD-RW (Compact Disk-Rewritable): It is an erasable disk that allows users to record and erase data,
so the disk can be used over and over again. CD-RW disks are used for archiving and backing up
large amounts of data or work in multimedia production or desktop publishing, however, they are
relatively slow.
D i g i tal V er sat i l e D i sk ( D V D )
The digital versatile disk or digital video disk or DV D is an optical storage medium. It is a CD-style disk
but is able to hold about 15 times as much information and transfer it to the computer about 20 times as
fast as a CD-ROM . There are three main types of DV Ds:
(i) DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk—Read Only Memory): It is a high capacity optical disk capable of
storing 4.7 Gigabytes to 17 Gigabytes. It is a powerful and versatile secondary storage medium
which was originally developed for the movie industry.
(ii) DVD-R (DVD-Recordable): It is similar to CD-R that
allows users to write on the disk only once but read it
many times. Recordable DV Ds offer the user yet another
option for storing large amount of data.
(iii) DVD-RW (DVD-Rewritable): M ost writable DV D drives
are DV D-RW . The DV D-RW disks can be recorded on
and erased more than once.
DV D technology is bringing down prices these days.
Figure 1.29 shows how to use a CD/ DV D. Fig. 1.29: How to use a CD/DVD
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Some secondary storage devices are also called input and output devices. For example, CD, DV D and
P en Drive etc.

l Types of Software
Software is generally divided into two main categories: System Software and Application Software. The system
software are generally concerned with the various operations of a computer system and the application
software are concerned with providing various services to the users. Figure 1.30 shows the two types of
software.

Fig. 1.30: Types of software

System Software
System software is a set of master programs that keep the computer system working.
The basic components of system software are given below:

O p er at i n g S y stem S of tw a re
Operating system is a bridge between the computer hardware and the user. V arious types of operating systems
are W indows, M ac OS, U nix, Linux etc.
Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as:
1. Recognizi ng input from the keyboard
2. Sending output to the display screen
3. K eeping track of files and directories on the disk
4. Controlling peripheral devices such as disk devices and printers.

Language Software
A language acceptable to a computer system is called computer language or programming language. A ll
computer languages can be classified broadly into the following three categories:
1. M achine Language
2. A ssembly Language
3. H igh-level Language.
L ow L ev el L a n g uag e
Machine Language
Every computer understands only one language without using a translation program which is called
machine language of the computer.

Assembly Language
A language that allows instructions and storage locations to be represented by letters and symbols instead
of numbers is called assembly language or symbolic language.
M achine and assembly languages are often referred to as low-level programming languages.

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H i g h L ev el L an g uag e
High-level programming languages overcome the limitations of low-level programming languages. The main
feature of high-level languages is machine independence, i.e., portable (can be used on different computers
with or without minor changes).
Today many different high-level languages are in use because each one was designed for a different
purpose. For example, LOGO, FORTRA N , COB OL, B A SIC, P ascal, C, C++, C#, J ava, RPG , LISP and
SN OB OL.

S ourc e P rog ra m an d O b j ec t P rog ram

Let us define source and object program:
Source Program: A computer program written in high level language by a programmer that can be
converted (or translated) into machine language.
Object Program: A computer program translated from an equivalent source program into machine
language by a compiler or assembler.

Compilers and Interpreters

Computers work in machine language. These need translators for converting different computer languages
into machine language. Compilers and interpreters are translators which are also known as language
processors.
C om p i l er
Compiler software translates a source program that is usually written in a high level language by a
programmer into machine language. The compiler is capable of replacing single source program statement
with a series of machine language instructions. For each language the machine requires a separate compiler.
Figure 1.31 shows the working of a compiler.

Fig. 1.31: Working of a compiler

I n ter p ret er
Interpreter software translates each source program statement into a sequence of machine instructions and
then executes these machine instructions before translating the next source language statement. Interpreter is
also unique for each high level language like compiler. Figure 1.32 shows the working of an interpreter.

Fig. 1.32: Working of an interpreter

Others
P rog ram U ti l i ti es
U tilities are the programs that carry out general tasks such as formatting disks, storing files, virus checking.
Some examples of utilities are text editors, backup utility, compression utility, disk defragmenter and antivirus
software.
Y ou can buy the utility programs at computer stores. Some utility programs are also available free of
cost on the Internet.
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D ve i c e D ri v er s
Device drivers are programs which allow hardware devices such as the keyboard, printers to interface with
the computer.
M odern operating systems have inbuilt support for a variety of input and output devices. For example,
W indows X P contains drivers of hundreds of printers, scanners and other devices.

l Application Software
A pplication software allows the user to perform specific tasks. A n application software, designed to satisfy
one purpose may not be able to solve other purpose of the same user. For example, software for financial
management cannot be used for designing two-dimensional graphics. Similarly, we have word processors
for letter writing and presentation software for presentations. W e cannot interchange the use of two
application software with each other.
There are two main categories of application software: Pre-Written and Customised A pplication
Software.
P re- Wr i tten Ap p l i c at i on S of tw ar e: These are designed for common needs of various businesses. For
example, Wo rd Pr ocessing Software, Electronic Spreadsheets, Pr esentation Software, Database M anagement
Systems, Communication Software, Desktop Pu blishing Software.
C ustom i zed Ap p l i c at i on S of tw ar e: These are created for a specific application of a specific environment.
For example, software required by a publishing house. This type of software may not be useful for a
computer assembling house who deals in the items having warranty period. Software engineers are hired
to create such software. Different computer languages are used to create these software.

Types, Examples and Uses of Application Software

A pplication software can be classified in many ways—f or productivity, speciality education/ reference,
entertainment, and personal uses. Figure 1.3 illustrates the types of application software.
AP P L I C AT I O N S O F T W AR E

P rod uc ti v i ty S p ec i al i ty E d uc ta i on / E n ter tai n m en t P er son al

sof tw ar e sof tw ra e ref er ne c e sof tw ar e sof tw ar e sof tw ra e
•  Word  •  Presentation graphics •  Encyclopedias •  Games, etc. •  Cookbooks
processing •  Financial •  Phone books •  Medical
•  Spreadsheets •  Desktop publishing •  Almanacs •  Home
•  Database •  Drawing & painting •  Library searches decoration
management (image editing) etc. •  Gardening
•  Personal •  Project management •  Home repair
information •  Computer aided •  Tax
management design preparation
•  Web browse •  Web page design etc.
• E-mail etc. •  Video/audio editing etc.

Fig. 1.33: Types of application software

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Let us discuss some of the application software in brief:

(a) General purpose software: These software are useful in controlling the general activities of organizat ions.
For example, M S-WO RD, M S-EX CEL and DTP software.
(b) Speciality software: These software are used for a special purpose. For example, P eachtree.
(c) Entertainment software: These software allow a computer to be used as an entertainment tool. For
example, Solitaire and Pi nball.
(d) Educational software: These software allow a computer to be used as a teaching and learning tool. For
example, M icrosoft Encarta, M avis B eacon and TypingM aster Pr o.

l Features of Operating System

Operating System (OS) is a bridge between the computer hardware and the user. For example, W indows,
Linux, M ac OS, Solaris, U N IX etc.
W indows provides a Graphical U ser Interface (GU I). A graphical user interface is simple to use because
any action that is performed is in the form of button clicks or selection of commands.
Some of the features of an OS are given below:
1. M anipulates the files and folders on a computer.
2. Transfers files from one folder to another.
3. Finds a file or folders using a ‘ search’ facility.
4. Customizes the computer desktop.
Let us discuss these features using W indows X P operating system.

Creating Folders or Directories

Folder is like a container, which can store programs, files and also other folders.
(i) T o C re at e a F ol d er at the D es k top
1. Right-click in an empty area of the desktop.
2. From the pop-up menu so displayed, select New (see Fig. 1.34) .

Fig. 1.34: Creating a folder at the desktop

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3. From the cascading menu, select the option Folder (see Fig. 1.34 ). A folder icon appears with the
name ‘ N ew Folder’ highlighted.
4. Type a name for the newly created folder and press Enter key.
(ii) T o C re at e a F ol d er i n a D ri v e/ F ol d er
1. In ‘ M y Computer’ navigate to the item (drive/ folder) in which you wish to create a new folder.
2. Double click on this item, so that a window exhibiting its contents is opened.
3. Right-click on an empty area in the window.
4. Select New from the pop-up menu displayed, and Folder from the cascading menu (see Fig. 1.35) .
A folder icon appears with the name ‘ N ew Folder’ highlighted.

Fig. 1.35: Creating a folder in a drive/folder

5. Type a name for the newly created folder and press Enter key.
Say, you create a new folder called Software in the ICT folder. In this case, the ICT folder is called the
parent folder and the Software folder is called the subfolder.

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Copying Files and Folders

To copy a file or a folder to another folder, perform the following steps:
1. Select the file or folder.
2. Click the Edit menu.
3. Click the Copy option.
A lternatively, you can right-click the file or folder, click the Copy option from the shortcut menu or
press the Ctrl and C keys simultaneously (see Fig. 1.36) .

Fig. 1.36: Copying files and folders

4. Select the folder where you have to paste the file or folder.
5. Click the Edit menu.
6. Click the Paste option.
A lternatively, you can right-click the folder, click the P aste option from the shortcut menu or press the
Ctrl and V keys simultaneously.
A quick way to move and copy files or folders is to use right mouse button to invoke the shortcut menu
(a menu which gets displayed by right click of mouse).

Moving Files and Folders

To move a file or a folder completely from one folder to another, perform the following steps:
1. Select the file or folder.
2. Click the Edit menu.
3. Click the Cut option (see Fig. 1 .37) .

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Fig. 1.37: Selecting the Cut option

A lternatively, you can right-click the file or folder, select the Cut option from the shortcut menu or
press the Ctrl and X keys simultaneously.
4. Select the folder where you have to paste the file or folder.
5. Click the Edit menu.
6. Click the Paste option (see Fig. 1.38) .

Fig. 1.38: Selecting the Paste option

If a number of files have to be copied or moved, it can be done using the Shift key or the Ctrl key.
W hen you want to select consecutive files and folders, click the first item, hold down the < Shift> key and
click the last item. Wh en you want to select files that are not consecutive, hold down the < Ctrl> key and
click each item. To select all files and folders in the window, choose Edit, Select All.

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Copying an item places an exact replica of the copied item at the new location also retaining the item
as the location where it is copied from. B ut, moving an item from a location to another erases its
existence at the original location.

Renaming Files and Folders

A file or folder can be renamed immediately after it is created or later.
To rename a file,
1. Select the file or folder.
2. Click the Rename option in the File menu.
3. Type a new name and press the < Enter> key.
A lternatively,
1. Right-click the file or folder.
2. Click the Rename option in the pop-up menu (see Fig. 1.39) .
3. Type a new name and press the Enter key.

Fig. 1.39: Renaming files and folders

Y ou can also select the file and press the F2 key to change the name.
The name of the file or folder is highlighted. Type the new name and press the Enter key.

Deleting a File or Folder

To delete a file or folder, perform the following steps:
1. Select the file or folder.
2. Pr ess the Delete key.
W indows asks for confirmation before deleting a file
or folder as shown in Fig. 1.40. Click Yes to delete the
file or folder. Click No to cancel the operation.
A lternatively, you can right-click the file or folder
and select the Delete option in the pop-up menu.
Deleted files and folders are stored in the Recycle
B in. If you delete any file by mistake, it can be restored
by clicking the Restore option in the File menu of the Fig. 1.40: Deleting a File or a Folder

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Recycle Bin window. If any file or folder has to be deleted permanently from the machine, then right click
on the Recycle Bin and select the Empty Recycle Bin option.
On clicking Empty Recycle Bin option the following message will be displayed (see Fig. 1 .4 1 ).

Fig. 1.41: Confirm Multiple File Delete dialog box

Click Yes to permanently delete the files and folders from Recycle B in.

Searching Files and Folders

To search files and folders, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Search option in the Start menu. The Search Results window appears.
2. Click the ‘ A ll Files and Folders’ option.
3. Specify the name of the file or the folder that has to be searched.
4. Specify the folder in which the search has to be happened.

Fig. 1.42: The Search option

The results are displayed in the right pane. Y ou can also access the Search option by pressing the Ctrl
and E keys simultaneously.
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Customizing Computer Desktop

Arran g i n g I c on s on the D es k top
Icons can be arranged on the desktop. These can be dragged and placed anywhere on the screen. To
automatically arrange these, perform the following steps:
1. Right-click on the empty space on the desktop.
A pop-up menu appears. A menu that appears when you click the right mouse button is called a
context-sensitive menu.
2. Choose the Arrange Icons By option from the pop-up menu.
3. Click the Auto Arrange option (see Fig. 1 .43) .

Fig. 1.43: Auto Arrange Icon option

Y ou can also arrange the icons by N ame, Size, Type, etc.

Changing the Desktop Background

The background of a desktop can be changed. To change the background of the desktop, perform the
following steps:
1. Right-click on the empty space on the desktop.
2. Click the Properties option (see Fig. 1.4) .

Fig. 1.44: Properties option

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3. The Display Properties dialog box appears. Click the Desktop tab (see Fig. 1.45) .
4. Select any option from the Background list box. For example, select W indows X P as the background
and click the Apply button (see Fig. 1.45) .
5. Click the OK button to close the dialog box.

Fig. 1.45: Changing background.

The background is also known as the wallpaper.

Changing the Screen Saver

Screen saver is a moving picture or pattern that appears on the screen when the mouse or the keyboard is
not used for a specified period of time. Y ou can set the time using the W ait spin box. To select the screen
saver, perform the following steps:
1. Right-click on the empty space of the desktop.
2. Click the Properties option.
3. Click the Screen Saver tab (see Fig. 1.46) .
4. Select any Screen saver from the list.

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5. Click the Apply button.

6. Click the OK button to close the dialog box.

Fig. 1.46: Changing Screen Saver

C han g i n g the Ap p ear an c e

The appearance of the desktop can be changed. To change the appearance of the desktop, perform the
following steps:
1. Right-click on the empty space of the desktop.
2. Click the Properties option.
3. Click the Appearance tab (see Fig. 1.47) .
4. Select any option from the list box. For example, select W indows X P style from W indows and
buttons.
5. Click the Apply button.
6. Click the OK button to close the dialog box.

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Fig. 1.47: Changing the Appearance

You can change Color scheme and Font size depending on your choice.

KEY CONCEPTS
 A computer system consists of hardware components and software components.
 Hardware are the physical parts of the computer that can be seen and touched.
 Software are the sets of instructions that instruct the computer to do different tasks for example: word
processing, games, painting, email, spreadsheets.
 Software can be classified as systems and application software.
 Operating system is a bridge between the computer hardware and the user.

Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1. A ........................... consists of hardware and software components.
2. Commonly used secondary storage devices are ........................... and ........................... .
3. ........................... software keep the computer system working.
4. ........................... are programs which allow hardware devices to interface with the computer.

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State Whether True or False

1. H ardware are the sets of instructions that instruct the computer to do different tasks.
2. System unit contains the motherboard, power supply and hard disk.
3. Pr ogram U tilities carry out general tasks such as formatting disks, storing files, virus checking etc.
4. A n operating system cannot customize computer desktop.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. ICT focuses primarily on ....................... technologies.
(a) W ater (b) Communication (c) Research (d) Transportation
2. Computers can be classified on the basis of the following.
(a) Size (b) Cost (c) P erformance (d) A ll of these
3. Wh ich of the following coding scheme uses two bytes (16 bits) for each character?
(a) EB CDIC (b) U N ICODE (c) A SCII (d) B CD
4. A program written in high level language is known as ........................... .
(a) M ain Pr ogram (b) Image Pr ogram (c) Object Pr ogram (d) Source program

Match the Following

Column A Column B
1. Social information exchange tool (a) 2048 K B
2. Characteristics of a computer (b) Transistor
3. M egabyte (c) Integrated Circuit
4. Entertainment Software (d) B log
5. First generation (e) 1024 K B
6. Second generation (f) V ersatility
7. Third generation (g) V ery Large Scale Integration
8. Fourth generation (h) V acuum Tube
(i) Solitaire

Answer the Following

1. Describe the computer system.
2. List major hardware components of a computer system.
3. Define system software and application software. Give their uses also.
4. Give the features of an operating system.

