MULTIMEDIA TOOLS AND
APPLICATIONS
SECTION
1 BY: RICHARD ADADE
ICTs IN THE SOCIETY
Organising, Managing and Presenting Information
Using Essential Productivity Tools
17/02/2025
What is a computer?
A computer is an electronic device that can be
programmed to automatically carry out
sequence of instructions such as arithmetic or
logical operations. It can store, retrieve
and manipulate data based on instructions given to
it called programs.
The most general definition of ‘computer’ is simply:
‘something that computes,’ i.e. something that
performs mathematical calculations.
17/02/2025
What is a computer?
In fact, the word ‘computer’ was derived from the Latin
term ‘computare’ and back in the 1700s a ‘computer’
was used to refer to a person who did calculations.
But still general, definition of ‘computer’ is
‘something which processes inputs to produce
outputs.
17/02/2025
What is a computer?
Example:
When you do maths homework, you take in the
questions as input and produce answers to the
questions as output, The ‘processing’ is how you
work out the answers, e.g. you use techniques
you’ve learned and write down
intermediate results on paper.
17/02/2025
Activity 1.1
Think of what computers are used for in your
everyday life. Write as many examples as you can!
Then, share your findings with colleagues.
17/02/2025
WHAT IS ICT?
ICT:
I- Information
C- Communication
T- Technology
17/02/2025
Information
We are focused on computers which input,
process, and output information. Information
can be approximately defined as ‘meaningful
facts and figures’.
For example, ‘Mary is 150cm tall’ is information.
A class register also contains information, it tells
us who is in the class and their attendance..
17/02/2025
Information
NOTE: ‘Information’ and ‘data’ are often used
interchangeably. There are different ways
to distinguish them, depending on your
definitions, but ‘data’ is usually a narrower
concept than ‘information’. It refers to the raw
‘facts and figures’ stored on a computer.
For example, a printed-out photo contains
‘information’ but not ‘data.’ However, that same
photo would be ‘data’ if it was stored on a
computer.
17/02/2025
Communication
Communication is the process of exchanging
information, ideas, thoughts and feelings.
17/02/2025
How information is communicated
Computer-to-Computer communication: How do
different computers send information to each
other? For example, phones send and receive
sound to each other across large distances.
Human-to-Computer communication: How can
you interact with a computer and send it
information? For example, by typing on a
keyboard you can send text to a computer
17/02/2025
How information is communicated
Human-to-Computer-to-Human communication:
How can you use computers to communicate
with other people? For example, you write an
essay on a computer (Human-to-Computer) and
then your teacher reads it (Computer-Human).
You are communicating your ideas to your
teacher through the computer
17/02/2025
Technology
We are focused on ‘technology,’ i.e. human-
made devices.
17/02/2025
Activity 1.2
In your groups, review the uses for computers the
class came up with in Activity 1.1. Discuss which
examples you think might be studied in ICT and why.
Share your responses with the class.
17/02/2025
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
We’ve seen that there are many kinds of
computers, but most of the time when people
talk about a ‘computer,’ what they really mean is
a ‘desktop (personal) computer’, a.k.a.
a PC, which looks like this:
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
A general purpose computer can perform many
different tasks, e.g. on the same computer you
can:
• Write essays • Design posters
• Surf the internet • Play games
• Watch videos • Play music
17/02/2025
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
This is the opposite of a special purpose
computer, which is designed to exclusively
perform a specific task, e.g. an airbag computer
only monitors impacts and inflates airbags.
The reason these general purpose computers can
perform so many different tasks is because they
are programmable. If you give one of these
computers a program (i.e. a set of instructions), it
will perform the task described by the program.
17/02/2025
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
Examples of general-purpose computers include
desktop computers, laptops, tablets, Ipads and
smartphones.
17/02/2025
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
Examples of general-purpose computers include
desktop computers, laptops, tablets, Ipads and
smartphones.
17/02/2025
What makes up a (general purpose) computer
system?
Computer systems are made from hardware and
software.
Did you know?
The first point of physical contact you can have
with any computer system is hardware.
17/02/2025
What makes up a (general purpose) computer
system?
Think of what you can see, hold, touch on a
computer system. Computer hardware
can range from smaller size to a huge size. Some
of them function by connecting them to other
components through a cord. In recent times, there
are cordless ones that use wireless connectivity
17/02/2025
What makes up a (general purpose) computer
system?
Think of what you can see, hold, touch on a
computer system. Computer hardware
can range from smaller size to a huge size. Some
of them function by connecting them to other
components through a cord or wireless
connectivity
Computer hardware is any physical device or
component used in or with a computer
system.
17/02/2025
Classifications of computer hardware
Hardware can be classified as external or internal.
External hardware devices are devices located
outside the computer. Some of these external
devices are called peripherals. A peripheral device
is an auxiliary device that a computer uses to
transfer information externally—for example:
speakers, a computer mouse, and headphones.
17/02/2025
Classifications of computer hardware
External hardware devices fall under;
input devices,
output devices,
processing devices,
storage devices, and
communication devices.
17/02/2025
Input device
An input device is a hardware device which is
used to enter data into a computer for
processing.
Examples are: Keyboard, Mouse, joystick,
microphone, scanner, camera, touch screen, web
cam and track ball.
17/02/2025
Input device
‘Input’ is the actual data that is sent into the
computer system for processing.
Some examples of input include:
• Words written using a keyboard
• Screen clicks using a mouse
• Live video from a webcam
• Sound from someone using a microphone for
voice control
• Movement in front of a motion sensor in an
automatic door
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025
17/02/2025