UNIT 3 - Basic ICT Skills
Session 1: Introduction to ICT
ICT help you to effectively utilise the knowledge and skills. The basic ICT skills that you need are
• How to operate computers
• How to browse the Internet for collecting, storing the information.
Places where ICT is used
• ICT at Workplace – In workplace computer software and applications is used to making
documents, tables, graphs and to do calculation.
• ICT at Home – In home people are use television for entertainment and phones for
calling up other people.
• ICT at Agriculture – Different agriculture related activities like research, development
and training is done using ICT.
• ICT at Banking and Finance – ICT helps banks to provide better services to customers,
online banking system, cusomers can access the accounts etc.
Session 2: ICT Tools: Smartphones and Tablets – I
Many people carry smartphones and tablets with them and use them for everyday tasks like
sharing photos and sending emails, these devices are becoming more and more important.
Without these, most people cannot work in offices and home.
Smartphones
Smartphones are also known as mobile phone, these mobile phone can be used at home or in
office. Smartphone do not need telephone line for communication, they use wireless mobile
network to make calls and to connect to the internet.
Some of the popular operating systems for smartphones are Android OS, Apple iOS and
Windows Mobile.
Tablets
A tablet is small computers that combines input, output, and processing capabilities into a
single “touchscreen.” You may perform a variety of tasks on a tablet just by touching the screen.
You may use it for all the same purposes as a computer or smartphone.
TV and Radio
TV and radio are used as an ICT tool from a long time. While TV is used to broadcast audio-
visual content to a large audience, radio is used to broadcast audio.
Applications or apps
Apps are software applications that carry out various tasks. They can be defined as a collection
of modules, procedures, or instructions that enable a certain kind of computer operation. The
phone or tablet already has some of the apps. We refer to these as “default” apps.
Commonly found applications in Smarphones and tablet
App Name Working properties
Phone This app is used to make calls.
Camera You can takes photos and videos using camera.
Mail You can send mail or recieve mail in the mobile phone using e-mail app.
It is used to display calendar and you can add appointments, reminders, and
Calendar
other information in it.
Photos It is used to store photos and videos and arrange them into albums.
This app helps you to find directions of your destination using GPS (Glabal
Map
Positionsing System).
Browser It helps you to browse the intenet.
Google Play Google store is a place where you can download different apps like Facebook,
Store WhatsApp etc.
Clock This shows the time and also sets alarm, timers, etc.
Messages This app helps you to send and receive messages from other people.
Music This app is used to listen music in mobile phone.
Apple devices have an Apple store where you can download and use various
Apple Store
apps.
Difference between a smartphone and a tablet are
Smartphone Tablet
Screen size is smaller Has a bigger screen
Watching a movie or making changes Watching videos and making changes to a photo is
to a picture is difficult better and easier due to bigger screen size
You need to charge phones more often Usually have a longer battery life
Session 3: ICT Tools: Smartphones and Tablets – II
What is mobile layout?
Mobile layout means a visual structure of the mobile which helps the user to interact with the
mobile app. To use smartphone, you have to know about basic layout –
• Power button – The purpose of power button is to start and shutdown the mobile
device.
• Screen – Screen helps to perform task by touching with fingers.
• Back button – Back button is used to go back to the previous screen in an application.
• Microphone – Microphone is used to talk to someone else.
• Menu button – This is used to show the options available in a particular app.
• Home button – This brings you back to the home Screen.
• Earpiece – This helps you to listen to voice calls.
• Volume button – This helps you to increase or reduce the sound of your mobile.
Basic features of a mobile device
The basic features of mobile device are –
Session 4: Parts of a Computer and peripherals
A computer system is a programmable device made to store and retrieve data as well as carry
out logical and mathematical operations to generate useful output. The input unit, central
processing unit (CPU), and output unit are its three primary components.
• Keyboard – Keyboard is the input unit.
• Central Processing Unit – CPU is the processing unit.
• Monitor – Monitor is the output unit.
Central Processing Unit
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is also known as brain of computer, CPU process all the
mathematical and logical problems received from the input device and gives the output to the
monitor just like a human brain.
There are 3 main parts of the CPU –
• Control unit – It controls different parts of computer.
• Processing unit – Performs all the mathematical and logical operation.
• Memory unit – It work as a storage room, where data is stored temporarily in RAM as
well as for a long time (ROM).
Understanding RAM and ROM
RAM stands for Random Access Memory; it is also known as volatile memory. RAM is used to
store the data that is currently open in the computer. ROM stands for read-only memory, which
stores the data and instruction permanently.