Suggested Activities
1. Demonstrate and explain in brief a computer system.
2. Define and explain the difference between system software and application software.

Field Trip
Students should visit some big educational organizat ion in their city. Interact with faculties there and prepare
a report on the latest computer system in use.
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 Unit – 2 Application Software

Unit 2 APPLICATION
SOFTWARE

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 understand how to open word processing software, and create, and save a document;
 recognize how to format a document in a desired way;
 apply any of formatting features in their document;
 understand how to open presentation software, and create and save a document;
 recognize how to create a slide show using animation and sound.

2.1 WORD PROCESSOR

W ord processing software allows you to create, edit, format, print, and store text material. W ord
processor is the most common application software. The main advantage of a word processor is that
it provides W Y SIW Y G (W hat Y ou See Is W hat Y ou Get) interface which helps you make changes
quickly and easily.
The advantages of using word processor to create documents over typed documents are given
in Table 2 .1 .
Table 2.1: Advantages of Word Processor
Typed Documents Documents Created Using Word Processors

Slow creating process Can be created quickly and easily

Difficulty in inserting pictures and images Pi ctures and images can be inserted easily

Looks messy after making corrections Error correction is simple and neat

M icrosoft W ord (M S-W ord) is the most popularly used word processing application software
that provides you with a number of useful and fabulous features to process the text.
Let us understand the word processing features using M S-W ord.

l Open Word Processor

A s mentioned earlier M S-Wo rd is a member of the M S-Office family provided by M icrosoft. It is a W indows
based application. Let us assume that your computer has M S-Wo rd 207 installed on it.

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Starting Microsoft Word 2007

To start M S-W ord or Wo rd, perform the following steps:
Click S tar t → Al l P rog ram s→M i c rosof t O f f i c e → M i c rosof t O f f i c e Wo rd 207
This opens a blank new document (see Fig. 2.1) .
The various parts of the blank document window are shown in this figure.

Fig. 2.1: Components of a Document window

Table 2.2 describes some of the components of a document window.
Table 2.2: Word Document Window Components

Component Description

Office B utton Displays as a M icrosoft Office logo and, when clicked, displays a list of
options and most recently opened documents.

Q uick A ccess Toolbar Contains buttons for commonly used commands.

Title B ar Displays document name followed by program name.

Tabs Contain commands and features organized into groups.

Ribbon A rea containing the tabs and commands divided into groups.

I-beam Po inter U sed to move the insertion point or to select text.

V ertical Scroll B ar U sed to view various parts of the document.

Status B ar Shows details about the document you are working on.

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Table 2.3 shows how to move around a document using the keyboard.
Table 2.3: Moving around a document using the keyboard

Key(s) Function(s)
<U p> arrow, <D own> arrow, One character up, down, left and right
<L eft> arrow, <R ight> arrow
<C trl> + < Right> arrow N ext word
<C trl> + < Left> arrow Pr evious word
<H ome> B eginning of the line
<E nd> End of the line
<C trl> + < H ome> B eginning of the document
<C trl> + < End> End of the document
<C trl> + < P age U p> Pr evious page
<C trl> + < P age Down> N ext page

l Creating a New Document

If you are already working in M S-Wo rd and you want to create a new document, then perform the following
steps:
Click O f f i c e B utton → N ew → C rea te
It displays the newly created document (see Fig. 2 .2) .

Fig. 2.2: Newly created Word document

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l Saving a Document
Wh en you type in a document, the document is stored in the internal memory of the computer. Figure 2.3
shows a typed passage in a document using M S-Wo rd 207.

Fig. 2.3: Typing a passage in a Document using MS-Word

Once you have created a document, you have to save it for future use and you must save it on a disk.
To save means to preserve the document safely for future use.
To save a word document, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click the Save option or Pr ess <C trl + S>.
The ‘ Save As’ dialog box is displayed.
This dialog box is displayed only under the following circumstances:
(i) Wh en you have clicked ‘ Save A s’ .
(ii) If you have clicked Save and you are saving the document for the first time.
3. Identify the location where you want to save. Y ou must enter the name by which you want to save
the document. H ere, we have selected C: drive and given the file name doc1.d ocx (see Fig. 2.4) .

Fig. 2.4: Saving a word document

4. Click the Save button.
M S-Wo rd, by default, saves all the documents in the folder ‘ M y Documents’ with extensions .docx.
H owever, you can save them elsewhere by selecting the desired location, from the ‘ S av e i n :’ drop-
down list provided in the ‘ Save A s’ dialog box.

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l Closing a Document
A fter your work is complete you need to close the document without exiting from M S-W ord. To close a
document without exiting M S-Wo rd, perform the following steps:
Click O f f i c e B utton → C l ose
If you have not saved the document before closing, M S-
W ord gives you warning asking to save the document (see
Fig. 2.5) .
From this dialog box:
(i) If you want to Save the document, click the Yes
Fig. 2.5: The warning dialog box
button.
(ii) If you do not want to Save the document, click the No button.
(iii) If you want to remove the message box, click the Cancel button.

l Editing a Document
Editing is the act of altering your document. Some Edit features are insert and delete, undelete, find and
replace, cut/copy and paste, spelling and grammar checker, and thesaurus. A ll of these commands except
spelling and grammar checker which is in the Review tab are in the Home tab.
W h en you edit text, you change text by either inserting text, deleting text or replacing text. To edit text,
place the cursor at the required position and insert, delete or replace text.

Useful Tip
Y ou must keep on saving document when working to avoid losing document when power goes
off.

l Formatting a Document
Wh en you wish to make a document both more attractive and easier to read, you use formats. A ll word
processing programs have built-in format setting called defaults, which are designed such that you can
easily override them.
Wh en creating a document, formatting is usually a separate stage—o ften completed after the document
has been entered. The ease of applying and changing formats lets you play with a document’ s design.
M SW ord works on the principle of ‘ ‘ F I R S T S E L E C T I O N T H E N AC T I O N ’ ’ .
Formatting text means changing the text appearance by changing the alignment, style, font and font
color. To format text, you need to use the Home tab.
In Home tab you have all the formatting tools readily available (see Fig. 2.6) .

Fig. 2.6: Formatting tools in Home tab

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S le ec ti n g the T ext
For any text to be formatted, first it has to be selected. There are various ways of selecting the text, i.e.,
using the keyboard by pressing shift key with arrow keys or using the mouse.
Let us discuss some useful features of formatting a document:

Character Formatting
Select the character and format it as required i.e., change its appearance by changing font, style, size, color
and changing font style.
W e can apply the effects before typing as well as after typing the text (see Fig. 2.7) .

Fig. 2.7: Character formatting

Paragraph Formatting
Select the paragraph and format it as required i.e., apply alignment (Left, Right, Centre and J ustify), indent,
line spacing, bullets and numbers, and draw boarders around it (see Fig. 2 .8 ).

Fig. 2.8: Paragraph formatting

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Page Formatting
P age formatting includes features of M S-Wo rd that are used to improve the appearance of the page. Select
the entire page or selection and format it as required i.e., apply formatting features including page size,
border, header and footer, margins, a page break and page numbering etc. (see Fig. 2.9) .

Fig. 2.9: Page formatting

Spell Checking
Spell checking is a very big plus point while talking about word processing. Y ou can spell check your
document for wrong spellings.

The red and g reen wavy underlines are only visible on screen. These will not appear in print out.

There are two methods of correcting these errors. One method is to correct these errors one by one,
picking them up. Secondly, you can spell check the whole document.
The steps for spell check of the whole document are:
1. P lace the cursor at the beginning of the text in the document (refer to Fig. 2.3) .
2. Select Spelling & Grammar from the Pr oofing P anel of Review tab.
OR
Pr ess F7
This will initiate the spell checking process and will start the spell checking of the document with
each word of the document being searched with the similar words available in the dictionary. If not
found, it will point it out to you. Select the appropriate word from the suggestions box. H ere, we
will select “t aught” to change the word “t hought” (see Fig. 2.10) .

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Fig. 2.10: Spell checking

3. A fter checking the spelling of the whole document, if there is no word left for checking, you will
get the message shown in Fig. 2.1.

Fig. 2.11: Dialog box on completion of spelling and grammar check

4. Click OK.
5. Save and Close the document.
Remember, you can spell check a portion of the text or a word by just highlighting it and then clicking
at Spelling & Grammar icon.
For protecting your document from unauthorized access you can encrypt document, restrict permission
or add a digital signature. This can be done by performing the following steps:
Click Office B utton → Pr epare → Encrypt Document → Type password and Click OK → Reenter
password → Click OK

Inserting Tables
Tables provide an easier and effective method of arranging the data in rows and columns. M S-word offers
a set of commands for creation, modification and formatting of tables. To insert a table in your document
follow these steps:
1. Open a document and enter some text in it (refer to Fig. 2.3) .
2. Select the Insert tab.
3. Select the Table option from Tables panel. On clicking the Table option, a list will be displayed.
4. Select the desired table size by moving the cursor on the table cells (see Fig. 2.12) . H ere, we select
4 × 5 table.
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Fig. 2.12: Selecting the Table size

5. A fter clicking on the last cell of the selected table size, a table is inserted into the document at the
insertion point below the text (see Fig. 2.13) .
N ow fill the table as per your requirement and save the document.

Fig. 2.13: Inserting data in the table

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Y ou can also insert table using Draw Table option from Insert Table list, available in Table option of the
Tables panel under Insert tab.

Inserting Pictures
Clipart or pictures are inserted to create effective documents. M S-word supports many popular picture
formats, for example .wmf (window meta files). Y ou can insert pictures from the disk as well as cliparts
from the clipart gallery of M S-OFFICE. Y ou can also insert downloaded pictures or pictures taken by your
web cam or digital camera, into your documents.
The steps for inserting a picture are given below:
1. Open a document (refer to Fig. 2 .3) .
2. Click the Insert tab.
3. Select the Picture option from Illustrations panel (see Fig. 2.14) .
On clicking this button the Insert Picture dialog box will appear.

Fig. 2.14: Inserting Picture

4. Select the desired picture and click Insert button (see Fig. 2.15) . H ere, we have selected
W ater lilies.jpg.

Fig. 2.15: Insert Picture dialog box

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The selected picture will be inserted in the document at the insertion point (see Fig. 2.16) .

Fig. 2.16: A document after inserting a picture

5. Save and close the document.
The picture may not move properly in your document, unless you select a wrapping style. To resize
a picture, always stretch or compress them from corners. This will increase or decrease the height and
width proportionally.

Activity 2.1
INSERTING, REMOVING UNWANTED ITEMS AND/OR CHANGING EXISTING ONES IN THE
DOCUMENT AND ALSO APPLYING UNDO AND REDO
Students will perform the following steps for doing the activity:
1. Open an existing MS-Word document as shown in Fig. 2.17.

Fig. 2.17: A Word document

2. Now make changes in it. First we delete the last line of the document and then change the word “hope”
to “hopr” in the first line (see Fig. 2.18).

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3. To undo an action,
Click the Undo icon in the title bar (see Fig. 2.18).

Fig. 2.18: The Undo option

After applying Undo, the document is shown in Fig. 2.19.

Fig. 2.19: After Applying the Undo option

You can undo the other action also if you wish to do so.
4. To redo an action,
Click the Redo icon in the Quick Access Toolbar (see Fig. 2.20).

Fig. 2.20: The Redo option

After applying Redo, the document is shown in Fig. 2.21. We again get back “hopr” in place of
“Hope”.

Fig. 2.21: After applying the Redo option

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KEY CONCEPTS
 Word processing software allows to create, edit, format, print and store text material.
 MS-Word is a Windows based application.
 A file created using MS-Word is known as a document.
 Text can be entered anywhere in a document area by placing the cursor at that place.
 The Undo option is used to undo the previous action and the Redo option will repeat the previous Undo
action.
 Formatting means changing the appearance of text.

Assessment 2.1
Fill in the Blanks
1. WY SIWY G stands for ........................... .
2. Wh en you start M S-Wo rd, a ........................... window appears.
3. To create a new document in M S-Wo rd, click the Office Button, New option and ........................... button.
4. ........................... is the act of altering your document.

State Whether True or False

1. M S-Wo rd is not a very popular word processing application software.
2. A document must be saved if it is required for future use.
3. Formatting text means changing the text appearance by changing the alignment, style, font and font
color.
4. M S-Wo rd does not offer a set of commands for creation, modification and formatting of tables.

Answer the Following

1. Explain the steps to create and save a word processing document in M S-Wo rd.
2. Wh at do you mean by formatting? Explain the formatting commands of M S-Wo rd.
3. Explain spell checking in M S-Wo rd.
4. Wr ite steps to insert a table in M S-Wo rd.

Suggested Activities
1. Locate where the word processing software is in the computer and create, save and close the
document.
2. Explain and demonstrate how to change the appearance of text changing font, style, size, color and
changing font style.
3. Explain and demonstrate powerful formatting features including header and footer, margins and the
steps involved to insert and delete bullets, a page break, a header and footer, page numbers and date
and time on a document you have already created.

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2.2 PRESENTATION SOFTWARE AND TECHNIQUES

Pr esentation software is a tool used to create visual presentations. These presentations are usually
delivered in a slide show format, and can be created with a variety of programs. The programs
make it possible to combine text and graphic elements to convey important information to a group
of people all at once.
M icrosoft Po werPo int is a presentation software that is used to create on screen slide shows,
overhead projector slides audience handouts and speakers notes, it is a part of M S-Office suite of
software. Po werPo int is the most widely used presentation software.

l Feature of a Presentation Package

Some features of Pr esentation P ackages are:
1. A presentation package helps both: the speaker with an easier access to his/ her ideas and the
participants with visual information.
2. Pr esentation packages can either supplement or replace the use of older visual aid technology, such
as pamphlets, handouts, chalkboards, flip charts, posters, and slides etc.
3. M any presentation packages come with pre-designed images (clip art) and/ or have the ability to
import graphic images.
4. W ith the growth of digital photography and video, many presentation packages can handle these
types of media to display them in a similar “s lide show” format.
5. The “a dd ons” or plugins for presentation packages can be used to enhance their capabilities.
6. Certain presentation packages can also be used for web conferencing.

l Creating Slides using Text and Images

To start using Po werPo int:
Click S tar t → Al l P rog ram s → Mi c rosof t O f f i c e → Mi c rosof t O f f i c e P ow er P oi n t 207
The Po werPo int window appears as shown in Fig. 2.2.

Fig. 2.22: PowerPoint window

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A placeholder is a location on a slide marked with a border that holds text or an object.

Let us create a new presentation using text and an image.

1. Type the desired text in the title box.
2. To add an image click on Insert tab.
3. Click on the Picture icon in the Illustrations command group.
4. Select the image file you want to insert and then click Insert (see Fig. 2.23) .

Fig. 2.23: Inserting an Image

The selected image will be inserted in the slide. N ow adjust the image position as per your need
(see Fig. 2.24) .

