Information Technology

CSEC Study Guide

What is Information Technology ?

The use of technology to process data into useful information.

Computer Fundamentals

Types of Computers
 Supercomputer
 Mainframes
 Desktop devices
 Mobile devices
 Embedded devices

Types of software
System software
 operating system
 system utilities

Application software

Types of user interface

Hardware interfaces

Software interfaces
- command line
- menu driven
- graphical user interface

Major Hardware Components

CPU

Primary Storage

Secondary storage
- cloud storage
- local storage

peripheral devices
- input
- output
Process of a computer
 - input
- processing
- output
- storage

Primary storage vs secondary storage

primary storage consists of ROM, RAM and is known as memory and is the first line of
storage while secondary storage is connected to the computer to store software like videos

Examples of secondary storage

 hard disk drive
 magnetic tape
 memory card
 solid state drive (SSD)
 USB flash drive

Units of Storage
 Bit
 Byte
 Kilobyte
 Megabyte
 Gigabyte
 Terabyte
 Petabyte

 1 bite = 1024 kilobytes

IPOS Cycle
Input  Processing  Output or Storage

What is Data?
Data is raw unprocessed facts

What is information?
Information is useful knowledge created from raw data

Processing is performing a series of instructions in order to convert data to useful information

Program is a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret or execute

What is cloud storage?

Cloud storage is a model which is data stored remotely local storage is a physical storage
device.

Cloud storage
- Dropbox
- Google drive
- Icloud
- Microfsoft one drive

Local Storage
- Flash memory
- Hard disk drives
- Optical disks

OCR – optical character recognition

MICR – magnetic ink character recognition
OMR – optical mark reader

Input devices
- Joystick
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Touch sensor
- Touchscreen
- Tablet
- Microphone

Output Devices
- Plotter
- Thermal
- 3d printer
- Speaker
- Headphones
- Earphones

Information Processing
What is Data?
Data is raw facts while information is knowledge that comes from processed data

Sources of Data
- Observation
- Measurements

Types of Documents
- Source document
- Human readable document
- Machine readable document
- Turn around document

What is reliability?
Reliability is the degree to which the content of information can be depended on to be
accurate: Four characteristics are:
- Authenticity
- Lack of bias
- Currency
- Relevance

What is a file
A file is a container in a computer system for storing data, information or programs.

Ways files are stored

- Serial
- Sequential
- Random and direct

Difference between serial and sequential

Serial allows for direct access to records based on their unique key while sequential is
accessed from beginning to end.

Method of Data Verification

- Double entry
- Proof reading/ visual check

Method of Validation
- Range check
- Reasonableness check
- Data type check
- Consistency check
- Presence check
- Format check
 - Length check

What is the difference between verification and validation

The main difference between verification and validation is that verification check the data
being put into the system while validation authenticates the data. Verification is manual while
validation is computerized.

What is file access?

File access – where the data is stored in the file in the order which the data was written to the
file. Data is stored in an ordered way or sequence
- Serial
- Sequential

Computer Network
What is a computer network?
A computer network is a group of computing devices that are connected together so that they
can share data and resources.
What is mobile network?
Mobile network – a network of communication and computing devices where the last link is
over a mobile phone network.

What is Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is a set of radio signals that sent from a wireless router to a nearby device allowing all
types of devices to communicate within the wi-fi range. Wi-Fi stands for

Types of networks
LAN – local area network
WAN – wide area network
MAN – metropolitan area network

Technology generation
- 1G
- 2G
- 3G
- 4G
- 5G

What is a common barriers?

Common carrier is a company that offers communication serves to the general public.

What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth – wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances

What is protocol?
Protocol – set of rules or an agreed way to exchange data between devices

Definition of the following:

Intranet – private computer network where only authorised persons can access
Extranet – private where authorised persons and some people outside can access
Internet – public

What is encryption?
Encryption – converting data to code to prevent unauthorised access.