Difference between RAM and ROM –
RAM ROM
Temporarily stores information Permanently stores information
Information is lost when computer is switched off Information is stored when computer is off
Information can be changed easily. Information can be changed easily.
It is also known as volatile memory It is also known as non-volatile memory
Motherboard
The motherboard, is also known as the system board, is a main circuit board inside the
computer, it connects input, processing, and output devices.
Storage devices
Storage device is used to store the files and folders or digital information which you can carry
easily from one place to another place using USB flash drive, hard disk, CD, DVD drives etc.
Computer can measure the amount of data stored on a digital device using bits and bytes. The
Bit is a smallest storage unit (Bit represented by 0 or 1). Eight bits combined together and create
one byte.
• 8 bits make a 1 byte
• 1024 bytes make a 1 kilobyte (KB)
• 1024 KB make 1 megabyte (MB)
• 1024 megabyte make 1 gigabyte (GB)
• 1024 gigabyte make 1 terabyte (TB)
Ports and connections
Ports are the slots or channels where we insert the cables for the external hard drive, mouse,
and keyboard. Ports helps us to connect input, output, and storage devices within a computer
system. There are several types of ports that you can use to connect an external device.
• USB Port – USB stands for Universal serial bus, USB helps to connects peripheral devices,
such as a mouse or a keyboard or a printer to a computer.
• Display port – It helps to connect monitor, or any display unit to the computer. There are
two types of display port Video Graphics Array (VGA) and High-Definition Multimedia
Interface (HDMI) depending on the requirement.
• Audio ports – It help to connect microphone, speakers, and headphones to a computer
system.
• Ethernet port – Ethernet port is used for connecting the system to high-speed Internet
cable.
• Power port – Power port is used for connecting the computer system to the power
supply.
Session 5: Basic Computer Operations
A computer system consists of two main parts—the hardware and the software.
• Hardware – The physical parts that we can see, and touch are called the hardware.
Example, Keyboard, monitor, CPU etc.
• Software – The software that we cannot see makes the hardware work the way we
want. for example, Operating System, LibreOffice Writer etc.
Basic functions performed when a computer starts
When we switch on a computer, computer automatically runs a basic program called BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System). The BIOS first run a self-test. If the self-test shows that the system is fine,
the BIOS will load the Operating System.
Using the keyboard
A keyboard helps to insert text, number and command into the computer. There are various
types of keys are available on keyboard –
• Function keys – Function keys start from F1 to F12 to perform specific work. for
example, F1 key is used to open help program in computer.
• Control keys – Control keys perform special functions depend on the purpose. for
example, Control (CTRL), Shift, Spacebar and ALT.
• Enter key – Enter and Return keys helps to move the cursor to the beginning of a line.
• Punctuation keys – Colon (:), semicolon (;), single quotation marks (‘ ‘), double quotation
marks (” “) and question marks (?) are known as punctuation keys.
• Navigation keys – The arrow keys, END, HOME, Page Up and Page Down are known as
navigation keys.
• Command keys – Insert (INS), Delete (DEL) and Backspace are known as command keys.
• Windows key – Pressing this key opens the Start menu.
Using a mouse
A mouse is a small device that you can use to move, select, and open items on your computer
screen.
• Roll over/hover – Moving a mouse over a file or folder in file explorer, it will show the
details of file and folder.
• Point and click – The mouse allows you to select an item on the screen.
• Drag and drop – move the item to a new location.
• Double-click – When we double-click the file icon, it will open the file.
Session 6: Performing Basic File Operations
What is files and folders in computer system?
All the information in computer stored in files, every file name has a file name and extension
that identifies the file type. The file name and file extension are separated by a period or a
‘dot’. for example, notepad file has an extension ‘.txt’, image file has an extension ‘.jpg’, sound
file has an extension ‘.mp3’. Folder is a collection of files and sub folder.
Session 7: Communication and Networking – Basics of Internet
What is Internet?
The Internet is a global network of interlinked computers and electronics devices. It is a vast
network system that links computers worldwide. Every piece of information on the internet is
kept in a webpage on the internet.
Uses of the Internet
There is no limit to what you can do online, but some of the most common uses of internet are
–
• Searching Information
• Online Shopping
• Online Banking
• Online learning
• Entertainment
• E-mail and chatting
• Social networking
Connecting to the Internet
To connect to the Internet, you need:
• A device, such as a computer, laptop or mobile.
• A connection device, i.e., a modem.
• An Internet Service Provider (ISP) – the telephone company which provides the Internet
connectivity.
