La Paz National High School

La Paz, Iloilo City

Technology and Livelihood Education

Information and Communications Technology

Why is Computer Literacy Important?

Computer literacy involves having knowledge and understanding of computers and their uses.
As computers become more a part of everyday life, many people believe that computer literacy is vital
to success.

What is Computer?
A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own
memory that can accept data, process the data according to specified rules, produce needs, and stores
the result for future use.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Computer?

Advantages of using Computers

1. Speed – Computer operations occur through electronic circuits. When data, instructions, and
information flow along these circuits they travel at incredibility fast speeds. Many computer
process billions or trillions of operations in a single second. Processing involves computing
(adding, subtracting , multiplying, dividing), sorting (alphabetizing), organizing, formatting,
checking spelling and grammar, charting, displaying pictures, recording audio clips, playing
music and showing a movie.

2. Reliability – The electronic components in modern computers are dependable and reliable
because they rarely break or fail.

3. Consistency - Given the same input and processes a computer will produce the same results-
consistently. Computes generate error- free results provided the input is correct and the
instructions work.

4. Storage – A computer can transfer data quickly from storage to memory, process it, and then
store it again for future use. Many computers store enormous amounts of data and make this
data available for processing anytime it is needed.

5. Communications – Most computers today can communicate with each other computers, often
wirelessly. Computers with this capability can share any of the four information processing
cycle operations the input, process, output and storage with another computer or a user.
Disadvantages of using Computer

1. Violation of Privacy – Nearly every life event is stored in computer somewhere in medical
records, credit reports. Tax records. Etc. It is crucial that personal and confidential records be
protected properly. In many instances, where these records were not property protected.
Individuals have found their privacy violated and identities stolen.

2. Impact on labor force - Although computers have improved productivity in many ways and
created an entire industry with hundreds of thousands of a new jobs, the skills of millions
employees have been replaced by computers. A separate impact on labor force is that some
companies are outsourcing jobs to foreign countries instead of keeping their homeland labor
force employed.

3. Health Risk - Prolonged or improper computer use can lead to injuries or disorders of the
hands, wrists elbows, eyes, neck and back. Computer using can protect them from these health
risks trough proper workplace designs, good posture while at the computer, and appropriately
space work breaks.

4. Impact on Environment - Computer manufacturing processes and computer waste are

depleting natural resources and polluting the environment. When computers are discarded in
landfills it releases toxic materials and potentially dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and flame
retardants.

La Paz National High School

 La Paz, Iloilo City
Technology and Livelihood Education

Information and Communications Technology