ECDL / ICDL Module 1

ECDL / ICDL Module 1
Concepts of Information Technology (IT)

Courseware Training Manual

1. GENERAL CONCEPTS

HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

· Hardware

· Software

· Information Technology (IT)

TYPES OF COMPUTER

· What is a mainframe computer?

· What is a PC?

· What is a Mac?

· What is a networked computer?

· What are laptop & palmtop computers?

· What is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)?

· Types of computer - Mainframe

· Types of computer - PC

· Types of computer - Networked PC

· Types of computer - Laptop

· Types of computer - Palmtop

· Types of computer - PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

MAIN PARTS OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER

· The System Unit

· The System (Mother) Board

· The CPU

· Memory (RAM)

· ROM-BIOS

· Serial Port

· Parallel Port

· Universal Serial Bus (USB)

· What are input devices?

· What are output devices?

· What is a peripheral device?

· The Keyboard

· The Mouse

· CD

· DVD Drives

· Floppy disk

· Zip Disc

· Hard (Fixed) Disk

· The Monitor

· Additional items or cards

· Sound cards and speakers

· Modems

· Printers

· Scanners

· Recordable CDs

· Tape backup

· What is PCMCIA?

COMPUTER PERFORMANCE

· Factors affecting performance

2. HARDWARE

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

· The CPU (Central Processing Unit)

· MEMORY

· What is computer memory?

· What is RAM?

· What is ROM?

· What is the ROM-BIOS?

· What is flash BIOS?

· What is video (graphics) memory?

INPUT DEVICES

· The Mouse

· The Keyboard

· Tracker Balls

· Scanners

· Touch Pads

· Light Pens

· Joysticks

· Voice input for PCs (microphones)

· Web Cams

· Digital Cameras

OUTPUT DEVICES

· The VDU (computer monitor or screen)

· Flat screen monitors

· Screen size

· Graphics for games

· Computer presentation projection devices

· Different types of printer

· Laser printers

· Colour laser printers

· Inkjet printers

· Dot Matrix printers

· Printer Memory

· Cost of running a printer

· Plotters

· Speakers

· Speech synthesizers

INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES

· Input/Output devices

STORAGE DEVICES

· Internal hard disks

· External hard disks

· Zip drives

· Jaz drives

· Diskettes (floppy disks)

· CD Disks

· DVD Drives

· What is the difference between internal and external hard disks?

· Why format a disk?

3. SOFTWARE

TYPES OF SOFTWARE

· What is an Operating System?

· What is an Application Program?

· Why are new versions of software released year after year?

OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE

· What is an Operating System?

APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE

· What is an application program?

· Word processing

· Spreadsheets

· Databases

· Presentation

· Accounts / Payroll

· Web browsing

· Web authoring

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

· What is a Graphical User Interface?

· The advantages of using a GUI (Graphical User Interface)

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

· What is systems development?

· What is a systems development cycle?

4. INFORMATION NETWORKS

LAN AND WAN

· What is a LAN (local Area Network)?

· What is a WAN?

· What does client/server mean?

· What is workgroup computing?

· Advantages of workgroup computing

· Disadvantages of workgroup computing

INTRANET, EXTRANET

· What is the difference between the Internet and an Intranet?

· What is the difference between an Intranet and an Extranet?

THE INTERNET

· What is the Internet?

· What is the Internet and how is it useful?

· What is the difference between the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet?

THE TELEPHONE NETWORK IN COMPUTING

· How is the telephone line used in computing?

· Where to get help about technical terms

· What is PSTN?

· What is PSDN?

· What is ISDN?

· What is ADSL?

· What is DSL?

· Digital vs. analogue

· Modem

· Baud rate

5. THE USE OF IT IN EVERYDAY LIFE

COMPUTERS AT WORK

· Where computers might be more appropriate than people

· Where people might be more appropriate than computers

· Examples of large scale computer applications in business

· Uses of large scale computers applications within government

· Uses of computer applications within hospitals and the health care system

· Uses of computer applications in education

· What is tele-working?