Fig 2.24: Entering Text and an Image in a slide

l Formatting Text and Background

Pr esentation software allows you to apply different formats to different parts of slide. Formatting refers to
the act of changing the appearance of text i.e., changing the way it appears on screen and paper. Formatting
a slide means changing the formats of characters, words, paragraphs of a slide to provide them an effective
look and feel.
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W e can change the appearance of text in a number of ways. W e can change font, size , color, highlight
and other special effects by using Home tab. W e can apply the effects before typing as well as after typing
the text. W e can also change the background of slides using the Design tab.
To format the text and background, perform the following steps:
1. Select the placeholder that contains the text you want to format.
2. Click on the Home tab and select the desired font style and size from the Font command group.
3. Click on Format tab and select the desired text style from WordArt Styles (see Fig. 2.25) .
4. For changing the background of slide, click on the Design tab and select appropriate theme from
Themes command group. The background color can be changed by selecting the Background Styles
from Background command group (see Fig. 2.25) .

Fig. 2.25: Slide after formatting Text and Background

l Inserting and Deleting Slides

To insert a new slide, perform the following steps:
1. Right click on the Slides tab (see Fig. 2.26) .
2. Click on New Slide to insert a new slide. A new slide will be inserted (see Fig. 2.27) .

Fig. 2.26: Inserting a slide Fig. 2.27: Slide after insertion

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To delete a slide, perform the following steps:

1. Right click on the slide you want to delete (see Fig. 2.28) .
2. Click on the Delete Slide option (see Fig. 2.28) . The selected slide will be deleted.

Fig. 2.28: Deleting a Slide

l Presenting a Slide Show

This is the most useful view of Po werPo int. It is used to display the slides in a desired sequence.
In this view the slides are displayed one by one from first slide to the last slide, in full screen mode.
First of all prepare a presentation on any topic of your choice. H ere, we have prepared the presentation
on “E thiopian Treasures” .
To start the Slide Show, perform the following steps:
1. Click Start → All Programs → Microsoft Office → Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.
2. Click on Office Button and select Open.
3. Select the appropriate file name and press Enter key or Double click on the file. The desired file will
be opened.
4. Click the Slide Show tab.
5. Click the From Beginning icon in the Start Slide Show command group (see Fig. 2.29) . Po werPo int
displays the first slide of your presentation.

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Fig. 2.29: Getting ready for presenting a Slide Show

6. Click the mouse or press the space bar to view the next slide.
The slides in the presentation are show below:

Slide 1 Slide 2

Slide 3 Slide 4

Slide 5 Slide 6
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Slide 7
Fig. 2.30: Slide show
7. Pr ess Esc to exit the Slide Show.

l Create a Slide Show using Animation and Sound

Pr esentation Software allows you to add various multimedia effects to the slides and the objects created
on slides. The presentations, you have created so far, contain no animation, timings, sounds and transition
effects. Pr ofessionally designed slide shows contain all these properties to grasp the attention of the
audience.

Applying Animation
To apply animation to your Po werPo int slide, perform the following steps:
1. Open the slide to which you want to apply the animation.
2. Click on the Animations tab and select the desired transition style from the Transition to This Slide
command group (see Fig. 2.31) .

Fig. 2.31: Applying Animation

Y ou can also apply animation to a title, a sub title, and an image in your slide individually by using
Custom Animation from Animations command group (see Fig. 2.32) .

Fig. 2.32: Applying Custom Animation

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3. N ow select the desired effect from Add Effect which you want to apply for a particular image or text.
The selected applied effect is shown in Fig. 2.32.

Applying Sound
Y ou can add sound to the transition effects and to the preset animation. Y ou can also add audio to your
presentation by inserting files from Clip A rt Gallery or from other folder available to you.
Po werPo int can use audio files stored in common formats such as A IFF, M IDI, M P3 and W A V file. If
your audio file is stored in a different file format, such as Real A udio, you will have to convert the file
before you can add it to a Po werPo int presentation.
To add an A udio File, perform the following steps:
1. Select the slide to which you want to put an audio.
2. Open the Insert tab and click on the Sound icon from the Media Clips command group. The Insert
Sound dialog box appears (see Fig. 2.3) .

Fig. 2.33: Inserting Sound

3. Choose the desired sound file you want to add and click OK.

P werPo int displays a dialog box asking whether you want to play the sound automatically or when
o
you click the mouse (see Fig. 2.34) . Choose your option. A horn icon is displayed which means that the
sound has been inserted (see Fig. 2.35) .

Fig. 2.34: Selecting Sound Starting Option Fig. 2.35: Horn Icon

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Sound icon is displayed on your slide. Y ou can move it so that it does not obscure your slide (see
Fig. 2.3 6) .

Fig. 2.36: Slide after Applying Sound

A color scheme defines the font sizes , and color of title, subtitle, bullets and numberings in slide. Y ou can
select a readymade color scheme or you can customize the color scheme as you like.

l Change Slide Layout

The slide layout in Po werPo int is the arrangement of all the items that make up your slide, such as title,
graphics or text boxes.
To change the layout of slide, perform the following steps:
1. Open the presentation.
2. Open the Home tab and click on the Layout button from Slides command group. A pex dialog box
will appear (see Fig. 2.37 ).

Fig. 2.37: Apex dialog box

3. Choose the desired layout style from the list. The selected layout will be applied to the current
slide.

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KEY CONCEPTS
 Presentation software is a tool used to create visual presentations.
 A presentation package helps both: the speaker with an easier access to his/her ideas and the participants
with visual information.
 We can make slides using features such as creating slides, inserting text, formatting text, inserting clipart,
formatting background, inserting slides, deleting slides and inserting images from other files.
 Presenting a slide show is the most useful view of PowerPoint. It is used to display the slides in a desired
sequence.
 The slide layout in PowerPoint is the arrangement of all the items that make up your slide, such as title,
graphics or text boxes.

Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1. Po werPo int is the most widely used ........................... software.
2. Certain presentation packages can also be used for web ........................... .
3. ........................... a slide means changing the formats of characters, words, paragraphs of a slide to provide
them an effective look and feel.
4. Y ou can add ........................... to the transition effects and to the present animation.

State Whether True or False

1. M icrosoft Po werPo int is not a part of M S-Office suite of software.
2. To start using Po werPo int:
Click Start → A ll Pr ograms → M icrosoft Office → M icrosoft Office Po werPo int 207.
3. The slide show cannot display the slides in a desired sequence.
4. W e can change the layout of slide using presentation software.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. M icrosoft Wo rd is a/ an ........................... .
(a) Operating System (b) Database software
(c) Spreadsheet software (d) A pplication software
2. Wh ich of the following is not a feature of word processing?
(a) Spell checker (b) Cell address
(c) Cut and P aste (d) U ndo and Redo
3. ........................... is a presentation software?
(a) M S-W ord (b) M S-Excel
(c) M S-P owerPo int (d) M S-A ccess

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4. Wh ich of the following is/ are included in the slide layout in Po werPo int?
(a) Title (b) Graphics
(c) Text boxes (d) A ll of these

Match the Following

Column A Column B
1. Pr essing B ackspace key (a) Encrypt Document
2. Increase the security of the document (b) Deletes character to the left of the insertion
point
3. Slide Show (c) U sed to apply the animation
4. A nimations tab (d) U sed to display slides in a desired sequence

Answer the Following

1. Wr ite the steps to create a presentation.
2. H ow will you prepare and present a slide show?
3. H ow will you create a presentation using design techniques?
4. Wr ite the steps to change the layout of a slide.

Suggested Activities
1. Explain and demonstrate the slide making features such as creating slides, inserting text, formatting text,
inserting clipart, formatting background, inserting slides, deleting slides and inserting images from other
files.
2. Explain various design techniques such as design templates, animation scheme, color schemes and
adding sound.
3. Each group of students to present their slide shows to the class, giving explanations as necessary,
presentation software, spare paper, magazi nes, newspapers, reference books etc.

Field Trip
Organize a field trip to various historical places in Ethiopia to get useful information and present the slide
shows to the class.

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Unit – 3 Information and Computer Security

Unit 3 INFORMATION AND

COMPUTER SECURITY

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 understand the responsible behaviour in the computer laboratory;
 recognize the nature of computer virus and measure to protect.

3.1 INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SECURITY

Security of information and related computer systems is a big concern for the computer users. So,
the effective methods of protection are required. In this unit, you will learn about information and
computer security.

l Responsible Behaviour in the Computer Lab

A computer laboratory is a special place which contains delicate and expensive equipment (see
Fig. 3 .1 ).

Fig. 3.1: Students working in a computer lab

In order for the computer lab to maintain the equipment and an excellent learning environment you
must behave in a calm manner and not damage any machines or furniture; you must not touch any
electrical connection for any reason.
Y ou need to follow some guidelines for responsible behaviour in the Computer Lab. These are:
1. Students are not allowed in the computer lab unless directly supervised by a computer teacher or
any other staff member.
2. N ever share your password, even with your best friend.

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3. N o gum, eat or drinks in the computer lab, electronic equipment does not like to get wet or
sticky.
4. Listen to directions given by your computer teacher.
5. Review your notes, on-line materials and of course the H ELP option in all programs.
6. Only use the Internet as instructed. Do not click on links that seem suspicious or are offers of “f ree”
anything.
7. Do not use the mouse or keyboard as a toy, that is, do not randomly click on the mouse or hit the
keys on the keyboard without a purpose.
8. Do not change computer preference settings or endeavour to “h ack” into unauthorized areas.
9. A lways use print preview before you print.
10. Take permission from your computer teacher before printing.
1. B efore leaving from the computer lab you should follow these procedures:
(i) Exit any programs you are using. The login screen should be showing on the desktop. Return
supplies (if any).
(ii) Straighten your work area and retrieve your books from the book shelf.
(iii) Log Off/ Turn Off your computer and push in your chair.

Do not give own or another’ s data to anyone. E-mail address should not be given to anyone. A lways
stick to safe on-line behaviour.

Sanctions
It is always expected that students will follow these rules and codes of behaviour; there may be occasions
when sanctions will need to be invoked (called upon), including:
1. Temporary removal from the lesson (time out).
2. A temporary or permanent ban on I n ter n et use or even using the computers in general. (P arents
would usually be informed at this stage.)
3. Wh en necessary, police or local authorities may have to be involved.
4. A dditional disciplinary action may be added in line with existing practice on inappropriate language
or behaviour.

l School ICT Policy

“I nformation and Communication Technology (ICT) prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing
world in which work and other activities are increasingly transformed by access to varied and developing
technology. Pu pils use ICT tools to find, explore, analyze, exchange and present information responsibly,
creatively and with discrimination. They learn how to employ ICT to enable rapid access to ideas and
experiences from a wide range of people, communities and cultures. Increased capability in the use of ICT
promotes initiative and independent learning; with pupils being able to make informed judgements about
when and where to use ICT to best effect, and consider its implications for home and work both now and
in the future.”

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Table 3.1 gives some responsibilities of the schools relating to ICT, which need to be allocated.
Table 3.1: Some Responsibilities Relating to ICT
M anaging the implementation of ICT policy Ensuring safe on-line behaviour
Ensuring staff access to ICT A ssessment of students
Ensuring attitude towards ICT Overseeing equipment maintenance
Ensuring ICT progression H ealth and safety policy and practice
Pu rchasing/ organizi ng ICT resources Reviewing the ICT policy

The following points must be included for implementing the ICT policy:
1. H ow does the school ensure that all students have opportunities to use ICT according to their
needs?
2. H ow does ICT help to give students with special educational needs access to the whole
curriculum?
3. H ow does ICT support gifted students?
4. H ow is the gender issue handled?
5. Wh at account is taken of pupils’ use of ICT at home?

A ll pupils should be given equal access to ICT within the school with appropriate arrangements being
made to support individual needs, when and where necessary.

Developing a school ICT policy

The school ICT policy means the rules prepared by the school to use ICT. The ideas given here should
be adapted to ensure that the policy is appropriate and relevant for your school. Wh en deciding on the
school’ s aims for ICT, internal, local and national factors should be considered.
The school’ s overall aim for ICT is to enrich learning for
all students. The school management must ensure that ICT
Co-ordinator and computer teachers develop confidence and
competence to use ICT as a tool aiding effective teaching across
the curriculum (see Fig. 3 .2) .
The school ICT policy must identify the important issues
and guide the students to live with it. Some of these include:
1. A statement defining ICT capability.
2. The aims for ICT in the school.
3. Guidance on record-keeping, assessment. Fig. 3.2: ICT Co-ordinator addressing the
4. Guidance on health and safety. students about ICT policy
5. Specific rules for the use of Internet and E-mail.
6. Statement of the school’ s position on copyright, data protection.
7. Information regarding maintenance/ repair/ viruses.
8. Date for review.

The day-to-day organizat ion procedures, guidance, rules and other operational matters should be placed
in a school handbook.
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STUDENT’S ACCEPTANCE OF THE SCHOOL’S ICT POLICY

Please complete and return this form to the ICT Co-ordinator or Computer Teacher.
Student’s agreement:
I have read and understood the school rules for ICT policy. I will use the computer systems
and Internet in a responsible way and obey these rules at all times.
I understand that if I break these rules then I may not be allowed to use the Computer
Lab.

Student’ s signature _ Date _/ _/ _

Parent’s/Guardian’s Acknowledgement:
I have read and understood the school rules for ICT policy and give permission for my son/
daughter to live with it. I understand that the school will take all reasonable precautions
to ensure that students cannot access inappropriate materials, although I understand that
the school cannot accept liability for the material accessed, or any consequences of Internet
access.

P arent’ s/ Guardian’ s signature _ Date _/ _/ _

N ame of Student _ _ _
Grade _

l Nature of Computer Viruses

Computer viruses are software programs like other applications. B ut they get attached with the general
applications and use their setup or .exe file to get installed on the computer system. Computer viruses are
proving to be main cause of crashing computer system. To solve or remove viruses from computer, install
any updated A nti-V irus software on your PC and perform a system scan.
Let us focus on the nature, recovery and prevention of computer viruses.

Computer Viruses
A computer virus is a malicious program that is designed to corrupt or
delete the information stored in the computer. Y ou will know if you have a
computer virus very quickly, because nothing will function as it should. If
other computers are connected to this computer by network or e-mail, the
virus can be spread very quickly because the virus replicates itself to enter and Fig. 3.3: Computer virus can
infect these computers (see Fig. 3.3) . create problems on computer

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These viruses do basically three types of damage to the computer it affects:

1. First is Trojans or worms which are designed to steal important personal information such as your
ID’ s, passwords, account numbers, and other personal information found on your computer.
2. Second type is designed to gain access to your machine and then hijack it. Once it has control of
the affected computer a hacker can use it for malicious purposes or as a spam machine to send
thousands of unwanted e-mails.
3. Third type is sometimes referred to as macro viruses. This type of virus is designed so they can
delete or overwrite the system or data files on the affected computer. This causes the computer to
crash and become unbootable or non-operable. M any of the computers that get this type of virus
have a crashed hard drive which is not repairable and all your data is lost permanently.

Computer V iruses are spread through transportable secondary storage devices and networks.

M ase ures P rotec t

The best way to protect computer viruses is installing antivirus software. An ti v i rus software consists of
computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious
software (malware).
Good antivirus software comes with features like a built-in firewall and usually offers an access to
online data backup. This antivirus software has the option to deactivate the malicious viruses.
F i rew al l s are systems which help protect computers and computer networks from attack and subsequent
intrusion (see Fig. 3.4) .

