Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gt101: Learning and Information Technology: Meeting 1
Gt101: Learning and Information Technology: Meeting 1
MEETING 1
CHAPTER 1: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, THE INTERNET, AND YOU
CHAPTER 2: THE INTERNET, THE WEB, AND E-COMMERCE
Prepared by
GT101 Team – AOU-Kuwait
Based on the contents of the smart book of GT101 course
CHAPTER 1: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, THE INTERNET, AND YOU
LEARNING OUTCOMES
4
PEOPLE
5
PROCEDURES
6
SOFTWARE
• Programs (Software)* are the instructions that tell the computer how to do
its work.
• The purpose of software is to convert data (unprocessed facts) into
information (processed facts)
• Two major kinds of software:
₋ Application Software (think of it as the kind of programs you use;
e.g. Word processors)
₋ System Software (think of it as the kind of programs the computer uses;
e.g. Operating Systems) 7
*Actually, there is a difference between the two terms but it is beyond the scope of this course.
HARDWARE
– Supercomputers
– Mainframe computers Sorted from the most powerful to the
least powerful according to the storage
– Midrange computers and the processing capability.
– Personal computers
8
HARDWARE
10
11
DATA
• Data is raw, unprocessed facts including text, numbers, images
and sounds.
• Processed data becomes information.
• Digital data is stored electronically in files.
• Four common types of files are:
– Document files
– Worksheet files
– Database files
12
– Presentation files
DATA
• Education or e-learning
– You can take classes on almost any subject.
• Entertainment
– Find music, movies, magazines and computer games.
18
• Shopping
INTERNET ACCESS: PROVIDERS
19
INTERNET ACCESS: BROWSERS
22
Example of a URL
WEB UTILITIES
24
Examples of plug-ins
WEB UTILITIES: FILTERS
• File Transfer Utilities help you upload and download files to and
from the Internet.
• Three popular types of file transfer are:
– File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
– Web-based file transfer services (E.g. Dropbox.com)
– BitTorrent
26
WEB UTILITIES: INTERNET SECURITY SUITES
– Norton
COMMUNICATION
28
COMMUNICATION: E-MAIL
• E-mail or electronic mail is the transmission of electronic messages
over the Internet.
• An email message has three basic parts:
– Header includes
• Addresses (To, Cc and Bcc)
• Subject
• Attachments
– Message
– Signature
29
COMMUNICATION: E-MAIL
COMMUNICATION: E-MAIL
• E-mail can be a valuable asset in your life. However, like many other
valuable technologies, there are drawbacks too.
• Spam is junk, unwanted or unsolicited e-mail.
• Computer viruses or destructive programs are often attached to
spams.
• To control spams:
– Spam blockers (Spam filters)
– Antispam laws (E.g. In USA, CAN-SPAM requires that every marketing-
related e-mail provide an opt-out option) 31
COMMUNICATION: MESSAGING
There are two main types of messaging:
• Text messaging (known as texting or SMS)
– It is the process of sending a short electronic message (typically less than 160
characters).
– It was originally limited to characters but now you can send images, video, and sound
using a variation of SMS known as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).
• Microblogs
– Publish short sentences that only take a few seconds to write, rather than long stories
like traditional blogs.
– Designed to keep friends and other contacts up-to-date on your interest and activities.34
– The most popular microblogging site is Twitter.
COMMUNICATION: WEBCASTS AND PODCASTS
• Both webcasts and podcasts deliver media content (such as music and
movies) over the Internet to your computer.
• Webcasts use streaming technology in which audio and video files are
continuously downloaded to your computer while you are listening to
or viewing the file content. After a webcast has been completed, there
are no files remaining on your computer. (e.g. YouTube.com)
• Podcasts do not use streaming technology. Before a podcast can be
run, the media files have to be downloaded and saved to your
computer. 35
COMMUNICATION: WIKIS
• The Web provides a huge source of information that requires tools to help
locate information.
• Search services are organizations operate websites that can help you locate
the information you need.
– They provide special programs called spiders that continually look for new
information and update the search services' databases.
– They also provide special programs called search engines to locate specific
information on the web.
– Search engines are specialized programs that assist you in locating information on
the web.
– Examples on search engines are: Google, Bing and Yahoo. 37
SEARCH TOOLS
• Cloud computing uses the Internet and the Web to shift many
computer activities from the user’s computers and other computers
on the Internet.
• It frees end-users from owning, maintaining, and storing software
programs and data.
• It provides access to these services from anywhere through an
Internet connection.
39
CLOUD COMPUTING
40