· Some of the advantages of tele-working

· Some of the disadvantages of tele-working

ELECTRONIC WORLD

· What is email?

· What is E-commerce?

· What is E-banking?

· The process of shopping online

· The advantages of e-commerce

· The disadvantages of e-commerce

6. HEALTH AND SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT

ERGONOMICS

· Good working practices

HEALTH ISSUES

· Using a computer incorrectly can damage your health

· Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

· Glare from screens

· Bad posture

PRECAUTIONS

· Make sure that cables are safely secured

· Make sure that power points are not overloaded

THE ENVIRONMENT

· Computers and the environment

· Don't Waste Paper

7. SECURITY

INFORMATION SECURITY

· What is information security?

· Advantages of proactive information security

· Passwords

· The Importance of shutting down your computer

· What is a UPS?

· Electrical surge protection

· Things computers like

· Things to avoid

· What to do if the computer breaks down

· Dealing with security problems

· Responsibilities for dealing with security problems

· Security rights and obligations

· User IDs and passwords?

· Choosing a secure password

· How secure is your software?

· How do your manage data securely?

· How do you dispose of data securely?

· What is visitor control?

· Why do you need to back up your computer?

· Organising your computer for more efficient backups

· Complete vs. incremental backups

· Why you should use 'off-site' storage?

· Beware of 'open files'

· What if your laptop is stolen?

· What if your mobile phone is stolen?

COMPUTER VIRUSES

· What are computer viruses?

· How do viruses infect PCs?

· How to prevent virus damage

· To make a diskette read-only

· To password protect your computer

· How do your protect computers from attack?

· What to do if you discover a virus on your computer

· The limitations of anti virus software

· What is virus disinfecting?

· Anti-virus Precautions

8. COPYRIGHT AND THE LAW

COPYRIGHT

· Software Copyright Issues

· What are site licences?

· Copyright Issues

· How to check a software Product ID

· What is freeware?

· What is shareware?

· What about software which you find on the Internet

· What is an end-user licence agreement?

DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION

· Data Protection Legislation

9. ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGY

ECDL / ICDL Module 2 (Syllabus Four)Using the Computer and Managing Computer Files

Courseware Training Manual

1. COMPUTER ENVIRONMENT

· Which mouse button?

· "Select then manipulate"

· Double clicking

· "Drag and drop" moving

· "Drag and drop" copying

· Multiple selection techniques

· The other (right) mouse button

· What is the "Desktop"?

· What is the Start Button?

· The Start Menu

· To display the Start menu using a mouse

· To display the Start menu using a keyboard shortcut

· To display the Start menu using a Windows keyboard

· To close the Start menu

· Drag and Drop techniques

FIRST STEPS WITH THE COMPUTER

· To turn the computer on

· To properly shutdown the computer

· 'Turn Off Computer' Options

· To restart your computer

· To close down an application which is not responding

BASIC INFORMATION AND OPERATIONS

· The Power On System Test (POST)

· What is an operating system?

· What is RAM?

· What is a CPU?

· To view your "System Properties" and see the version of Windows you are using

· To change the Date and Time

· To configure the volume setting

· To customise the Windows Desktop

· To set screen resolution and colour quality settings

· To modify screens appearance

· To change the Desktop background or to apply a theme

· Why use a screen saver?

· To select a screen saver

· To set the language used by the keyboard

· To format a diskette (floppy disk)

· To format a removable drive

· Installing a software application

· Uninstalling a software application

· To use the Print Screen facility

· To take the Windows XP Tour

· Help within the Start Menu

· To search for Help

TEXT EDITING

· What is WordPad?

· To start WordPad

· To enter text into WordPad

· To save a WordPad file

· To create a new document within WordPad

· To open an existing WordPad file

· To save a file to a specific folder (directory)

· Creating a new folder in which to save your document

· Close the text editing application

· To close an editing application

2. DESKTOP

WORK WITH ICONS

· Desktop files

· Desktop applications

· Desktop folders

· The Recycle Bin / Wastebasket

· To select a Desktop icon

· To move a Desktop icon

· To copy a Desktop icon

· To customise your Desktop icon alignment

· To open a Desktop object

· To create a Desktop shortcut icon

WORK WITH WINDOWS

· What is the Title Bar?