Fig. 3.4: Firewall

The antivirus software protects your computer from virus attacks in three main ways:
1. The first way is prevention which involves detecting and eliminating new viruses from your
computer. They get the latest virus definitions from their server so they know what to look for and
protect against.
2. The second way is cleaning infected computers. This involves detection and extermination of the
virus, along with repairing the damaged files.
3. The third way is protecting your computer by monitoring e-mails, downloads and protection while
Internet surfing i.e., on-line. The antivirus regularly scans the computer or a preset scheduler to keep
your computer virus free.

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 Unit – 3 Information and Computer Security

Figure 3.5 illustrates N orton and Q uick H eal antivirus:

Fig. 3.5: Norton and Quick Heal Antivirus

A s mentioned earlier antivirus software is very effective in finding and deleting harmful computer
viruses. The computer users should follow these safety rules to protect against viruses:
1. Do not open unsolicited e-mails.
2. N ever download an attachment to an e-mail without scanning it for viruses first.
3. M ake sure you also use a firewall.
4. Do not download free software or music.
5. Do not use free antivirus software.
6. Search on Internet for antivirus reviews and research yourself for best antivirus software.
M icrosoft M alicious Software Removal Tool protects your system from Computer V iruses. Y ou can
download and install this software from official website of M icrosoft. This software is compatible with
W indows 7, V ista, X P and W indows server 203. A t the end of the process, you will get a thorough
report about any malicious software that have been detected and removed.
Turn on A utomatic updates on your system and then perform the following:
Click S tar t → C on trol P an el → S y stem → Autom at i c U p d at es

Activity 3.1
RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR IN THE COMPUTER LABORATORY
In small groups students will discuss “Responsible Behaviour in the Computer Laboratory”. The group leader
from each group will give a brief presentation to the class based on the discussions.
Computer Laboratory
A computer laboratory is a special place which contains delicate and expensive equipment.

Fig. 3.6: Computer laboratory

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To keep your computer laboratory and computers in proper working condition, it is necessary to behave in a
calm manner and not damage any machines or furniture. You must not touch any electrical connections for
any reason.
Points to be borne in mind while working in the computer laboratory:


Do’s
1. Sit properly and behave in a calm manner.

Fig. 3.7: Responsible behave in computer lab

2. Only use the Internet as instructed.
3. Ensure that the power switch on the system unit, monitor and printer are in the OFF position before
switching off the mains.


Do nots
1. Do not shout.

Fig. 3.8: Shouting is not allowed

2. Do not damage any machines or furniture.

Fig. 3.9: Damaging is not allowed

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3. Do not allow eating or drinking near the computer.

4. Do not touch any electrical connections.

Fig. 3.10: Touching an electrical connection can be very dangerous

5. Never share your password, even with your best friend.
Always remember that responsible behaviour in the computer laboratory will help you in the ICT field
forever.

KEY CONCEPTS
 Security of information and related computer systems is a big concern for the computer users.
 Computer laboratory contains delicate and expensive equipment.
 In computer lab; students must behave in a calm manner and not damage any machines or furniture; they
must not touch any electrical connections for any reason.
 School ICT policy means rules prepared by the school and students must live with it.
 Computer viruses are software programs which are proving to be main cause of crashing computer system.
The best way to protect computer viruses is installing antivirus software.

Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1. Computer laboratory contains ........................... and ........................... equipment.
2. In computer laboratory, the students must not touch any ........................... connections for any reason.
3. A ........................... is a malicious program that is designed to corrupt or delete the information stored in
the computer.
4. The ........................... software protects your computer from virus attacks.

State Whether True or False

1. Security of information and computer systems is not a big concern for the computer users.
2. Students must have safe on-line behaviour.
3. Students may or may not live with school ICT policy.
4. Computer virus is never harmful to your computer.

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Multiple Choice Questions

1. Wh ich of the following is/ are included in the responsible behavior in the Computer Lab?
(a) N ever share your password, even with your best friend
(b) Listen to directions given by your computer teacher
(c) Only use the Internet as instructed
(d) A ll of these
2. Wh ich of the following must be included for implementing the school ICT policy?
(a) A ll pupils have equal access to ICT according to their needs
(b) Gender issue not handled
(c) N o support for gifted students
(d) A ssessment of students not required
3. Wh ich of the following is not an antivirus?
(a) N orton (b) Spamming (c) A vast (d) A V G
4. Wh ich of the following is not a safety rule to protect against viruses?
(a) Do not open unsolicited e-mails
(b) N ever download an attachment to an e-mail without scanning it for viruses first
(c) N ever use a firewall
(d) Do not download free software or music

Match the Following

Column A Column B
1. Information and computer security (a) A ntivirus
2. Computer Lab (b) A big concern for the computer users
3. School ICT policy (c) A place where students must behave in a calm manner
4. Q uick H eal (d) Rules prepared by the school and students must live
with it

Answer the Following

1. Explain about the responsible behaviour in the computer laboratory.
2. Wh at is safe on-line behaviour? Explain.
3. Wh at is school ICT policy? Explain.
4. Describe computer virus and the measure to protect computer virus.

Suggested Activities
1. Explain and demonstrate school ICT policy.
2. Discuss what a computer virus can do to a computer system and demonstrate the measure to protect
the computer.

Field Trip
Students should visit some big educational organizat ion in their city. Interact with faculties there and
prepare a report on “I nformation and Computer Security”. Discuss it in the class also.
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 Unit – 4 Application Software

Unit 4 APPLICATION
SOFTWARE

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 recognize the uses of spreadsheets;
 understand the screen elements in the spreadsheet window;
 recognize how to create and use simple spreadsheet using text and numbers;
 understand how to format worksheets;
 recognize to use built in functions and create custom formula.

4.1 SPREADSHEETS

l Introduction
A spreadsheet is a document which helps you organiz e data in rows and columns that intersect to
form cells.
The electronic spreadsheet is the brain child of Dan Bricklin and Bob Franktor. B ehind the invention
of first electronic worksheet VisiCalc (V isible Calculator) was this duo. Bricklin, a H arvard B usiness
school student, got the idea of V isiCalc while spending hours manually to solve financial-planning
problems.

Purpose of a Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet package is a numeric data analysis tool, which not only allows us to quickly calculate
and analyse numbers, but also lets us quickly explore a variety of possible outcomes. The spreadsheet
allows users to create tables and financial schedules by entering data and formulae into rows and columns
arranged as a grid on a display screen. Some examples of spreadsheets are M icrosoft Excel, Corel
Q uattro Pr o, OpenOffice Calc, Google Spreadsheets, Lotus-1 2 3 etc.

l Starting Spreadsheets
M S-Excel 2 0 0 7 is a GU I based spreadsheet package that is part of M icrosoft Office 2 0 0 7 suite of
software. It is a powerful spreadsheet package that supports data of various formats, pictures,
graphs and drawing objects. There are 1 ,0 4 8 ,5 7 6 rows and 1 6 ,3 8 4 columns in an Excel worksheet.
It has got many user friendly features that makes it the first choice of its users.
Suppose you are having M S-Excel 2 0 0 7 installed on your computer. To start M S-Excel 2 0 0 7
perform the following:
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Double-click on the M S-Excel 2 0 0 7 icon on the desktop.

OR
Click S ta rt → Al l P rog ra m s → M i c rosof t O f f i c e → M i c rosof t O f f i c e E x c e l 2 0 0 7 (see Fig. 4 .1 ).

Fig. 4.1: Starting MS-Excel 2007

l Screen Elements of Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet is a collection of rows and columns. It is also known as a worksheet. A worksheet
is a primary document to store data.
On starting spreadsheet i.e., M S-Excel 2 0 0 7 , a spreadsheet window appears. Screen elements of
Excel spreadsheet are shown in Fig. 4 .2 .

Fig. 4.2: Screen elements of Spreadsheet-Excel 2007

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Some important screen elements are discussed below:

O f f i c e B utton : Clicking on the Office B utton displays a drop down menu containing a number
of options, such as N ew, Open, Save, and Pr int. The options in the Office B utton menu are very
similar to those found under the File menu in previous versions of Excel.
T i tl e B a r: This shows the name of the workbook (a collection of worksheets).
Q ui c k Ac c e ss T ool b a r: This customiz able toolbar allows you to add frequently used commands.
Click on the down arrow at the end of the toolbar to display the toolbar’ s options.
F orm ul a B a r: Located above the worksheet, this area displays the contents of the active cell. It can
also be used for entering or editing data and formulas in the active cell.
N a m e B ox : Located on the left of the formula bar, the N ame B ox displays the cell reference or
the name of the active cell.
R i b b on : The Ribbon is the strip of buttons and icons located above the work area in Excel 2 0 0 7 .
The Ribbon replaces the menus and toolbars found in earlier versions of Excel.
S he e t T a b : Switching between worksheets in an Excel 2 0 0 7 file is done by clicking on the sheet
tab at the bottom of the screen.
S ta tus B a r: This shows the status of the active worksheet.
W ork she e t: This stores the data.
Ac ti v e C e l l : It is the cell with the black outline. Data is always entered into the active cell. The
cell address is (column letter, row number)
1 . There are screen similarities between M S-Excel, M S-W ord and other M S products. The
main differences in a spreadsheet are:
(i) the formula bar which is used for operations on cells such as calculations
(ii) the working area
2 . Formula bar is only present in Excel. M S-Excel 2 0 0 7 has panels in place of menus available
in earlier versions of Excel.

l Create and Use a Simple Spreadsheet

Creating a Worksheet
To create a worksheet, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click the New option (see Fig. 4.3) .

Fig. 4.3: Selecting new option

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3. Double click the Blank Workbook or click on the Create button (see Fig. 4 .4) .

Fig. 4.4: Double clicking the blank workbook

A new worksheet is created (see Fig. 4.5) .

Fig. 4.5: A newly created worksheet

Cells are the basic working unit on a spreadsheet. These fall at the intersection of each column and row.
They are referred to by their coordinates, or cell address. A cell’ s address is its column letter followed by
its row number i.e., (column letter, row number). For example, the address of the cell at the intersection of
column A and row 1 is cell A 1 as shown in Fig. 4.5. It is also the active cell.

Using a Spreadsheet
Each cell in a spreadsheet can contain words, a number, or a formula. Data is always entered in the active cell
and at one time only one cell can be active. N ow, you can use the spreadsheet as per your requirement.
F i l l H a n d l e is a small black dot or square in the bottom right corner of the active cell. The fill handle
has a number of uses including copying a cell’ s contents to adjacent cells or to create a series.
If Excel recognizes the cell contents as part of a series it will Auto Fill other selected cells with the next
items in the series. U se the fill handle by clicking on it with the mouse pointer to drag select adjacent
cells.

l Entering and Editing Text

Entering Data
To enter data,
1. Select the cell where the data has to be added.
2. Type the data. To enter data in active cell, type the characters. Either press Tab key to go to the next
cell in the same row or press Enter key to go to the next cell in the same column.
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A fter entering the data, the worksheet may look as shown in Fig. 4.6.

Fig. 4.6: Entering data in a worksheet

D rag S le ec t is a method used to select a range of cells. To do so, click on a cell with the left mouse
button and, without releasing the button drag the pointer over a block of cells. Release the mouse
button once the correct block, or range of cells has been selected.

Editing Data
To edit data (in case we have made mistakes or some changes are required),
1. Double-click the cell, which has to be edited.
2. U se the arrow key if necessary then press B ackspace or Delete key to edit the content of the cell.
3. Pr ess the Enter key.
OR
1. Select the cell, which needs to be edited.
2. Click the Formula bar.
3. U se the B ackspace or Delete key to edit the content of the cell.
4. Pr ess the Enter key.

Formatting Spreadsheet
Formatting refers to the act of changing the appearance of data in cells. Data in M S-Excel can be grouped
into two broad categories: text and numbers. Different formatting options are available for these two
categories of data. Excel allows many formats for numeric data, for example, general number, positive
number, decimal number and its precision, currency etc.
For textual data, Excel allows you to change fonts, colors, sizes and other features. Excel has a complete
dialog box for formatting cells.

I n ser ti n g C ol um n s, R ow s an d C el l s
M S-Excel 207 provides an easy way to insert columns, rows or cells.
To insert a column,
1. Open an existing worksheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) . Select the cell before which you want to insert the
column.
2. Select the Insert Sheet Columns option from Insert available in Cells panel of H ome tab (see
Fig. 4.7 ).
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Fig. 4.7: Inserting a column

3. On clicking, a column will be inserted (see Fig. 4.8) .

Fig. 4.8: Worksheet after inserting a column

To insert a row,
1. Open an existing worksheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) . Select the cell before which you want to insert the
row.
2. Select the Insert Sheet Rows option from Insert available in Cells panel of H ome tab (see Fig. 4.9) .

Fig. 4.9: Inserting a row

3. On clicking, a row will be inserted above the active cell (see Fig. 4.10) .

Fig. 4.10: Worksheet after inserting a row

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To insert a cell,
1. Open an existing spreadsheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) .
2. Select the Insert Cells... option from Insert available in Cells panel of H ome tab (see Fig. 4 .1 1 ).

Fig. 4.11: Inserting a cell

3. On clicking, an Insert dialog box appears. The dialog box has 4 options out of which 2 are Shift cells
right and Shift cells down. The Shift cells right option shifts the data of the selected cell and all cells
to the right of the selected cell one position right. The Shift cells down option shifts the data of the
selected cell and all the data of the cell below the selected cell one position down. Select the desired
option (see Fig. 4.12) . H ere, we select the Shift cells down option.

Fig. 4.12: Insert dialog box

4. Click OK.
5. A cell will be inserted at the applied location (see Fig. 4.13)

Fig. 4.13: Worksheet after inserting a cell

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D el te i n g C ol um n s, R ow s an d C el l s
M S-Excel 207 provides an easy way to delete columns, rows or cells.
To delete a column,
1. Open an existing worksheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) .
2. Select the column to be deleted.
3. On right clicking the selected column, a shortcut menu appears.
4. Select the Delete option from the shortcut menu (see Fig. 4.14) .

Fig. 4.14: Deleting a column

.5 On clicking, the selected column will be deleted.
To delete a row,
1. Open an existing worksheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) .
2. Select the row to be deleted.
3. On right clicking the selected row, a shortcut menu appears.
4. Select the Delete option from the shortcut menu (see Fig. 4.15) .

Fig. 4.15: Deleting a row

5. On clicking, the selected row will be deleted.
To delete a cell,
1. Open an existing worksheet (refer to Fig. 4.6) .
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2. Select the cell to be deleted.

3. Select the Delete Cells... option from Delete available in Cells panel of H ome tab (see Fig. 4.1 6) .

Fig. 4.16: Deleting a cell

4. On clicking, a Delete dialog box appears. The dialog box has 4 options
out of which 2 are Shift cells left and Shift cells up. The Shift cells left option
deletes the data of the selected cell and moves the data of the cells to its
right one position left. The Shift cells up option deletes the data of the
selected cell and moves the data of the cells below it one position up.
Select the desired option (see Fig. 4.17) . H ere, we select the Shift cells up
option.
5. Click OK .
Fig. 4.17: Delete dialog box
6. The selected cell will be deleted.

l Saving the Worksheet

For saving a worksheet the first time,
1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click the Save As option.
3. Click the Excel Workbook option. A Save As dialog box appears (see Fig. 4.18) .

