Module 1 - Key Terms
accessibility: The practice of removing barriers that may prevent individuals with
disabilities from interacting with data or an app.
alternative text (alt text): Text that provides descriptions for all visual elements or
non-text objects in an electronic document or web page.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Law that requires any company with 15 or
more employees to make reasonable attempts to accommodate the needs of
physically challenged workers.
app: Short for “application,” a computer program that performs specific tasks; also
called a program.
audio book: Reads aloud to the user instead of reading on a printed page or on the
screen.
bluetooth: Wireless technology that uses short-range radio connections that simplify
communications among Internet devices and between devices and the Internet.
BYOD (bring your own device): Policy that enables employees to use their personal
devices to conduct business.
chip-and-pin technology: An improvement in card technology that stores data on an
embedded chip instead of a magnetic stripe.
cloud computing: An Internet-based delivery of computing services, including data
storage and apps.
computer: An electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in
its memory, which can accept data, process the data to produce information, and
store the information for future use.
computer-aided manufacturing (CAM): Used by manufacturers to streamline
production and ship products more quickly. With CAM, robots perform work that is
too dangerous, detailed, or monotonous for people.
data: Raw facts, such as text or numbers.
digital citizen: Person familiar with how to use technology in order to become an
educated and productive member of the digital world.
digital divide: The gap between those who have access to technology and its
resources and information, especially on the Internet, and those who do not.
digital literacy: Having a current knowledge and understanding of computers, mobile
devices, the web, and related technologies.
email: A system used to send and receive messages and files using the Internet.
embedded computer: A computer that functions as one component in a larger
product, and that has a specific purpose.
enterprise computing: Refers to the use of technology by a company’s employees to
meet the needs of a large business.
graphic organizer. Software that enables a user to create an outline or structure of
information.
green computing: A practice that involves reducing electricity consumed and
environmental wate generated when using computers, mobile devices, and related
technologies.
hardware: The device itself and its components, such as wires, cases, switches, and
electronic circuits.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): U.S. law that requires that public
schools purchase or acquire funding for adaptive technologies.
information: Data that has been processed to be meaningful.
information technology (IT) department: Department in medium and large businesses
responsible for ensuring that all the computer operations, mobile devices, and
networks run smoothly.
integrated circuits: Developed in the 1960s, packed the equivalent of thousands of
vacuum tubes or transistors into a silicon chip about the size of your thumb.
intelligent classroom: Classroom in which technology is used to facilitate learning
and communication.
intelligent workplace: Uses technology to enable workers to connect to the
company’s network, communicate with each other, use productivity software and
apps, meet via web conferencing, and more.
Internet of Things (IoT): An environment where processors are embedded in every
product imaginable (things), and these things communicate with one another via the
Internet or wireless networks.
kiosk: A freestanding booth usually placed in a public area that can contain a display
device used to present information to the public or event attendees.
learning management system (LMS): A web-based site where students can check
their progress in a course, take practice tests, and exchange messages with the
instructor or other students.
machine-to-machine (M2M): Using computers to monitor computer assembly lines
and equipment.
microprocessor: The “brains” of a computer, a chip that contains a central processing
unit.
mobile health (mHealth): Refers to healthcare professionals using smartphones or
tablets to access health records stored in the cloud, and patients using digital
devices to monitor their conditions and treatments.
network: A collection of two or more computers connected together to share
resources.
personal computer (PC): Computer designed for personal use, as opposed to
commercial or industrial use.
program: A set of coded instructions written for a computer, such as an operating
system program or an application program; also called an application or an app.
screen reader: Technology that uses audio output to describe the contents of the
screen.
smart device: A device that can communicate, locate, and predict; part of the
Internet of Things (IoT).
software: The programs and apps that instruct the computer to perform tasks.
Software processes data into meaningful information.
speech recognition: A technology that enables a computer to understand and react to
spoken statements and commands.
telecommuting: Working from home.
transistor: Smaller, cheaper, and more reliable replacement for vacuum tubes in the
second generation of computers.
vacuum tube: Cylindrical glass tubes that controlled the flow of electrons, used in
the first generation of computers.
Wi-Fi: A wireless data network technology that provides high-speed data connections
that do not require a physical connection. Short for wireless fidelity.