CTSCollege Private Secondary School

oSubject: Electronic Document Preparation & Management (EDPM)

oTopic: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTING
oLecturer’s name: S. Ramparas
oWeek number: Week 2
Recap
❖ Lesson 1
❖ Correct home-work

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2) Topic Tracker
Topic: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTING –

Sub-topics-
1. explain the use of the various input devices;
2. explain the use of the various output devices;
3. list various types of storage media and their practical applications.
3) LEARNINGOBJECTIVES
By the end of this session, students should be able to:
1. explain the use of the various input devices;
2. explain the use of the various output devices;
3. list various types of storage media and their practical applications.
Introduction to InputDevices
1. What is an Input device?
2. Can you identify any input device?
3. Have you ever used any input devices?
4. If so, what task did you use it for?

Student Suggested Answers

Teacher Feedback
Answer
Input devices are peripheral devices that allow users to enter information into the computer.
Keyboards, mice, microphones, digital cameras, webcams, scanners and light pens are all
examples of input devices.

* peripheral - A computer peripheral is any external device that provides storage, input and
output for the computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG_pea_aqpQ
Keyboard
The most common type of input device is the keyboard, which, of course, gets its name from the
several keys it contains.
There are keys for each letter of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9 and for common symbols like the
full stop and question mark.
Although the keyboard can be used for a variety of purposes, it is most suited for data entry and
typing documents.

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SA
Mouse
The typical mouse has two buttons on top as well as a scroll wheel. If you turn the mouse over, you'll
see a red light, which is actually a low-powered laser beam that is used to track the movement of the
mouse.
If you have an older mouse, there may be a small ball instead. As the mouse moves, the pointer on
the screen moves as well. When the pointer is over the item that the user wishes to select, he or she
clicks one of the mouse buttons.
You can use a mouse:
• to select a menu command or 'press' a button on the screen
• for highlighting icons and text
• to draw in graphics programs (although light pens and graphics tablets are more suited to this task).
Even though the mouse is a very versatile input device, it can only be used for items on the screen.
In addition, mice that use a laser may move erratically if placed on reflective surfaces. Mice that use a
ball can cause erratic movement on screen when they need cleaning.
 Light pens and graphics tablets
The best way to create drawings on the computer is by using either a light pen or a graphics
tablet.
While both allow you to actually draw images, the light pen allows you to draw directly on the
screen. Of course this requires a special screen.

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SA-NC
Scanner
A scanner is a device that scans existing photographs or printed documents and converts them
to digital images.
Most scanners are flatbed, where you put a page of the document face-down on the flat surface
and close the lid.
However, all-in -one printers often come with sheet-fed scanners, where you put all the sheets
of paper in the tray and the scanner pulls them through one by one like a fax machine does.
Scanners are useful when you do not have the original document or image on your computer.
They save you from having to retype the document. However, because documents are scanned
as images, you need to use optical character recognition software if you want to edit the
scanned text in a word processor.
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that uses an electronic sensor instead of film. The images are stored
digitally on removable flash memory cards. Cameras nowadays have resolutions of about 45
megapixels (approximately 45 million pixels).
A pixel is simply a dot in the image: the more dots, the higher the resolution and the more detail
that can be recorded.
Digital cameras are more convenient than their film counterparts. They have LCD screens that
allow you to compose shots and view images right after you take them, to make sure they come
out properly.
The memory cards are reusable and store hundreds of images at a time.
You do not have to send them to get developed either, so you save a lot of money.
And because the images are stored digitally, they can easily be edited on the computer,
imported into documents or uploaded to the Internet.

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Unknown Author is
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SA
Webcam
A webcam is a small camera that you use to send live video over the Internet. The video quality
is not usually very good but this does not matter since you do not use webcams to do
professional videos. Instead, webcams are normally used so you can see the people you are
videoconferencing or chatting with.

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is licensed under CCBY-ND
Microphone
Computer microphones work the same way as normal ones - the only difference is that they are
smaller. Common uses are voice chatting online, recording audio and giving voice commands to
the computer. However, all of these applications require special software.

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Optical Mark Reader(OMR)
Have you ever done a multiple-choice exam where you had to shade the correct answers? After
the exam, the batch of answer forms would most likely be placed into a device called an Optical
Mark Reader (OMR).
An OMR is a device that can detect the position of pen and pencil marks and determine which
options they correspond to. In addition to multiple-choice quizzes, it is also used for surveys.
OMRs are very fast and require less labour (and the associated costs) when , inputting large
amounts of data. Unfortunately they require specially formatted forms and can get confused if
the answers are not shaded correctly.

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under CC BY
Optical Character Reader(OCR)
An Optical Character Reader (OCR) is a device that detects characters in printed documents. It
allows you to quickly enter printed text into the computer, without having to retype it.
This technology is used to capture data from airline tickets, envelopes and utility bills. However,
OCRs have trouble reading handwriting and low quality text.