Fig. 4.18: Saving a worksheet

4. Identify the location where the file to be saved and type the name for the worksheet in the File name
textbox.
5. Click the Save button.
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l Using the Four Mathematical Operators on Data to Create Custom Formula

Formula
A spreadsheet formula is a simple expression created by using operators and cell addresses using
algebra.
In M S-Excel, you can enter numbers and mathematical formulas into cells. Wh ether you enter a number
or a formula, you can reference the cell when you perform mathematical calculations such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, or division. Wh en entering a mathematical formula, precede with an equal
(=) sign. U se the following four mathematical operators to indicate the type of calculation you wish to
perform:
+ A ddition
– Subtraction
* M ultiplication
/ Division
For example, = A 2 + A 3 can be typed in cell A 5 (where cells A 2 and A 3 have data to be added).

l Addition
For addition, perform the following steps:
1. Create a new worksheet.
2. Type Add in cell A 1. Pr ess Enter key.
3. Type 2 in cell A 2. Pr ess Enter key.
4. Type 3 in cell A 3. Pr ess Enter key.
5. Type = A 2 + A 3 in cell A 5.
6. Click the check mark on the Formula bar. Excel adds cell A 1 to cell A 2 and displays the result in
cell A 5. The formula is displayed on the Formula bar (see Fig. 4.19)

Fig. 4.19: Performing mathematical calculations

Clicking the check mark on the Formula bar is similar to pressing Enter key. Excel records your entry
but does not move to the next cell.
Similarly, you can subtract, multiply and divide the data by using the proper operators (see Fig. 4 .1 9).
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l Sum (dragging)
To find sum by dragging method, perform the following steps:
1. Type your data and apply sum formula in a cell where you wish to store the result.
2. Select the cell with the sum formula.
3. A ctivate the formula drag corner. To drag a formula you can easily do so by using the cursor to
highlight the lower right corner of the cell, where a drag box will appear.
4. Drag the formula to the new cells. To drag the sum formula across the span of other cells, left-click
on this drag box and hold as you drag the box to highlight new cells. Wh en you let go off the mouse
button, the formula will appear in all of the cells that you highlighted when you used the drag box
(see Fig. 4.20) .

Fig. 4.20: Sum by dragging

5. On pressing Enter key you will get the result (see Fig. 4.21) .

Fig. 4.21: Result after dragging

l Entering a Formula into a Cell

A s explained earlier, entering a formula is as simple as the other commands of Excel. To enter the formula
in a cell, click on the cell in which you want to have result of the calculation. Type = sign and write the
formula using cell addresses and the operators supported by Excel.

Function
Afunction is a built-in formula that performs calculations on a range of values. It allows you to perform
mathematical, statistical and date-time functions. For example, Sum, A verage, Count, M ax, M in etc.
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The syntax of writing a function in Excel is:

= <F unction name>( <L ist of arguments>)
The following examples illustrate the use of functions:
= SU M (A 2:E 2) will find the sum (total) of numbers
= A V ERA GE(A 2:E 2) will find the average of numbers
Figure 4.2 uses these built-in functions to calculate the total and average.

Fig. 4.22: Using built-in functions

T he Auto S um F eat ure is used to calculate the sum of the values in a range of cells. This feature adds
the range of values either above the destination or in the row to the left of the destination cell.
Click on S A utoSum in Formulas tab to use this feature.

l Copying by Using the Fill Handle

U sing the fill handle, located in the bottom right corner of the active cell is a quick and easy method of
copying data, formulas, and functions from one cell to another.
To copy data with the fill handle, perform the following steps:
1. Open a worksheet and type data in it. H ere, we have typed Ethiopia in cell A 1.
2. Click on cell A 1 to make it the active cell.

Fig. 4.23: Using fill handle for copying after applying bold to a cell
3. A dd bold formatting (Ctrl + B) to the data in cell A 1.
4. P lace the mouse pointer over the small black dot in the bottom right corner of cell A 1.
5. The mouse pointer will change to a small plus sign(+ ) when you have it over the fill handle.
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6. h W en the mouse pointer changes to the plus sign, click and hold down the mouse button.
7. Drag the fill handle to cell A 7 to copy the data and the bold formatting to cells A 2 , A 3, A 4, A 5, A 6
and A 7 (see Fig. 4.23) .
8. Cells A 1 to A 7 now all contain the bold formatted data Ethiopia (see Fig. 4.24) .

Fig. 4.24: Worksheet after copying

Similarly, you can copy formulas with the fill handle.

Copying formulas to other cells only works if the formula is created using cell references.

Activity 4.1
ADDING BACKGROUND TO A WORKSHEET, FORMATTING CELLS, NUMBERS, ALIGNMENT, FONT,
BORDERS AND PATTERN
In small groups students will discuss “Formatting of Worksheet” to make screen displays more readable and
attractive.
For formatting a worksheet, perform the following steps:
1. Open a worksheet.
2. Type the data you wish to format (see Fig. 4.25).

Fig. 4.25: Worksheet to be formatted

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3. Now apply the formatting required i.e., Adding background, Formatting cells, Numbers, Alignment, Font,
Borders and Pattern. Doesn’t the worksheet look really attractive! (see Fig. 4.26).

Fig. 4.26: Worksheet after formatting

KEY CONCEPTS
 A spreadsheet is a document which helps you organize data in rows and columns that intersect to form
cells.
 In a spreadsheet each cell can contain words, a number, or a formula.
 Some examples of spreadsheets are Microsoft Excel, Corel Quattro Pro, OpenOffice Calc, Google Spreadsheets
and Lotus–123 etc.
 MS-Excel has screen similarities with MS-Word and other MS products; main differences in a spreadsheet
are
(i) the formula bar which is used for operations on cells such as calculations
(ii) the working area.
 A function is a built-in formula that performs calculations on a range of values. Some examples of functions
are Sum, Average, Count, Max, Min.

Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1 . ........................... is a GU I based spreadsheet package that is a part of M S-Office 207 suite of software.
2. In Excel, Title B ar shows the name of the ........................... .
3. The ........................... is a small black dot or square in the bottom right corner of the active cell.
4. In M S-Excel, we can use some ........................... to calculate totals and averages.

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State Whether True or False

1. The electronic spreadsheet is the brain child of Dan B ricklin and B ob Franktor.
2. In a spreadsheet each cell cannot contain words, a number, or a formula.
3. In M S-Excel, we can adjust either freehand or using Cells panel of Home tab to insert rows and columns
and delete rows and columns.
4. In M S-Excel we cannot apply different effects to a cell and its contents.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. W hich of the following is application software?
(a) Operating System (b) Compiler (c) Interpreter (d) M S-Excel
2. Wh ich of the following is the basic unit of data entry in M S-Excel?
(a) Wo rksheet (b) Wo rkbook (c) Cell (d) Row
3. Wh ich of the following is only found in M S-Excel?
(a) Formula B ar (b) Q uick A ccess Toolbar (c) Office B utton (d) Format P ainter
4. Wh ich of the following function will you use to calculate the average of data range?
(a) SU M ( ) (b) A V ERA GE( ) (c) M A X ( ) (d) M IN ( )

Match the Following

Column A Column B
1. M S-Excel 207 worksheet (a) A dds all the numbers in a range of cells
2. Formula bar (b) U sed to copy a cell’ s contents to adjacent cells or
to create a series
3. Fill handle (c) Contains 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns
4. SU M ( ) function (d) Displays the contents of the active cell

Answer the Following

1. Wh at is a spreadsheet? Give its purpose and examples.
2. H ow will you create and save worksheet in M S-Excel? Explain the steps.
3. Explain the insertion and deletion of columns, rows and cells in Excel.
4. Wh at are built-in functions in Excel? Explain SU M and A V ERA GE functions.

Suggested Activities
1. Explain and demonstrate the features of spreadsheet.
2. Explain and demonstrate how to calculate sum(total) using auto sum.
3. Explain and demonstrate formatting text and numbers in a cell.
4. Explain and demonstrate cell reference: A bsolute and Relative.

Field Trip
U sing the Internet or computer magazi nes, look up information on M S-Excel 201. List any features you
find. List which of these features appeal to you and describe why they do.

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Unit – 5 Using Internet

Unit 5 USING INTERNET

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 understand the Internet as a global network;
 recognize the meaning of some basic terms related to the Internet;
 recognize the work with a search engine to search for items;
 understand hotspots and hyperlinks;
 comprehend the meaning of some common e-mail terms.

5.1 USING INTERNET

A computer network is defined as an interconnected collection of computers. A network can either
be a small group of two or more computers linked together or a high-end network that links
hundreds or even millions of computers across the globe. Internet is a vast ocean of information. It
is very useful network. Y ou will study about the Internet in this unit.

l Definition of Internet
Internet is the network that is available to users across the globe (see Fig. 5 .1 ). It is called “ the mother
of all networks” .
OR
Internet is the network that contains other networks of computers around the globe into one
seamless network (see Fig. 5 .1 ). These networks link educational, commercial, nonprofit and military
entities, as well as individuals.

Fig. 5.1: Internet—the mother of all networks

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l Uses and Services Available on the Internet

The major use of Internet is for searching the information stored in millions of computers of the
Internet. W hether you are a doctor, an engineer, teacher, student or businessman; the Internet can
keep you update about the latest issues in your field and the past issues already occurred. Y ou can
search for the information, take part in on-line test, audio or video conversation or you can share
the information with the other users of the Internet.
The Internet has given a boom to ‘ Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’ . Today
the world of the Internet permits services hardly imaginable 2 0 years ago. Table 5 .1 provides the
uses and services provided on the Internet.
Table 5.1: The Main Uses and Services Provided on Internet
Activity Purpose

A uctions Sell old stuff, acquire more stuff, with online auctions.

Career advancement Search job listings, post resumes, interview online.

Distance learning A ttend online lectures, have discussions, research papers.

Download files Get software, music, and documents such as e-books.

E-mail and discussion groups Stay in touch worldwide through electronic mail and online chat rooms.

Entertainment A muse yourself with Internet games, music and videos.

E-business Connect with coworkers, buy supplies, support customers.

E-shopping Pr ice anything from plane tickets to cars, order anything from books to
sofas.

Financial matters Do investing, banking and bill paying online.

N ews Stay current on politics, weather, entertainment, sports and financial

news.

Research and information Find information on any subject, using browsers and search tools.

Telephony and conferencing M ake inexpensive phone calls; have online meetings.

Wh o G ov er n s the I n ter n et ?
Y ou will be surprised to know that there is no one who owns or runs the Internet. Every subnetwork
of Internet is responsible for maintenance of its own part and does not bother about the other one.
The Internet is coordinated by many volunteer organisations and no single organisation is having the
complete control over it.

l Terms
Wo rld W ide W eb (WW) is a set of programs, standards and protocols that allows the text, images,
animations, sounds, videos to be stored and accessed and linked together in the form of websites. B asically,
W is a collection of millions of web pages stored in thousands of computers all over the world. It is a
safe house for storing information on the Internet.

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Fig. 5.2: Web inventor: Tim Berners-Lee

Remember that the Internet and the Wo rld W ide W eb are not the same thing. The Internet is a massive
network of networks, connecting millions of computers via protocols, hardware, and communications
channels. The W eb is a means of accessing information available on the Internet using software called a
browser.
Let us discuss some of the important terms associated with W:

Website
A computer with a domain name is called a website (site). The top-level domains are .com, .edu, .org, and
.net. Wh en you decide to buy books at the online site of a bookseller, you would visit its website. The
website is the location of a web domain name in a computer somewhere on the Internet.
Each website has a unique address.

Web Page
A website is composed of a web page or collection of related web pages. A web page is a document on the
Wo rld W ide W eb that can include text, pictures, sound and video. The first page you see on a website
is like the title page of a book. This is the home page, or welcome page, which identifies the website and
contains links to other pages at the site.
If you have your own personal website, it might consist of just one page—t he home page. Large websites
have many pages.
The contents of home pages often change. Or they may disappear, and so the connecting links to them
in other web pages become links to nowhere.

Browser
B rowsers are software for connecting with websites. A web browser, or simply browser, is software that
enables users to locate and view web pages and to jump from one page to another. It is what you use to
get around the web. A web browser makes it easy to navigate (or “s urf” ) the web and to download items.
For example, Internet Explorer, M ozi lla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.

l Types of Browsers Software

To use the W eb, the software you use is a browser. This is an intensely competitive field right now and browsers
are undergoing very rapid changes. Some are independent software programs such as those developed by
M icrosoft and M oz illa. Others are integrated into application programs such as word processing programs,
spreadsheets and databases.
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Some of the best-known browsers are:

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is one of the most popular web browsers (see Fig. 5.3) .

Fig. 5.3: Internet Explorer

Mozilla Firefox
M ozi lla Firefox browser is coming up very fast i.e., its users are increasing everyday (see Fig. 5.4) .

Fig. 5.4: Mozilla Firefox browser

Google Chrome
Google Chrome is providing a tough fight to other web browsers and is very popular among users (see
Fig. 5.5) .
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Fig. 5.5: Google Chrome

l Screen Elements of Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (IE) is one of the most popular web browsers. B efore you can use IE to browse the web,
you must be connected to the Internet. Wh en you are connected to the Internet, you are said to be online.
There are three ways to start Internet Explorer:
1. Choose Start, A ll Pr ograms, Internet Explorer.
2. Click the Internet Explorer icon on the Q uick Launch bar (on the taskbar).
3. Double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop.
Figure 5.6 shows some screen elements of Internet Explorer.
W h en IE opens, you will see the browser interface that contains the standard W indows components: a
title bar, a menu bar, a content window and a status bar. It also includes a Standard toolbar and Address bar
similar to those in the W indows Explorer and M y Computer windows.

Fig. 5.6: Internet Explorer browser window

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In addition to the Standard toolbar and the A ddress bar, IE also includes a Links bar and a Radio
toolbar. Like the toolbars in other W indows programs, you can show, hide, size and arrange the IE toolbars
to suit your work style.

Address Bar
The Address bar indicates the location of the W eb page currently displayed in the content window
(see Fig. 5.7) . This location is also known as Uniform Resource Locator (U RL). Y ou can think of a U RL as
the Internet address of a web page. The A ddress bar also provides a drop-down list of the recently visited
sites.

Fig. 5.7: Address bar

To access a web page, you can type its U RL in the A ddress bar and, then, click the GO button (or press
the Enter key).

Standard Toolbar
The Standard toolbar provides buttons to facilitate navigation, searching, printing and other common tasks.
Y ou can customise this toolbar to include other buttons—s uch as cut, copy and paste—an d you can delete
any of the default buttons that you do not commonly use. Figure 5.8 shows the Standard toolbar.

Fig. 5.8: Standard toolbar

History
The history list allows you to quickly return to the page you have recently visited. If you want to return to
a previously viewed site using Internet Explorer, click on History.

Favorites
One great helper for finding your way is the favorite system, which lets you store the U RL or web pages
you frequently visit so that you do not have to remember and retype your favorite address.
If you are at a website you may want to visit again, you click on your Favorites (in Internet Explorer)
button and choose Add to Favorites. Later, to revisit the site, you can go to the Favorites menu, and site will
reappear.

l Using Internet
To connect to the Internet, we have to connect our computer to the computer server of Internet Service
Pr ovider (ISP) . ISP’ s are companies which provide Internet related services to its users. ISP’ s have special
computers called Internet Servers which are connected to the Internet from one end and to several users from
the other end. These servers work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide services to their customers.
Y ou must follow the rules and regulations in the use of Internet (netiquette). In general, netiquette has two
basic rules:
1. Do not waste people’ s time, and
2. Do not say anything to a person online that you would not say to his/ her face.
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l Browsing Information
The words “B row si n g ” or “S urf i n g ” are used to describe the process of looking at documents, websites
and web pages on the Internet. A s mentioned earlier you will need to use a W eb B rowser for this. M any
people will use Internet Explorer, which is the M icrosoft B rowser that is supplied with most PC s, but there
are alternative (some say better) solutions such as Firefox and Google Chrome.
B row si n g b eh av i our differs from person to person. To access a website you can either type the domain
name (the website address) of the website directly into the address bar or you can use a search engine to
search for the site using the business name or some other keywords that you know can be found on the
website.

l Saving Document
A fter browsing information, it can be saved for future use. For saving a document, perform the following
steps:
1. Click on the File menu.
2. Select the Save Page As (Ctrl + S) option (see Fig. 5.9) .