Types of connections
There are two ways for connecting your computer to the internet:
• Wired connections – When computer is connected to the intenet using wire (Fibre
optical, Ethernet cable or Co-axial cable) is called wired connection.
• Wireless connection – When the computer is connected without wire (Wi-Fi, Cellular,
Satellite communication etc.) is called wireless connection.
What is Bandwidth?
Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over a network in a certain
amount of time. The bandwidth commonly measured in bits per second or bytes per second. for
example, If bandwidth having a capicity of 100 MBPS, it means that network cannot transfer the
data more than 100 MBPS.
The data transfer speed can be calculated in terms of bits per second, for example,
• 1 Kbps (kilo bits per second) = 1000 bits per second
• 1 Mbps (mega bits per second) = 1000 kilo bits per second
• 1 Gbps (giga bits per second) = 1,000 mega bits per second
Session 8: Communication and Networking – Internet Browsing
What is World Wide Web?
World wide web is a hypertext based information, files, images and videos stored in a web
pages and accessible through the internet. This hypertext helps you to navigate between the
web pages.
World Wide Web is made up of –
• A web page
• A web browser
• A system to transfer information between the web browser and the web pages
What is Web page?
A web page is a document that is shared online and stored on a web server. Every web page has
a unique address which is known as domain name. For example, the address of CBSE official
website is [Link] to open web page you required web browser on your computer.
What is hyperlinks?
Websites contain multiple hyperlinks; these hyperlinks are highlighted and underlined words
with a blue color. This hyperlink helps you to navigate from one page to another page or
another section of the same page.
What is Internet browser?
An Internet Browser is an application or a software program on your computer or laptop which
helps you visit the various websites. Some examples of browsers are Google Chrome, Mozilla
Firefox and Microsoft Edge.
Important parts of a web browser –
• Address bar (Alt+d)
• Tabbed browsing (Ctrl+T)
• Back and forward buttons (Alt+Left or right arrow keys)
• Refresh button (F5)
Session 9: Communication and Networking – Introduction to E-Mail
What is e-mail?
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is a quick way of sending messages to people using the Internet. An e-
mail address is made up of two parts separated by the @ symbol. The general format of an e-
mail address is local_part@domain. for example, “anuraganand2017@[Link]”, the part
before the @ is created by the user, and the part after the @ is the domain name of the e-mail
service provider.
Difference between postal mail and e-mail
Postal Mail e-Mail
Postal mail address is a geographical location. e-mail address is a digital location
An e-mail is written on a computer or
Postal mail is written with paper and pen.
mobile device.
e-mail travels in a digital format over an
Postal mail is sent by bus, air, train.
Internet connection.
Postal mail is brought by the postman and E-mail comes into the Inbox of the receiver’s
dropped into the letterbox e-mail account.
Advantages of e-mail
• e-mails can be sent to multiple users along with the attachments.
• e-Mail are fast as they reach anyone around the world immediately
• e-Mail most services are free
• e-Mail are environment friendly, as no paper is used.
Session 10: Communication and Networking – Creating an e-Mail account
To set up an e-mail account, there are a number of popular providers to consider –
• Gmail (run by Google)
• Outlook mail (run by Microsoft)
• Yahoo mail (run by Yahoo)
Steps to open an e-mail account on Gmail
• Step 1: Open [Link]
• Step 2: Click on “Create an account”
• Step 3: Fill the basic information, including username and password
• Step 4: Click on Next button
• Step 5: Google “Welcome page will appear”
• Step 6: Click on “Continue to Gmail”
Session 11: Communication and Networking – Writing an e-Mail
Writing an e-Mail
Gmail is a free e-mail application follow the following steps to writing an e-Mail.
• Step 1: Connect to the Internet
• Step 2: Open Gmail “[Link] in google chrome
• Step 3: Type e-Mail ID and password
• Step 4: Click on “Sign in” button
• Step 5: Click on “COMPOSE” button on the gmail home page.
• Step 6: Write the information including Subject
• Step 7: Write e-Mail address
• Step 8: Click on “Send” button
Managing Folders in e-Mail Home page
There are different folders that could help you manage and organise your e-Mails.
• Inbox – The Inbox holds e-mails.
• Sent – The Sent folder holds e-mails that you have sent to people
• Drafts – The Drafts folder holds all the e-mail you have started writing, but not yet sent
• Junk/Spam – The Junk/Spam folder holds e-mails that may not be useful
• Trash – The Trash can or folder holds e-mails that you no longer need and have deleted.