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Barcode scanner
You probably are already familiar with barcode scanners used in supermarkets. These devices
scan patterns of parallel black lines (called barcodes) which are used to identify items. The
particular store or supermarket maintains a database which associates each barcode with the
item's current price. This system is much faster and more accurate than manually keying in the
prices into a cash register.

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under CC BY-SA
 Touchscreen
A touchscreen is a display that also serves as an input device. Some touchscreens require
a proprietary pen for input, though most modern touchscreens detect human touch.
Since touchscreen devices accept input directly through the screen, they do not require
external input devices, such as mice and keyboards. This makes touchscreens ideal for
computer kiosks, as well as portable devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

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Review Exercise – Label the pictures
June 2012 – P1
Feedback
Introduction to OutputDevices
1. What is an Output device?
2. Can you identify any output device?
3. Have you ever used any output devices?
4. If so, what task did you use it for?

Student Suggested Answers

Teacher Feedback
Output devices
Output devices are also peripheral devices but they are like the opposite of input devices - they
allow you to get information out of the computer so that humans can read or understand it. The
most obvious examples are computer monitors and printers, but speakers are output devices as
well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSl3vUzqrP0
Monitor
A monitor is what people commonly refer to as the computer screen. In the past, all monitors
were CRT monitors - big, bulky devices that looked, and worked, similar to an old television set.
Nowadays, computers come with thin LCD monitors.

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Printer
A printer is a device that produces hard-copy output on paper. Let us look at the four main types
of printers:
• inkjet printers
• laser printers
• dot-matrix printers
• thermal printers
What is the difference betweenhard
copy and soft copy?
A soft copy is the digital form of a document whereas a hard copy is the printed, human-
readable copy of that document.

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Inkjet printers
These are the small printers found in most homes and offices. They work by squirting tiny
droplets of ink on the paper. Their initial cost is cheap but the ink is expensive. Despite printing
fairly quickly, they produce high quality images and text .

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SA
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Laser printers
Laser printers are the biggest, fastest, most expensive printers so they are usually only found in
offices that do a lot of printing. Instead of ink, they use lasers to fuse toner onto the paper,
which results in excellent text quality.

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BY-SA

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Dot-matrix printers
A dot-matrix printer works almost like a typewriter. Tiny pins in the print -head strike the paper
through an inked ribbon and the resulting dots form text and images. This makes dot-matrix
printers slow and noisy but also makes them uniquely able to print in duplicate using carbon
paper.

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under CC BY-SA

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Thermal printers
As the name suggests, this class of printer works by using heat. A thermal printer does not
require ink, toner or a ribbon, only heat-sensitive paper. So its running cost can be as cheap as,
or even cheaper than, a dot-matrix printer. Thermal printers are used when low quality text is
acceptable, for example when printing cash register receipts or movie tickets. They are also used
in some fax machines.

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Impact printers versusnon-impact
printers
Like the names suggest, impact printers print by striking the paper whereas non-impact printers
print by other means.
So a dot-matrix printer is an example of an impact printer whereas inkjet, laser and thermal
printers are non-impact printers.
Pageprinters versus line printers
The terms 'page printer' and 'line printer ' refer to how fast a printer appears to be printing.
Inkjet and laser printers, which print so quickly that they appear to print an entire page at a
time, are called page printers .
A line printer, on the other hand, is a printer that appears to print an entire line at a time.
Multimedia projector
A multimedia projector is an output device that connects to a display port on your PC and uses a
lens to project whatever is showing on your screen onto a flat surface such as a wall or a board.
You usually plug one into your laptop when you are doing PowerPoint presentations so the
audience can see your slides.

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Speakers
Computer speakers are output devices as well, even though users hear the data as opposed to
seeing it. They work and look like normal speakers, only smaller.

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Feedback
Review Exercise – Write I for input or
Ofor Output
June 2009
1. A computer system is made up of input and output devices.
(a) Define the term ' output device’. ( 1 mark)
(b) List THREE output devices. ( 3 marks)
Total 4 marks
 Introduction to Storage
1. What is meant by storage?
2. Can you identify any storage devices?

3. Have you ever used any storage devices?

4. If so, what task did you use it for?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLQBAe0gkRA
Introduction to Storage
Computers have two types of storage - primary storage and secondary storage - and each has a
role to play.

Primary storage
Primary storage, also known as main memory, is memory that is directly accessible to the CPU.

Primary storage is very fast.

There are two types: RAM and ROM.

RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory) is volatile, meaning that the information stored in it is lost when
the power is turned off. So RAM is used to store temporary calculation results as well as
instructions of currently running programs.