Fig. 5.9: Saving document

3. The Save As dialog box will appear.
4. Identify the location where the file to be saved and enter the file name and click Save.

l Saving Images
A fter getting the images, perform the following steps to save these:
1. Right click on the image.
2. A menu appears (see Fig. 5.10) .

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Fig. 5.10: Saving images

3. Select the Save Image As option.
4. The Save Image dialog box will appear.
5. Enter the file name and click Save.

l Printing Documents
For printing a document, perform the following steps:
1. Click on the File menu.
2. Select the Print (Ctrl + P) option (see Fig. 5.1) .

Fig. 5.11: Printing document

3. The Print dialog box will appear.
4. Fill the desired options and click OK.
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l Searching Information
In order to help you locate information easily, there are a number of websites on the Internet that provide
a search engine (a program that helps to locate information on the Internet). Let us have look at a search
engine and use it to locate information. First, let us go to the side http:/ / www.google.com/ , which offers a
search engine.
In the space provided for the search, you need to enter the word or words that describe the item you
wish to search for, specify if you want the search to be based on the Wo rld W ide W eb or Ethiopia tourism
(see Fig. 5.12) and then press Enter key.

Fig. 5.12: Searching information using Google search engine

The result of the search, will be displayed as a list that contains the required information with a short
description of each site (see Fig. .5 13) .

Fig. 5.13: Search Results

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The names of the websites are links; you can click them to access the requried page. N ow, go ahead
and find the required information.
H yperlinks enable you to navigate the W eb by clicking words, icons, pictures or other graphics on
a web page. Wh en you point to a hyperlink, your mouse pointer changes to a pointing hand. A t the
same time, the browser status bar shows you the U RL associated with the hyperlink to which you are
pointing.
Text-based hyperlinks are often underlined or displayed in a different color than the rest of the text on
a W eb page. Graphics-based hyperlinks can be icons, logos, buttons, photographs and so on. Clicking
a hyperlink is just one way to access a specific U RL.

Activity 5.1
TO INVESTIGATE FOUR SEARCH ENGINES (FOR EXAMPLE ALTAVISTA, LYCOS, GOOGLE AND YAHOO),
EXPLAINING THE FEATURES OF SEARCH ENGINES, AND WRITE A REPORT ON THE PREFERRED SEARCH
ENGINE, GIVING REASONS OF ITS PREFERENCE.
In small groups students will investigate four search engines, explain their features and present their report in
the class.
Search Engine
A search engine is a website that collects and organizes content from all over the Internet. Those who wish to
locate something would enter a query about what they want to find and the engine provides links to content
that matches it. For example, AltaVista, Lycos, Google and Yahoo.
Let us investigate these search engines and explain their features:
1. AltaVista: It is a web search engine owned by Yahoo! (see Fig. 5.14). AltaVista was once one of the most
popular search engines but its popularity declined with the rise of Google.

Fig. 5.14: AltaVista search engine

Key Features: AltaVista provides a free translation service, branded Babel Fish, which automatically
translates text between several languages. In May 2008, this service was re-branded as a part of Yahoo!

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2. Lycos: It is one of the oldest search engines (see Fig. 5.15). It was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon
University to calculate the size of the web using a “spider” robot program that walked around the Internet
from site to site through page links.

Fig. 5.15: Lycos search engine

Key Features: Probably the top reason to use Lycos would not necessarily be for its search results, but
for its fun features.
3. Google: This search engine has a great reputation for relevant and thorough search results, and is a good
first place to start when searching (see Fig. 5.16).

Fig. 5.16: Google search engine

Key Features: Google search engine provides at least 22 special features beyond the original word-search
capability. These include synonyms, weather forecasts, time zones, stock quotes, maps, earthquake data,
movie show times, airports, home listings, and sports scores.
4. Yahoo: This is one of the best known and most popular Internet portals. Originally a subject directory of
sites, it now is a search engine, directory, and portal (see Fig. 5.17).
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Fig. 5.17: Yahoo search engine

Key Features: Yahoo has a large and unique search engine database, includes cached copies of pages,
includes links to the Yahoo! directory, supports full Boolean searching, and includes Wild Card Word in
Phrase.
Preferred Search Engine
Each search engine competes with other search engines for users, just as online businesses compete with each
other for customers. This creates a fierce rivalry to provide better results and services for users as they surf the
Internet
On www.ketteringwebsolutions.co.uk the following definition of Google was given:
“The Internet’s most popular search engine. Can be found at www.google.com”.
The glossary of www.satellite-tv-hq.com/ agrees with above and gives the next Google definition:
“The world’s current dominating search engine.”
These both statements are proved by the next Google definition, made by the free encyclopedia “Wikipedia”:
“Google is a search engine owned by Google Inc. whose mission statement is to ‘organize the world’s information
and make it universally accessible and useful.’ The largest search engine on the Web, Google, receives over 200
million queries each day through its various services”. This Google definition formulates the main mission of
the search engine. The efforts of Google are evident, and it is confirmed by the number of queries, over 200
million each day. Such activities illustrate this Google definition, as the most popular search engine.

KEY CONCEPTS
 Internet is the network that is available to users across the globe.
 The major use of Internet is for searching the information stored in millions of computers of the Internet.
 A web browser, or simply browser, is software that enables users to locate and view web pages and to jump
from one page to another. For example, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome etc.
 Screen elements of Internet Explorer are: Menu bar, Address bar, Standard toolbar, Workspace, Content
window, Status bar etc.
 Examples of search engines are AltaVista, Lycos, Google and Yahoo.
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Assessment 5.1
Fill in the Blanks
1. ...................................... is called “t he mother of all networks”.
2. A computer with a domain name is called a ...................................... .
3. To use the web, the software you need is a ...................................... .
4. Google has a ...................................... engine.

State whether True or False

1. Internet is not a vast ocean of information.
2. The Internet and the Wo rld W ide W eb are not the same thing.
3. Internet Explorer is not a very popular web browser.
4. There are a number of websites on the Internet, that provide a search engine, which help you locate
information easily.

Answer the Following

1. Wh at is Internet? Wh o governs it?
2. Explain how Internet and W are used?
3. Define website, webpage and a browser.
4. List and describe some different types of browser.

Suggested Activities
1. Explain the difference between a website and web pages; show some sites and pages.
2. Explain that each website has a unique address; a website holds information; creation of websites briefly;
there may be a few or many pages on the website.
3. Explain and demonstrate some hyperlinks, and returning back to the original web page.

Field Trip
Students to locate the name and telephone number of a local Internet access provider. A lso, get the name,
telephone number, and e-mail address of their help desk so they can help if you have any questions getting
connected. A sk the following questions.
(i) Wh at is the one-time connect charge, if any?
(ii) Wh at is the monthly charge?
(iii) H ow many free hours are there?
(iv) Wh at is the cost per hour after you exceed the maximum free hours?
(v) Do they provide an e-mail address?
(vi) Wh at browser is required? Do you have a choice?

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5.2 USING E-MAIL

E-mail or electronic mail is the exchange of messages stored on computers, through a communication
channel. E-mail was one of the first uses of the Internet and is still the most popular. To send and receive
e-mail, you need to create an account with an e-mail service provider. The Internet does not limit you to
one e-mail address. Y ou can create multiple e-mail addresses. There are many Internet based e-mail service
providers. For example,
http:/ / www.yahoo.com/
http:/ / www.hotmail.com/
E-mail offers cheap, reliable, speedy communication with patience and user friendliness. It
is helpful in reducing the volume of papers in offices. It has completely changed the modern
communication system.

l Creating an E-mail Account

A s mentioned earlier, to send and receive e-mail, you need to create an account with the e-mail service
provider. The steps to create an e-mail account on different online service providers are almost similar. The
process simply involves filling account and personal information. Some steps may be different in different
service providers like yahoo, rediff, hotmail etc. Y ou are advised to use common sense while creating
e-mail accounts.
Let us use the site http:/ / www.yahoo.com/ to create an E-mail account, i.e., a mail ID (see Fig. 5.18) . Go
ahead and create your e-mail ID by accessing the site,
http:/ / www.yahoo.com/

Fig. 5.18: Using the site yahoo.com

OR
Y ou can directly open the site by typing http:/ / www.yahoomail.com
Since you are a new user, to create a new account, select the ‘ Create N ew A ccount’ option
(see Fig. 5.19 ).
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Fig. 5.19: Selecting the Create New Account option

Type in your N ame, Gender, B irthday, Country etc., in the spaces provided (see Fig. 5.20) .

Fig. 5.20: Typing the details

The name that you enter in the Y ahoo ID text box is your yahoo mail ID. Y ou can choose any name for
the ID, but it should be one that you can identify easily. It has to be unique, since two people cannot have
the same ID. For example, let us assume your name is Senya A li and you choose Senya_A li as your ID. If
there is already another user with the same ID, you will be asked to choose a different ID.
Click the ‘ Create M y A ccount’ button (see Fig. 5.21) .

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Fig. 5.21: Selecting Create My Account

On successful creation of the account, a page similar to the one shown in Fig. 5.2 will be displayed.

Fig. 5.22: Ready to explore the created account

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Y our account is created (see Fig. 5.2 3) .

Fig. 5.23: New User Account Mail box

N ow you can use your account for sending and receiving mails.

l Composing and Sending an E-mail

Composing an e-mail
Click on the ‘ N ew’ link on the left side of the mail box to compose a new mail.
Composing of an e-mail message is done very much like a paper letter. It consists of three parts, the
header, the body and the signature. The header, at the top of the message, is the envelope, the body is the
actual message, the signature comes at the end (see Fig. 5.24) .

Fig. 5.24: Composing an e-mail

Y ou do not have to be online while composing your e-mail messages. E-mail lets you write messages
offline, so you can save them, then go online, and send them all at once.
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Editing of an e-mail message can be done like editing of text in M S Wo rd. V arious editing features like
font, font size , bold, italic, underline, text color, emoticons, text alignment, bullets, numbering etc. are
available in the mail box.
Spell checking must be done before sending e-mail messages by the user. Y ou can spell check by
clicking the Spelling button in the mail box.

Sending an e-mail
First of all compose your e-mail. N ow, enter the recipient’ s e-mail address in the ‘ To’ option. Y ou can send
copies of the mail to other users by using the ‘ Cc’ option. Y ou can enter the contents and addresses in the
appropriate places provided.
Click the ‘ Send’ button when you have typed in the message and addresses and you are ready to send
the e-mail. M ka e sure that y ou hav e sp el l c hec k e d the m es sag e b ef ore sen d i n g i t.
From the Sent folder, you can view the message sent.

l Receiving and Replying to an E-mail

Receiving an e-mail
To send and receive mails, log on to the site using the Y ahoo ID and the password.
To read the received mails, click on the Inbox shown on the left side of the screen.
On clicking the Inbox you will see the list of received mails. Select anyone of these and click to read it
(see Fig. 5.25) .

Fig. 5.25: Receiving an e-mail

Replying to an e-mail
To reply to an e-mail, use the Reply command icon. A fter clicking Reply button you will see a screen similar
to shown in Fig. 5.26, where you can type your reply message.

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Fig. 5.26: Replying to an e-mail

l Facilities of an e-mail System

N ow you are familiar with basic concepts of e-mail. So let us understand the facilities of an e-mail system.
A ll e-mail systems have the ability to send, receive and discard mail (see Fig. 5.27) .

Fig. 5.27: You can send, receive and discard an e-mail

M ost systems have facilities for storing mail which is to be kept rather than discarded. It is important
for you to discard mail which does not need to be kept, as it uses storage space on disks. M ailboxes can
soon accumulate a large number of mail messages making it difficult to read and process new mail, in
addition to wasting disk space.
There is almost always a connection between the e-mail system and the computer’ s standard file system
which allows mail to be read from files or written to files. This enables greater flexibility in how the mail
system is used. For example, a mail message may be prepared in a normal file using a familiar text editor
and then sent by the e-mail system. Sections of other files may be included in the mail message as well.
M ost systems have a reply facility, although some of these do not always work as expected. A great
care should be taken when using this facility in e-mail, as replies do not always go back to the sender.

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l Distribution List
A distribution list, also known as a mailing list, is a collection of e-mail addresses that allows you to e-mail
multiple people at one time. A distribution list can contain a few addresses, or many. Wh en you send to a
distribution list, you are really sending to everyone whose address is included in the list (see Fig. 5.28) .

Fig. 5.28: A distribution list makes e-mailing easier

B y grouping all of the e-mail addresses together, you can address one e-mail to the category name and
avoid typing each individual’ s e-mail address.
Y ahoo M ail provides a means of making distribution lists, which Y ahoo refers to as “C ategories”.
To create a distribution list, perform the following steps:
1. Open a browser. H ere, we have opened M ozi lla Firefox.
2. Type the address w w w .y ah oom ai l .c om into the address bar of your web browser and press Enter
key. Log into Y ahoo if you are not already signed in. This takes you directly to your Y ahoo M ail
address book (see Fig. 5.29) .

Fig. 5.29: Yahoo Mail Box

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3. Click “C ontacts” link in the left pane of the window if you are using “Y ahoo M ail” or click the
“C ontacts” tab near the top of the window if you are using “Y ahoo M ail Classic” (see Fig. 5.30) .

Fig. 5.30: Clicking Contacts

4. Click the “ A dd Category” button on the Y ahoo M ail toolbar. Type a name (upto 15 alphanumeric
characters, no spaces) for the distribution list into the “C ategory N ame” box (see Fig. 5.31) . Y ou can
now add contacts to the category. Click “S ave.”

Fig. 5.31: Typing Category Name and Clicking Save

5. Select “V iew” and click the “ A ll Contacts” button (see Fig. 5.32) . Select the check boxes to the left
of each contact whom you wish to add to the distribution list. Click “ A dd to Category” in the main
window.

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System
Categories
User-defined
Categories

Fig. 5.32: Selecting View and Clicking All Contacts

6. Select the check box for the distribution list to which you want to add your contacts. Click the
“D one” button.
1. To send an e-mail to your distribution list, click the “ V iew” button and select the list name. Click
the “ Select A ll” check box. Click “ Send e-mail” in the main window and compose your e-mail.
W hen you send the message it will be sent to everyone in the list.
2. Y ou can rename and delete the user-defined categories, but you cannot rename or delete system
categories.

l Attachments
If a file of your matter exists in the computer from which you are sending e-mail, you can write your e-mail
message, (your cover note) and then use the A ttach link to attach the document. Such attached documents
may be in M S Wo rd or Excel and are called attachments.
W h ile you could also copy your document into the main message and send it that way, some e-mail
software lose formatting options such as bold or italic text or special symbols. Thus, the benefit of the
attachment feature is that it preserves all such formatting, provided the recipient has the same software
that you used for creating the attachment. Y ou can also attach pictures, sounds, videos, and other files to
your e-mail message.

Sending
To send an e-mail attachment,
1. A ddress the person who will receive the attachment.
2. Wr ite a ‘ ‘ cover letter’ ’ e-mail or your message advising the recipient of the attachment.
3. Click on Attach button on your e-mail software’ s toolbar.
4. Select the file you want to attach.
5. Click on Send to send the e-mail message and the attachment (see Fig. 5.3) .

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Fig. 5.33: Sending an e-mail attachment

Receiving
Wh en you receive a file containing an attachment, you will see an icon indicating that the message contains
more than just text. Y ou can click on the icon to see the attachment. If you have the software the attached file
was created in, you can open the attachment immediately to read or print, or you can save the attachment
in a location of your choice (on your computer). Y ou can also forward the attachment to another person.