· The Menu bar

· The Tool Bar

· The Status Bar

· What is the scroll bar?

· To move up and down within a window (using the scroll bar)

· To move right to left within a window

· To scroll through a window at speed

· Maximise, Minimise, Restore and Close Buttons

· To minimise a window

· To maximise a window

· To restore a maximised object to run in a window

· To make a Desktop window taller or shorter

· To make a Desktop window narrower or wider

· To resize a Desktop window in two directions at once

· To close a program using the Close button

· To switch between programs (using the Task Bar)

· To switch between programs (using a keyboard shortcut)

3. MANAGING FILES

CONCEPTS

· What are Drives, Folders and Files?

· The Windows Explorer Window

· The Windows Explorer Toolbars

· The Windows Explorer Views

· To view the contents of a folder (displayed on right)

· To expand a branch one level

· To open all folders on a disk

· To close all the folders within the Explorer

· To switch drives

· Data storage devices

DIRECTORIES / FOLDERS

· To open a file from a specified folder on a drive

· To create a new folder within the Windows Explorer

· To create folders within folders

· To create a folder directly on the Desktop, using a popup menu

· To view folder attributes

· To view folder properties

WORKING WITH FILES

· To determine file types

· Some more examples:

· Audio and video files

· Compressed files

· Temporary files

· To count up the number of files within a folder (inc. sub-folders)

· To count files of a specific type in a folder (which DOES NOT contain sub-folders)

· To count files of a specific type in a folder (which DOES contain sub-folders)

· To view files as a detailed list

· To view file properties

· To write protect a file.

· To change a read-only file to a read/write file

· To sort your Windows Explorer file listing

· Why are file extension names important?

· To rename files or folders using the Explorer

· To rename files or folders - the easy way

· To view file name extensions using the Windows Explorer

· Beware of re-naming certain files!

DUPLICATE, MOVE

· To select an individual file or folder within the Windows Explorer

· To select a continuous block of files

· To select multiple files which are not in a continuous block

· To copy files (the hard way) using the Windows Explorer

· To copy files (the easy way) using the Windows Explorer

· To use "Cut and Paste" to move files from one folder to another

· To use "drag and drop" to move files from one folder to another - Moving the easy way!

· Why do you need to back up your computer?

· Why you should use 'off-site' storage

· To copy files to a diskette

DELETE, RESTORE

· To delete a file or folder

· To physically delete files (rather than sending them to the Recycle Bin)

· To delete a folder

· The Recycle Bin and deleted files

· To restore deleted files or folders

· To empty the Recycle Bin

SEARCHING

· The Start Button - Search

· To search for a file, or folder, by name

· To search for a file using wildcards instead of the full name

· To find a file containing a specific word or phrase

· To find a file created on or around a certain date

· To find files of a particular type

· To view recently used files

COMPRESSING FILES

· What is file compression?

· To compress files using WinZip

· To extract compressed files using the Windows Explorer

· To extract files using WinZip

4. VIRUSES

CONCEPTS

· What is a virus and what does it do?

· How viruses infect computers

· Why use a virus checker?

· What is virus disinfecting?

HANDLING VIRUSES

· To run a virus checker

· Regularly update your virus checking software!

5. PRINT MANAGEMENT

SETUP

· To change the default printer

· Windows and printing

· To install a new printer driver

PRINT OUTPUTS

· To print from an application

· Why print to a file?

· How to print to a file

· To view print jobs

· To control print jobs using the Print Manager

ECDL / ICDL Module 3 (Syllabus Four)Word Processing

Courseware Training Manual

1. USING THE APPLICATION

FIRST STEPS WITH WORD PROCESSING

· To start Word using the Windows Start menu

· To close the Word program

· To open a file

· Tools to help you with opening files

· To select a continuous block of files to open