Connection devices
Router – connects 2 networks
Modem – converts signals from analog to digital

Definitions
World wide web – is a graphical easy to use system of inter linked files on the internet
Web browser – is a program that allows users to view information in the www
HTML – hypertext mark up languages
Hyperlink – piece of text of the web page that when selected displays another web page.
URL - uniform resource locators [Link]

Spreadsheets

What is a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is a computer program that allows the entry, automatic calculation and storage
of data in the form of tables. A single workbook can contain many spreadsheets.
What is a workbook?
A workbook is made of up of multiple sheet

Horizontal rows – 1,2,3,4

Vertical columns – a,b,c,d

What is a cell?
A cell is the intersection of a column and a row

What is a cell address?

A cell address is the combination of a column letter and the row number Eg. B5,C4

What is a cell range?

The cell range is a rectangle selection of cells
Eg. C9:C24

A cell can contain contains three types of data

- Label – simple text
- Value – numeric data
- Formula - calculation
- Function – standard routine used to perform math calculations

Functions
SUM = adding up the cell range
AVERAGE = find the average of highlight range
DATE =
MAX = find the largest value
MIN = finds the smallest value
COUNT = the amount of cells that contain a value
COUNTA = number of non-blank cells
COUNTIF = meets a condition
VLOOKUP =
PMT
IF =

Database

What is database?
A database is an organised set of records (data) held in tables that can be easily managed.

Types of database system

- Manual
 - Electronic

Relationship between a record and a database

A database file can contain many tables and a table can contain many records and a record
can contain many fields.

How to create a database?

1. Lauch Microsoft access
2. Click on blank database
3. Type in the name of the database in the filename box
4. Click on create
5. Close the default table that is open

How to create a table?

1. Select create
2. Click table design icon
3. Type in the field
4. Select data type
5. Type in your field select your format
6. Type in the description for the field
7. Repeat step 3 – 6 until finished
8. Click on save icon
9. Type in the name of the field
10. Click on ok
11. Select database view
12. Type in records until finished

Types of database relationships

- One-to-one
- One-to-many

How to establish relationship among tables?

1. Close all tables
2. Select database tools
3. Click on the relationship icon
4. Select the tables
5. Click on the close botton
6. Drag the field from on table to the other
7. Check the enforce referential integrity check box
8. Click create button
9. Click save icon
10. Click close button

How to select query?

 1. Close all tables
2. Read the questions to determine which table or tables is required to answer the
question
3. Select create
4. Click query design icon
5. Select the required table or tables for the query
6. Click the close button
7. Double click on the required fields
8. Type the criteria on the criteria row below the required field
9. Click the run icon
10. Click the save icon
11. Type the name of the query
12. Click on ok

How to create a report?

1. Close all tables
2. Select create
3. Click on the report wizard icon
4. Select the query or table to generate the report
5. select the fields for the report
6. select the next button
7. select the field to group the report
8. select next button
9. select the sort field as well as sort order
10. select the summary option button then check the sum for total amount field
11. select next button
12. select the report layout
13. select the next button
14. type in the name of the report

Definitions in Database Management

Database management system - Manages the storing, retrieval and updating of records

Relational database management system - a type of database that stores records in a set of
related tables with tools to efficiently manage those records

Database table – used to contain numerous related records of stored data

Record – contains data about individual items or entity

Entity – a thing, person or event that has characteristic for which we are interested in
recording data

Field – part of a database record and contains a single piece of data

Primary key – a field whose value are unique so they can be used to identify a particular
record

Foreign key – appears in a table where it doesn’t really belong but allows two tables to be
linked

Candidate key – a field that is considered a possibility for a primary field

Composite key – a primary key that consists of two or more fields together

Tuple – is a row of data in relational databases giving detail about a particular entity

Word Processing

Describe the position of paragraph one and two from an extract can be interchanged using the
drag and drop feature
1. select the block of text pl
2. hover over the block of text
3. hold down the left side of the mouse
4. drag the selected text below p2
5. let go of the mass to drop paragraph
Describe the steps used in conducting a spell check in a word document
1. go to the review tab
2. click on the abs icon
3. click spell check