Fig. 5.34: Receiving an e-mail attachment

To exit your mailbox, click the ‘ Sign Out’ link.
1. It is important that the persons receiving the e-mail attachment have the exact same software that
created the attached file, such as M icrosoft Wo rd 207, or have software that can read and convert
the attached file.
2. M any viruses—t hose rogue programs that can seriously damage your P C or programs—r ide along
with e-mail as attached files. Thus, you should never open an attached file from an unknown source.

l Auto Reply
A uto Reply feature is useful when you are on holidays and want to inform people that you would not be
checking your e-mail for a few days. In other words, you may also want to take holidays from e-mail and
answering it.
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Surely, you will read and reply to all your e-mail when you will be back. Y ahoo M ail offers a nice way
to tell those who send you e-mail during this period that they should not expect an immediate answer.

Auto-Reply in Yahoo Mail

To have Y ahoo M ail reply to e-mails automatically, perform the following steps:
1. Select Options → More Options... in Y ahoo M ail (see Fig. 5.35) .

Fig. 5.35: Selecting More Options for Auto Reply

2. Go to the Vacation Response category.
3. M ake sure Enable auto-response during your vacation is checked.
4. Specify your auto-responder’ s start and end date under Auto-respond from and up until (and including)
respectively.
5. Type the desired response you wish to be sent to all incoming mail under Generic Response.
6. It is good to include a note on when you expect to be back — and be able to respond personally.
7. Click Save Changes.
Y ahoo M ail’ s auto-reply system does not know to whom a holiday reply was already sent to, so all
repetitive mailers will get repetitive replies. M ay be they deserve it.

KEY CONCEPTS
 E-mail is the exchange of messages stored on computers, through a communication channel.
 To send and receive e-mail, you need to create an account with an e-mail service provider.
 Composing of an e-mail message is done very much like a paper letter.
 All e-mail systems have the ability to send, receive and discard mail.
 Auto Reply feature is useful when you are on holidays and want to inform people that you would not be
checking your e-mail for a few days.

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Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1. E-mail was one of the first uses of the ..................... .
2. Y ou do not have to be ..................... while composing your e-mail messages.
3. The attached documents (e.g., in M S Wo rd or Excel) with your e-mail message are called ..................... .
4. A ..................... is a collection of e-mail addresses that allows you to e-mail multiple people at one time.
State Whether True or False
1. E-mail is not very popular now a days.
.2 To send and receive your e-mail, you do not require an e-mail account.
.3 Y ou can attach pictures, sounds, videos, and other files to your e-mail message.
.4 A uto Reply is not a useful feature during your holidays.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Wh o owns the Internet?
(a) N o one owns the Internet (b) M icrosoft (c) IB M (d) U .S. government
2. A location on the Internet is called a/ an ...................................... .
(a) U ser ID (b) Domain (c) B rowser (d) W eb
3. Wh ich of the following is/ are e-mail service provider(s)?
(a) Y ahoo (b) Gmail (c) H otmail (d) A ll of these
4. A distribution list is also known as a ...................................... .
(a) M ailing list (b) A uto reply (c) A ttachment (d) Item list
Match the Following
Column A Column B
1. B rowsing (a) Search engine
.2 A ltaV ista (b) A lso known as surfing
.3 E-mail systems (c) Can be used when you are on holidays
4. A uto Reply (d) H ave the ability to send, receive and discard mail
Answer the Following
1. Wh at is e-mail? Give the steps to create an e-mail account.
2. Give the steps to compose and send an e-mail.
3. Give the steps to receive and open an e-mail.
4. Discuss the facilities provided in the e-mail system.
Suggested Activities
1. Explain why distribution lists are useful and demonstrate how to implement.
.2 Explain and demonstrate how to attach a file to an e-mail, and how to open an attachment on an
incoming mail.
3. Open a browser and indicate the following screen elements:
M enu bar, A ddress bar, Standard toolbar, Status bar and Wo rkspace.
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 Unit – 6 Control and Learning with LOGO

Unit 6 CONTROL AND

LEARNING WITH LOGO

UNIT OUTCOME
Students will be able to:
 understand the logo language;
 recognize to produce a variety of diagrams using the logo language.

6.1 CONTROL AND LEARNING WITH LOGO

L O G O (L ogic O riented, G raphics O riented) is a high level programming language specifically
designed for its ease of use and graphics capabilities. LOGO was originally developed in 1 96 7 by
S e y m our P a p e rt and a team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M IT) in U nited States. It was
originally designed to introduce children to programming concepts, and to help develop better
thinking skills that could be transferred to other contexts. It is easy to learn, easy to use, easy to
read, but also powerful and able to cope with complex problems.
L O G O is so easy that it can be understood by the 7 to 7 7 years old. L O G O ’ s graphics language
is called turtle graphics, which allows complex graphics images to be created with a minimum of
coding. L O G O has evolved into a powerful computer language. L O G O is considered an interpreted
language because L O G O programs are executed by an interpreter.
Some benefits of L O G O over other programming languages are:
1. It fosters (promotes) group collaborative work.
2. It allows students to visualize mathematical and geometrical concepts.
3. It teaches students that the computer is a device to be controlled, rather than one that controls.
4. It introduces students to programming structures and concepts.
5. It promotes concepts associated with the Technology and Enterprise Learning A rea.
6. It is immediate. There is no waiting while the program is run.
7. It uses simple ‘ English’ commands and is not case-sensitive.
8. It is graphical in nature.
The programming language you will be learning in this U nit is Logo. The version of LOGO that
we are using is M S W L O G O (W indows based), which is available from S of tron i c s, I n c . as freeware
on the Internet (http://www.softronix.com).
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Unit – 6 Control and Learning with LOGO

Starting LOGO
To start L O G O , perform the following steps:
Click S ta rt → Al l P rog ra m s → M i c rosof t W i n d ow s L og o → M i c rosof t W i n d ow s L og o
(see Fig. 6 .1 ).

Fig. 6.1: Starting LOGO

OR
Double click on the M SW Logo shortcut icon on the desktop of your computer (see Fig. 6 .2 ).

Fig. 6.2: MS Logo Shortcut Icon

The screen shown in Fig. 6 .3 will appear:

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Fig. 6.3: MSW Logo Screen

Some M SW Logo screen elements are given below:
T i tl e b a r: Title bar contains the name of program (M SW Logo).
M e n u b a r: M enu bar contains various options for handling, editing and formatting file. M enu
titles contain various sub-options which comes when these menu titles are clicked upon.
B utton b a r: B utton bar provides additional shortcuts for Logo commands. To execute a button
command, position the mouse cursor on the button and press the left mouse button.
Graphics window
Graphics window is the area where the turtle moves around and draws. The Turtle appears in this
area.
Listener window
Listener window is the area where the commands are typed. Y ou will see small question marks(? )
in this area.

The turtle moves on the screen according to the commands given. It understands only LOGO
commands. Centre of the screen is the home of the turtle.

l Using Primitives
W hen you load L O G O , a triangular shape pointer appears at the centre of the screen called Turtle.
It has a pointing tip. Turtle indicates that position on the screen, from where the drawing will
start. In other words, we can say that turtle is a point of invisible pen, that helps in drawing
figures. The home position of turtle is in the centre of the screen, where it appears in the beginning.
The primitives are typed in the white space at the bottom left corner of the screen known as the
Command Input B ox.
The first step to learn any drawing is to know about drawing a line. Therefore, you will read
about some primitives which are useful in drawing lines and boxes.
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Forward (FD)
This primitive moves the turtle in the forward direction with the number of steps mentioned with
the primitive. The turtle draws a line while moving. For example, to draw a line of 4 0 steps type
the following command in the Input B ox.

C O M M AN D R E S U L T

FD 2 0 ↵ (Here, ↵ means press Enter key) ↑ (a line of 2 0 steps)

FD2 0 ↵ I don’ t know how to FD2 0

F O RW A RD 5 0 ↵ ↑ (a line of 5 0 steps)
FD ↵ not enough inputs to FD
F O RW A RD5 0 ↵ I don’ t know how to F O RW A RD5 0

Back (BK)
Turtle moves backward and draws a line of specified number of steps.
The turtle moves in the direction, where it has its back.
It is just like driving a car in reverse (back) gear.
For example, to draw a line of 50 steps in backward direction, type the following command in the Input
B ox.

C O M M AN D R E S U L T

B K 6 0 ↵ (Here, ↵ means press Enter key) (a line of 6 0 steps)

B A CK W A RD6 0 ↵ I don’ t know how to B A C K W A RD6 0

B K 4 0 ↵ I don’ t know how to B K 4 0
B K ↵ not enough inputs to B K
B K 5 0 ↵ (a line of 5 0 steps)

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1. LOGO commands are known as the ‘ Pr imitives’ .

2. LOGO is not case-sensitive, that is, upper-case letters are not distinguished from lower-case letters.
3. B Y E primitive is used to exit LOGO.

Turning the Turtle

Turtle can be turned in right (clockwise) or left (anti-clockwise) direction by using RT (Right) or LT (Left)
primitives.

R i g ht ( R T )
To turn the Turtle in right or clockwise direction, use RT/ RIGH T primitive. It needs number of degree to
know the angle of turn. For example,

L fe t ( L T )
To turn the Turtle towards left or in anti-clockwise direction, use LT/ LEFT primitive. It needs number of
degree to know the angle of turn. For example,

W e can move the turtle forward, backward, right and left on the screen.

Home
Turtle always rests in the centre of the screen which is known as its home. From here, the turtle moves
around the screen.
H OM E primitive sends the turtle in the centre of the screen. The H OM E primitive is not followed by
any number. The turtle draws a line as it goes back to its home and faces upwards in its home position.
For example,
Type the following commands in the Command Input B ox to see the output shown on right side:
FD 10 ↵
RT 90 ↵
FD 10 ↵
H OM E ↵

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H i d e T urtl e ( H T )
W h en this command is entered, the turtle disappears from the screen.
Turtle follows all the commands and can draw anything even though it is not seen on the screen. For
example,

1. N o space(s) is/ are required within a primitive. If you give space, error message appears.
2. To use more than one primitive at a time, we must leave a space in between them.

S how T urtl e ( S T )
ST command brings the turtle back on the screen, which had disappeared using H T command. For
example,

C l ear T ext ( C T )
It clears the Text A rea.
A ll the commands disappear from the Listener window. For example,

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C l ear S c reen (C S )
CS command clears the Graphics area. For example,

CLEA N command clears the entire drawing from the screen but leaves the turtle at its last position.

P en U p (P U )
A s you lift your pencil up when you want to leave some gap between the two words while writing, so is
the case with the turtle.
To move the turtle without drawing a line PE N U P primitive is used. There is no need to give any
number after P EN U P command. For example, to draw the two lines shown on left, type the commands
shown on right side.

In the above example, we have used PD command, let us see why this command has been given.

P ne D ow n ( P D )
Y ou cannot draw till you put your pencil down. The same way, turtle starts drawing again only when
you give P EN DOW N (P D) command. There is no need to mention any number after P D command. For
example,

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P ne E ras e ( P E )
The turtle can erase a line on which it moves. For this P EN ERA SE (P E) primitive is used. Y ou need to move the
turtle on the lines you want to remove/ erase after giving P E command. For example,

To erase a line of 10 steps so that this figure can become a square of 40 steps, give the following
commands:

To bring your turtle in the normal mode again, give PE command so that you can complete your figure
after correcting the mistake.

Using the LOGO primitives to draw a variety of shapes

N ow, you are familiar to LOGO primitives. So, let us use these primitives to draw a variety of shapes:
E xam p l e 1: Draw an equilateral triangle of side 10 steps, using the LOGO primitives.
Type the following commands in the Command Input B ox to draw an equilateral triangle of side 10
steps:
FD 10 ↵
RT 120 ↵
FD 10 ↵
RT 120 ↵
FD 10 ↵
RT 120 ↵
E xam p l e 2: Draw a circle of radius 8 0 using the LOGO primitives.
Type the following command in the Command Input B ox to draw a circle of radius 80 with the turtle
at the centre of the circle:
A RC 360 80 ↵
OR
CIRCLE 8 0 ↵
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Type the following command in the Command Input B ox to create a circle of radius 8 0 with the turtle
at the edge of the circle:

    CIRCLE2 80  ↵

E xam p l e 3: Draw a square of side 60 steps, using the LOGO primitives.

Type the following commands to draw a square of side 60 steps:

P ri n t C om m an d
P RIN T/ P R primitive is used to display a letter, number, word or a sentence on the screen. It can also
be used for doing calculations. This command takes only one input at a time and displays the output in
Recall List B ox. For example,

P RIN T 201 ↵

will print 201 1 in the Recall List B ox.

  Use “ before a letter/word and enclose a sentence in “ “ or [ ].

R pe eat C om m an d
REP EA T primitive is used when same set of commands are to be given again and again. Instead of
typing same set of commands repeatedly, they can be clubbed up in a single line REP EA T command. For
example, to draw a square of side 6 0 steps, type the following command:

REP EA T 4 [FD 60 RT 90] ↵

        OR

REP EA T 4 [FD 60 RT 360/4] ↵

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H ere, the number 4 after the REP EA T primitive, tells the computer to repeat four times whatever
command is given within the square bracket.
The structure of REP EA T command is:
JN o. of turtle steps in N
N o. of times
K each line direction and O
REP EA T the commands are
K O
KK the angle by which
to be repeated OO
L turtle turns each time P
N ow, type the following command in the Command Input B ox to draw the regular polygons (pentagon
and hexagon) by using the REP EA T command:

REP EA T 5[FD 100 RT 72] ↵   

REP EA T 6[FD 100 RT 60] ↵

For an N side regular polygon, the Turtle will turn by 360/ N degrees.

l Writing Procedures Using RANDOM

To write a procedure in LOGO is to teach the turtle how to draw something. Let us learn about the
procedures in LOGO:

Procedures
Pr ocedures are the heart of LOGO and other programming languages. Pr ocedures are small programs that
can be called on again and again through one word and without typing them all out.
The structure of a procedure in LOGO is:
To Procedurename
   Steps of the procedure
End
A procedure must start with the word To, followed by a name you give. Then come all the steps you
would write on the command line. A procedure must end with the word End.

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Remember the following points while writing procedures in LOGO:

1. Y ou must avoid use of LOGO commands as procedure names!
2. Pr ocedure name can have letters, numbers and symbols.
3. The first character in procedure name should always be a letter.
4. B lank space and arithmetic operators are not allowed in the procedure name.
5. Y ou can use small or capital letters or a mixture of these for a procedure name.
Commands having a semicolon (;) in front are called comments which are ignored by M SW LOGO.

Random Command
LOGO provides one of the best ways of stimulating children in their work by using the RA N DOM command.
The command RA N DOM is usually followed by a number. For example,
RA N DOM 1 5 ↵
would generate a random integer number less than 15.
Type the following and see the output:
REP EA T 5 [SH OW RA N DOM  100] ↵

H ow d o y ou w ri te a p roc ed ure i n L O G O ?
A LOGO procedure can be written in the following ways:
1. U sing the Input B ox (see Fig. 6.4) , which can be opened
by typing in TO followed by the Pr ocedure N ame in the
Command Input B ox.
2. U sing the Editor window (see Fig. 6. 5) , which can be opened
Fig. 6.4: User Input Box
by any one of the following:
(i) Clicking the Edall button on the Button bar 
(ii) U sing the Edit option in the File menu
(iii) Typing “ Edit Pr ocedure N ame in the Command Input B ox (do not forget quotation mark before
Pr ocedure N ame).

