Information Technology

Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage,

networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes
to create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic
data
Purposes of software applications
Software application Purpose

Word processing (Microsoft Word) is a device or computer program that provides for
input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often
with some additional features.

Database management (SQL, Microsoft A database management system (DBMS) is a software

Access) package designed to define, manipulate, retrieve and
manage data in a database

Spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel) A spreadsheet is a computer application for

computation, organization, analysis and storage of data
in tabular (row and columns) form.

Web authoring (HTML, CSS, WYSIWYG – The practice of creating web documents using modern
WordPress, etc.) web authoring software and tools

Presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint) Programs designed to allow the user to present

information in an engaging way such as with text,
pictures, sound and video.
Graphics (Photoshop, Paint, etc.) Software applications that are used to display, create,
and edit computer graphics (bitmap or vector)
 Primary and Secondary sources
• Primary sources provide raw information and first-hand evidence.
• Secondary sources provide second-hand information and usually offer an analysis,
interpretation or a restatement of primary sources.
• Using secondary sources is recommended, because comparisons can be made (against
primary data) so it increases reliability. And using it can also help you avoid bias by
providing more opinions on the matter.

• Data reliability is another important factor while researching and it means that data is
complete and accurate. – it is important to search on the official websites and compare
results with multiple resources.
 Data analysis
• Data analysis is defined as a process of cleaning, transforming, and modeling data to
discover useful information for decision-making (science, business).
• In today's business world, data analysis plays a role in making decisions more scientific and
helping businesses operate more effectively. - better customer targeting, reduce
operational costs, better problem-solving methods.
• The analysis is usually used for finding patterns and trends in the gathered data, which in
turn can help find answer to the questions.
• If you understand why a trend, pattern, or event happened through data, you will be able
to develop an informed projection of how things may unfold in particular areas of the
business
 Digital product
• All digital products, from a mobile app to a website experience, attempt to solve a
problem for a group of people trying to accomplish something in a digital form.
• Solving a certain problem is what defines the purpose/goal of a digital product.
• Knowing your target audience is very helpful for business, since you can determine who
you are going to sell your product to.
 House style
• Basically a house style is a set of rules which state how all documents and written
communication from a business should be formatted.
• It will govern things such as
1. the colors to be used
2. the font style and size
3. where the logo should appear
4. whether text should be right, center or fully justified
5. how the address and contact details should be presented

• House styles are needed:

1. To ensure consistency across all documents
2. To support brand recognition
3. To reduce the amount of time staff spend setting up and formatting documents
4. To reduce the risk of mistakes e.g. address being mispelt, logo being omitted
 Cloud and Hosted
• Simply put, the cloud is the Internet—more specifically, it's all of the things you can access
remotely over the Internet.
• The term "cloud services" refers to a wide range of services delivered to companies and
customers over the internet.
• A hosted application is any piece of software that is running on another provider’s
infrastructure rather than on premise. These hosted applications are accessed over the
internet and have a web-based user interface to be able to interact with (Wordpress)
• Hosted storage (cloud storage) is off-site storage that's maintained by a third party on a
remote server.
Cloud storage usually refers to online storage (google drive, icloud, etc.)
Hosted storages provide advantages such as:
• Being able to access the files on cloud from multiple devices, as long as you have internet connection
• Saving storage space on your device – for example, once you have uploaded the photos from your
device to google drive or icloud servers, you don’t need to have them on your phone.
 Permission-based file sharing
• Giving your files different permission settings and permission levels allows
you to ensure only the individuals you want to see and access your files do.

• There are different types of permission:

• Read (view, viewer)
• Write (edit, modify, change)
• Comment
 Sample questions
1. State one file permission that prevents others from editing a file.
2. A photographer uses a web page to sell his finished images.
State one reason why compression is used on the photos.
3. Explain why employees must use the company’s house style when communicating
with customers.
4. State one effect of compressing an image.
5. Emily wants to let others access her file, but not edit the content.
State the type of file permission that Emily should set.
6. Sapna uses a compression tool on a file before attaching it to an email.
State one benefit to Sapna of compressing the file.
7. Rowan needs content for a web page.
Which one of these is a primary source?
A) A quote from a celebrity
B) An image from a video Rowan creates
C) Audio recorded from a television show
D) Video downloaded from the World Wide Web