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ROM
The acronym ROM stands for Read-Only Memory. The name should tell you that ROM (usually)
can only be read i.e. it cannot be changed. Data stored in ROM is permanent, making it perfect
for storing the instructions used to boot up (start up) the computer.
Secondary storage
Unlike primary storage, the CPU cannot directly access secondary storage. So data in secondary
storage must first be loaded into RAM before the CPU can use it.
As you can imagine, secondary storage is not nearly as fast as primary storage (and the
technology used by secondary storage devices makes them even slower).

So why would you use secondary storage?

First, it is much cheaper.
Secondly, secondary storage can in most cases hold a lot more information than primary storage.
And lastly, data in secondary storage (unlike RAM) is not lost when the computer is turned off.
Floppy disks
Inside a floppy disk is a round magnetically coated piece of plastic where up to 1.44 MB of data
can be stored.
This is not very much storage space, so floppy disks are mainly limited to storing documents and
small programs.
Floppy disks are portable but slow and unreliable. And although individual floppy disks are
pretty cheap, they hold so little information that they are not cost effective.
So it is no surprise that they have been made virtually obsolete by USB drives, which have none
of these disadvantages.

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Hard disks
A hard disk is a rigid, large-capacity disk.
Like floppy disks, hard disks are magnetic. But that is where the similarities end.
A hard disk is built into its drive and cannot usually be removed. This is why the terms 'hard disk'
and 'hard drive' are used interchangeably. The hard drive is stored inside the main 'box' of the
computer so you cannot see it unless you open the computer up. Inside the drive there is a
read/write head that moves across the surface of the disk retrieving (reading) and storing
(writing) data.

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External hard drives
Although hard drives are normally built into the computer, external hard drives are increasing in
popularity. These drives are put in special enclosures to help protect th em and can be
connected to the computer via USB ports.

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SA
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape, similar to that found in cassette tapes, is a very cheap medium on which to store
data.
Magnetic tape also has a similar capacity to a hard drive.
This makes it ideal for backing up and archiving data. It comes in two forms - as a cassette or as a
reel.
Unsurprisingly, the device used to read from and write to magnetic tape is called a magnetic
tape drive.

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Author is licensed under CC
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BY-SA
CDsand DVDs
Not all storage media utilises magnetic technology.
CDs and DVDs are examples of optical storage media. To the naked eye a CD and a DVD look the
same since they both use similar technology (they are read by lasers).
However, a DVD can hold much more information than a CD (4.7GB as opposed to 700MB).

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Flash memory
Flash memory is a form of secondary storage that utilises solid-state electronics. Although it can
hold a lot of information (up to a few GB), it is very small, making it ideal for use in portable
devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players.
When used in such devices, it is in the form of a tiny card. To copy data from the card, you
remove it from the slot and put it in a card reader which you then connect to your computer.
Many laptops have a card reader built into them.
USBdrives
A USB drive is a tiny portable drive (about the size of a person's thumb) that can plug directly
into your computer's USB port. Because they use flash memory, USB drives are also referred to
as flash drives. The flash memory is built into the USB drive so it cannot be removed.
Flash drives are smaller than floppy disks, more reliable, much faster and can store a lot more
information (a few gigabytes as opposed to 1.44MB).
It is also easier to copy information to a flash drive than a CD or DVD.
For these reasons, flash drives are the preferred way of transferring files from one computer to
another.

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Review Question – Specimen Paper
Summary Slide # 1
Input devices allow you to put information into the computer whereas output devices are used
to get information out.
Keyboards, mice, light pens, graphics tablets, scanners, digital cameras, webcams, OMRs, OCRs
and microphones are all input devices.
The most common output devices are monitors, printers, multimedia projectors and speakers.
Printers produce hard copy.
There are four types of printers: inkjet, laser, dot matrix and thermal.
Page printers appear to print a page at a time; line printers appear to print a line at a time.
Impact printers print by striking the paper.
Summary Slide # 2
You can write information to RAM but not to ROM. However, the contents of RAM are lost when
the computer is turned off.
Secondary storage is slower than primary storage but is also much cheaper.
Floppy disks, CDs and DVDs and magnetic tape must be placed within drives on the computer in
order for the computer to access their information; hard disks are built into their drives within
the computer.
You can only burn a CD or DVD if it is recordable (or rewritable) and you have a burner.
USB drives have made floppy disks obsolete because they are smaller, faster, hold more
information and are more reliable.
Next week’s topic
Distinguish between operating system software and application software;
Describe ways of caring for computers and peripherals in the working environment; and
Discuss health and safety factors associated with computer use.
Home-Work
PastPaper - June2014
PastPaper – June 2007
6. Many of the new computers are being manufactured without a floppy disk. Name TWO other storage
devices, that maybe used instead of a floppy disk. (2 marks)