Fig. 6.5: Editor window

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Let us write a simple procedure S Q U AR E in LOGO, using the I n p ut B ox , to draw a square of side of
length 50.
To code, run and save the procedure, perform the following steps:
1. Click the I n p ut B ox .
2. Type in T O followed by the name of the procedure, here we type, T O S Q U AR E .
3. Pr ess the Enter key. The user I n p ut B ox appears.
4. Enter the set of instructions one after other for drawing a square. Pr ess the Enter key after each
line.
5. Wh en all the instructions have been entered, type in E N D and press the Enter key. Y our Pr ocedure
S Q U AR E has been defined. The entered procedure code is shown below:
TO SQ U A RE
; Pr ocedure SQ U A RE
CS ; Clear Screen
       REPEAT 4 [FD 50 RT 90] 
H T ; H ide Turtle
EN D
6. To run the procedure, type S Q U AR E in the C om m an d I n p ut B ox and press the Enter key.
This draws a square of side length 5 0 on the graphics screen as shown below:

7. To save the procedure, click on the I n p ut B ox to make it active and type:

SA V E “S Q U A RE.
The file saved in LOGO will have an extension .LGO. Type LOA D “Pr ocedure N ame to recall a saved
procedure.

In LOGO, you can put a procedure within REPE A T command or within another procedure. Let us write
procedures to include REPE A T and RA N DOM command:
E xam p l e 1: Wr ite a procedure to draw a simple star shape using REPE A T command.
TO STA R
; Pr ocedure STA R
CS ; Clear Screen
      REPEAT 10 [LT 60 FD 50 RT 120 FD 50 LT 60 RT 36] 
H T ; H ide Turtle
EN D
Type the following in the Command Input B ox and press the Enter key to run the procedure:
STA R

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This draws a star on the screen as shown below:

E xam p l e 2: W rite a procedure to draw circles randomly using RA N DOM command.

TO DRA WC IR
; Pr ocedure DRA WC IR to draw circles randomly
CS ; Clear Screen
       REPEAT 10 [CIRCLE RANDOM 100]
H T ; H ide Turtle
EN D
Type the following in the Command Input B ox and press the Enter key to run the procedure:
DRA WC IR
This will draw circles randomly on the graphics screen as shown below:

Y our output may be different every time when you run the LOGO procedure(s) having RA N DOM
command(s).
E xam p l e 3: Wr ite procedure(s) to draw squares randomly using RA N DOM command.
Let us write a procedure SQ U A RE1 first and then use it in another procedure RSQ U A RES to draw
random squares:

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TO SQ U A RE1
; Pr ocedure SQ U A RE1
       REPEAT 4 [FD 40 RT 90] 
          HT          ; Hide Turtle
EN D
TO RSQ U A RES
; Pr ocedure RSQ U A RES
CS ; Clear Screen
      REPEAT 30[SQUARE1 PENUP RT RANDOM 360 FD RANDOM 50 PENDOWN]
EN D
Type the following in the Command Input B ox and press the Enter key to run the procedure:
RSQ U A RES
This will draw random squares on the screen, lifting the pen and moving it to a random location before
drawing another square as shown below:

Type ERA SE “Pr ocedure N ame and press Enter key to erase a procedure. The ERA SE A LL command
erases all the procedures.

Activity 6.1
DRAW A VARIET Y OF SHAPES USING THE LOGO PRIMITIVES AND PROCEDURES
Students in small groups will use the LOGO primitives and procedures to draw a variety of shapes. The group
leader from each group will give a brief presentation to the class based on it.
LOGO Primitives
The LOGO Primitives are basic LOGO Commands.
Procedures
Procedures are small programs that can be called on again and again through one word and without typing
them all out.

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Drawing Shapes using Primitives and Procedures

We can draw various shapes in LOGO using the CS, FD, LT, RT, HOME, HT primitives and procedures. For
example,

S hap e L O G O P roc ed ure to D raw the S hap e

A S c al en e T ri an g le TO Scalene
; This procedure will draw a scalene triangle
CS
FD 100
RT 150
FD 50
HOME
HT
END
An I sosc el es T ri an g le TO Isosceles
; This procedure will draw an isosceles triangle
CS
RT 20
FD 100
RT 140
FD 100
HOME
HT
END
An E q ui l at er al T ri an g le TO Equilateral
; This procedure will draw an equilateral triangle
CS
FD 100
RT 120
FD 100
RT 120
FD 100
HT
END
A R ec tan g le TO Rectangle
; This procedure will draw a rectangle
CS
REPEAT 2[FD 100 RT 90 FD 50 RT 90]
HT
END

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A S q uar e TO Square
; This procedure will draw a square
CS
REPEAT 4[FD 100 RT 90]
HT
END

KEY CONCEPTS
 LOGO stands for Logic Oriented, Graphics Oriented.
 MSW LOGO screen is divided in two parts—Graphics window and Listener window.
 CS primitive clears the graphics screen.
 We can write a procedure in two ways using the “Input Box” or using the “Editor window”.
 Procedures are small programs that can be called on again and again through one word without typing them
all out.
 The file saved in LOGO will have an extension .LGO.
 BYE primitive closes the LOGO.

Review Questions
Fill in the Blanks
1. LOGO was developed by ...................... and his team.
2. Wh en you load Logo, a triangular shape pointer appears at the centre of the screen called .................... .
3. The ...................... primitive moves the turtle in forward direction.
4. The ...................... primitive turns turtle’ s face on left side.
State Whether True or False
1. Logo is a high-level programming language.
.2 Logo is considered an interpreted language because Logo programs are executed by an interpreter.
.3 The B K primitive turns turtle face on right side.
.4 The ST primitive shows the turtle again.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A ll the figures are drawn by ...................................... in LOGO.
(a) Turtle (b) H and
(c) B ye (d) Pr int
2. Wh ich of the following LOGO primitive moves the turtle’ s face in right side?
(a) ST (b) H OM E
(c) PD (d) RT
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3. Wh ich of the following LOGO primitive moves the turtle in backward direction?
(a) FD (b) B K
(c) H T (d) B Y E
4. A set of LOGO commands referred by a name, which is given to perform a particular task is called a .
..................................... .
(a) Operator (b) Pr ocedure
(c) A ction (d) Random

Match the Following

Column A Column B
1. Graphics window in LOGO (a) Generates a random integer number
2. Listener window in LOGO (b) U sed to exit LOGO
3. B Y E primitive (c) The area where the commands are typed
4. Random command (d) The area where the turtle moves and draws

Answer the Following

1. Wh at is LOGO? Wh o developed LOGO and when?
2. Label the following LOGO window.

3. Wh at are LOGO primitives? Explain any four LOGO primitives to draw shapes.
4. Wr ite a procedure using RA N DOM command in LOGO.

Suggested Activities
1. Wr ite a procedure to draw an equilateral triangle.
2. Wr ite a procedure to include a random number generator e.g., throwing a die.
3. U se Full version of LOGO language.

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 Glossary

GLOSSARY
A D at a C om m un i c at i on s: The moving or sharing
of encoded information between two or more data
AI ( Arti f i c i al I n tel l i g en c e) : It is the branch of sources using an electronic medium.
computer science concerned with making computers
behave like humans. D i stri b uti on L i st: A lso called a mailing list, is a
collection of e-mail addresses that allows you to e-mail
An al og : It is any fluctuating, evolving, or
multiple people at one time.
continually changing process that represents data by
measurement of a continuous physical variable. D V D : Digital V ersatile Disc or Digital V ideo Disc.
Ap p l i c at i on S of tw ar e: A program that is designed
to perform specific tasks. E
AS C I I : A merican Standard Code for Information E - C om m er c e: B uying and selling or business
Interchange. It is pronounced (as-kee). transaction conducted on the Internet.
B E - M ai l : Stands for Electronic M ail. This is a system
of relaying messages across the Internet, from one
B ac k up : To copy files or data to a second source or Internet user to another.
media so as to safeguard it.
B C D : B inary Coded Decimal. F
B I T ( B i n ar y D i g I T ) : It is the smallest unit of F orm at P ai n ter : H elps to copy the format that has
processing of computerized data in terms of 1s or 0s .
been applied to text and apply it to another.
B row ser : Software program that allows the user to
find and read encoded information in a form suitable F T P ( F i l e T ran sf er P rotoc ol ) : A software protocol
for display especially on Wo rld W ide W eb. for exchanging information between computers over a
network.
B y te: A combination of 8 bits to represent computer
data transfer or data storage measurement.
G
C G i g ab y te ( G B ) : 2 to the 30t h power (1,073,741,824)
C D -R O M ( C om p ac t D i sc R ead - O n l y M em ory ) : bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes.
A durable and low cost circular optical storage device G I G O : It is an acronym that stands for Garbage In,
widely used to store large amounts of information. Garbage Out.
C om p uter : A computer is an electronic device that
accepts, processes, stores and outputs data under the H
control of a set of instructions.
C P U ( C en tral P roc es si n g U n i t) : A processor on H ar d w a re : The physical equipment used in a
an IC chip (called a microprocessor) that serves as the computer system, such as the CPU , peripheral devices
and memory.
‘ brain’ of the computer.
H om e P ag e: The initial page of a site on the Wo rld
W ide W eb.
D
H T M L ( H y p er text M ar k up L a n g uag e) : It is a
D at a: A collection of raw facts and figures or a collection of structuring and formatting tags used to
raw input which when processed or arranged makes create W eb pages.
meaningful output.
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 Glossary

H T T P ( H y p er T ext T ra n sp ort P rotoc ol ) : The M eg ab y te ( M B ) : A bout a million bytes of space.

standard protocol for transferring hypertext documents A ctually it is 2 raised to the 20t h power or 1,048,576
on the Wo rld W ide W eb. bytes of space.
H y p er text : A method of storing data through a M em ory : Internal storage areas in the computer.
computer program that allows a user to create and MO D E M : Stands for M Odulator and DEM odulator.
link fields of information at will and to retrieve the It is a device that changes data from digital (computer
data non-sequentially. language) to analog (phone line language) and then
back again.
I M other b oar d : The main circuit board of a
I c on : A picture or symbol to represent a command microcomputer.
on a computer screen. M P E G ( M oti on P i c ture E xp er ts G roup ) : A format
ID E ( I n teg rat ed D e v el op m en t E n v i ron m en t) : to make, view, and transfer both digital audio and
A programming environment integrated into an digital video files.
application. M S - E xc el : Spreadsheet application software,
I T ( I n f orm at i on T ec hn ol og y ) : The development, provided by M icrosoft.
implementation, and maintenance of computer M S - P ow er P oi n t: Pr esentation software, provided
hardware and software systems to organize and by M icrosoft.
communicate information electronically. M S - Wo rd : Wo rd processing application software,
I n ter n et : The Internet is a network of networks provided by M icrosoft.
all of which use the same set of communications
protocols. N
I S P ( I n ter n et S er v i c e P rov i d er ) : A company that
N et i q uet te: The rules of etiquette that apply when
provides access to the Internet.
communicating over computer networks, especially
the Internet.
J
N et w ork : A system containing any combination
J AV A: A high-level programming language of computers and its peripherals, used to transmit or
developed by Sun M icrosystems.
receive information.
K
O
K i l ob y te ( K B ) : This is about a thousand bytes of
space. In reality, it is two to the 10t h power or 1,024 O p er at i n g S y stem : A system software program
bytes. that works as a bridge between computer hardware
and the user. Operating systems perform basic tasks,
L such as recognizi ng input from the keyboard, sending
output to the display screen, keeping track of files
L AN ( L oc al Area N et w ork ) : A network that
and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral
links together computers and peripheral equipment
devices such as disk drives and printers.
within a limited area, such as a building or a group of
buildings. O utp ut D ev i c e: A device that translates information
processed by the computer into a form that humans
L an g uag e P roc es sor: Software that converts a
can understand.
high level language or assembly language code into
machine understandable form.
L og i n : To attach to a computer using the user’ s
P
ID. P en D ri v e: A secondary storage device that can be
L O G O ( L og i c O ri en ted , G rap hi c s O ri en ted ) : used to easily transfer files between U SB -compatible
A high level programming language specifically systems.
designed for its ease of use and graphics capabilities. P l otter : A computer output device that draws
images on paper using a pen.
M P ri m i ti v es : The LOGO commands are known as
M ai n f ram e: Second largest computer available ‘ Pr imitives’ .
after the supercomputer.
Information Communication Technology — Grade 9 Student Textbook 135
Glossary

Q T er ab y te (T B ): 2 to the 40t h power

(1,099,51,627,76) bytes.
Q uer y : U sed to retrieve information on a certain
condition from a database. T roj an : A type of computer virus that is loaded
into an unsuspecting users system via a host program
such as a free game.
R
T urtl e: A triangular shape pointer used in LOGO
R AM ( R an d om Ac c es s M em ory ) : A volatile that helps in drawing figures.
computer memory available to the user for the
temporary storage and manipulation of data. U
R el at i v e R e f er en c e: The default reference in a
spreadsheet package. U N I C O D E : B inary coding scheme that uses 2
bytes (16 bits) for each character. It allows almost all
R O M ( R ead - O n l y M em ory ) : A memory in which the written languages of the world to be represented
program instructions, operating procedures, or other using a single character set.
data are permanently stored, generally on electronic
chips during manufacture, and that ordinarily cannot U P S ( U n i n ter rup ti b l e P ow er S up p l y ) : It is a
be changed by the user or when power is switched backup power unit that provides continuous power
off. when the normal power supply is interrupted.
U ti l i ty P rog ram : A program developed to run
S within an Operating System to perform a specific
service.
S c rol l B ar : A widget found in graphical user
interface and used to show and control which portion V
of a document is currently visible in a window. A V i rus: A program or piece of code that is loaded
window may have a horiz ontal or, vertical scroll bar, onto your computer without your knowledge and
or both. runs against your wishes.
S er v er : This is a mainframe computer that serves
the other computers attached to it. W
S heet T ab : In spreadsheet applications, this refers
W AN ( W i d e Area N et w ork ) : A network in
to a tab at the bottom of a worksheet that acts as a
which computers are connected to each other over
means to identify or access different sheets within a
a long distance, using telephone lines and satellite
workbook.
communications.
S l i d e S how : U sed to display the slides in a desired
W eb p ag e : A single, usually hypertext document
sequence.
on the Wo rld W ide W eb that can incorporate text,
S ourc e C od e: Pr ogram code written in a computer graphics, sounds, etc.
language.
W eb ser v er : A computer that runs specific software
S of tw a re: The set of instructions used to direct to serve web pages to the Internet.
the operation of a computer, as well a documentation
Wo rd P roc es sor: Software that processes textual
giving instructions on how to use them.
matter and creates organized documents.
S p read sheet : A document which helps to organize
W ( Wo rl d W i d e W eb ) : Series of servers or
data in rows and columns that intersect to form cells.
computers that are interconnected through hypertext.
S y stem : A combination of the hardware,
WY S I WY G : Wh at Y ou Say Is Wh at Y ou Get.
software, and firmware. A system typically consists
of components (or elements) which are connected
together in order to accomplish a specific function or X
set of functions. X M L ( eX ten si b l e M ar k up L an g uag e) : It is a
S y stem S of tw ar e: It is a set of master programs markup language, not limited to W eb documents.
that keeps the computer system working.
Z
T Z i p D i sk s: The disks with a special high-quality
T as k b ar : The bar that contains the start button magnetic coating that have a capacity of 10, 250 or
and appears by default at the bottom of the desktop. 750 megabytes.
136 Information Communication Technology — Grade 9 Student Textbook