Name: ________________________ Section: _______ Date: _______________
Grade 6 ICT Ch- 2 SOFTWARE Notes 3
Project Management:
• Project management applications are used to help plan and track the individual
tasks in a project, so that project managers can make the most efficient use of
the available resources.
• Some tasks cannot be started until a previous task is completed or has been
partly completed, so it is important for a project manager to see which tasks are
dependent on others.
• When all of these dependent tasks are combined together into a timeline, it is
easy for the project manager to see the critical path.
• These applications can also be used to set milestones.
• Project management applications can be used to allocate tasks to individual
people or groups of people.
• They often provide the option for individuals or groups of people to be allocated
to more than one task.
• Some project management applications also provide tools for tracking the costs
and arranging for resources to be delivered on time.
Communication software:
Communication software provides remote access to systems and allows users to
contact people using the internet. It can be used to send files and messages as text,
images, audio and video.
✓ Web browsers
• Web browsers allow users to view web pages and websites created in web
authoring software and hosted on servers that are connected to the internet.
• These servers may be in another country. Different browsers have different
features and compatibility with file types used on the World Wide Web.
• Browsers also allow users to access other systems that use the internet but are
not on the World Wide Web, such as file transfer protocol (FTP) servers.
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✓ Email
• Emails can be sent and received by software installed on a computer.
• This locally installed software acts as a client to an email server.
• In addition, it often stores or uses a database of contacts, which is sometimes
available as another application.
• As well as locally installed applications, users can access email through webmail
software, which they reach through a web browser.
• Webmail is an example of a web application that is hosted on a web server and
accessed using an internet connection.
• Some webmail applications allow users to store emails offline for access when
they do not have an internet connection.
• Email applications often provide features such as labels to help organise emails
and filters.
✓ Social media
• Social media can be accessed through a web browser or by using locally
installed apps.
• Some apps provide access to multiple social media accounts.
• App developers create apps that people can download and install on their digital
devices.
• Tweet Deck is an example of communication software used with social media.
✓ SMS
• Short messaging service (SMS) applications are found on mobile phones.
• They allow users to send up to 160 text characters per message using the mobile
phone network. They do not require an internet connection.
✓ MMS
• Multimedia messaging service (MMS) applications extend the capabilities of
SMS.
• MMS can deliver more than 160 characters per message and can include video,
animations, images and audio.
• Like SMS, they are sent using the mobile phone network and do not require an
internet connection.
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✓ Instant Messaging
• Instant messaging applications are very similar to MMS application, but they
require a connection to the internet.
• They can allow users to see when other users are typing, and users can also
prevent others from seeing when they are typing.
• Messages sent via instant messaging applications can include location data.
Software Licensing
Sometimes, users require a software licence to be able to install and use software on
a computer.
There are many types of software licence and the details of software licensing are
complicated. To make things easier to understand, you can think about the two types of
software that are available:
• Free software or open source
• Proprietary
✓ Free or open source:
Free software licences give users the right to study, modify, copy, or distribute a
program. The user can decide if, and how much, to charge for a copy of the
software or any service provided by the software. This means that free software
can be made available for a fee or free of charge. ‘Free’ refers to the user’s
freedom to charge whatever they want because there are no restrictions on the
use of the software.
Open-source software licences make the source code available to users so that
they can modify how the software works or distribute the modified or unmodified
software.
It is available to users to modify / distribute / viewed
Do not accept answers like … free use or access (relation to cost )
Characteristics of open source software
• Source code is available to view.
• Source code is permissible to edit
• Large community of developers
• Often no fee required to use open source software
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✓ Proprietary:
The owner can decide the fee and whether the software should be
distributed .
Proprietary software is software that is marketed and distributed by its owner under a
brand name. the software owner can decide the fee for the software and whether or not
the software should be distributed.
Proprietary software can be made available for a fee or free of charge. When no fee is
required, the software is called ‘freeware’. Unlike software distributed under an open-
source licence, software with a proprietary licence usually does not make its source
code available.
Advantages of using open source software rather than proprietary software :
▪ It is more flexible / it can be personialised (1)because it can be adapted /
modified/ customised to meet the user’s needs (1).
▪ It is cheaper(1) often free(1) because there are no proprietary licensing costs (1).
▪ It is more collaborate(1) because the community of developers work together to
add new features / improvements (1).
▪ Issues can be fixed quickly (1) because anyone can edit it (1).
Drawbacks of using open source software :
▪ Limited technical support / documentation (1) because there is more reliance on
the community(1).
▪ They may not be productive (1)because the software may lack advance features
(1)
▪ May be more susceptible to malware (1)because vulnerabilities can be
discovered(1).
Software updates
Updates to software are released by software developers for the following reasons:
• Fixing security vulnerabilities or bugs
• Increasing compatibility with newer operating systems
• Improving performance and efficiency
• Introducing new features
• Improving usability
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Software updates are usually made available for download from a server on the
internet. Some updates can be scheduled to happen automatically when they are
[Link] is important to back up a system and files before updating software in case
the update introduces problems, such as removing components that other software
needs in order to function.
Reasons for updating system software :
• To protect / patch security flows
• To add news features
• To ensure compatibility
• To fix bugs .
Subject vocabulary:
Timeline a linear graphical representation of events and the time and order in which
they occur
Critical path the shortest time a project will take to complete (if no problems or failures
are experienced)
Milestone a time or date by which a task must be completed
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) a method of exchanging data and files across a network
Filter a computer program that only allows certain types of information to pass through
it
Software licence a legal arrangement that gives a user the rights to install and use
software.
Free software: software that can be modified or distributed by a user
Open- source software: software for which the source code is made available to users
Source code a collection of instructions that forms a piece of software
Proprietary software: software that is marketed and distributed by its owner under a
brand name
Freeware proprietary software provided free of charge to users
Bugs errors in the program’s source code
Compatibility ability of one device, system, or application to work with other devices,
systems, and applications
Vulnerability weakness or exposure to harm
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