IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

PART I. INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals

perform may include:

Lesson 1
The World of Computers

Learning Objectives
At the end of the class the students should be able to:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Define Information Technology

Name different duties that an IT specialist may perform
Recognize the importance of computer literacy.
Identify the difference between data and information
Identify the components of a computer
Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of using
computers

Data Management
Computer Networking
Database Systems Design
Software design
Management Information Systems
Systems Management
Web Development
Computer Animation and Graphic Designs

Computer Literacy

What is Information Technology?

According to Information Technology Association of America

(ITAA), IT is the study, design, development, implementation,
support or management of computer-based information
systems, particularly software applications and computer
hardware.

In short, IT deals with the use of electronic computers and

computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit
and retrieve information, securely.

It is a computer-based tool that people use to work with or

process information.

Recently it has become popular to broaden the term to explicitly

include the field of electronic communication so that people tend
to use the abbreviation ICT (Information and Communication
Technology).

Computers are everywhere: at work, at school and at

home. They are the primary means of communication for billions of
people. Nowadays, computer is an integral part of our daily lives. We
find entertainment using computers through games and viewing
videos on the net. Computer is very vital in businesses in processing
voluminous number of information and in effectively delivering their
products and services to their customers. In education, computers
are now being recognized as one of the important means in the
teaching learning process.
Many people believe that computer literacy is vital to
success. Computer literacy involves having a knowledge and
understanding of computers and their uses.
What is a Computer?
There have been numerous definitions of computer. The
following are some notable definitions from various authors:

Duties that an IT Professionals Perform

The Information Technology umbrella can be quite large, covering

many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range
from installing applications to designing complex computer networks

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control

of instructions stored in its own memory. It can accept data,
process the data according to specified rules, produce results,
and store the results for future use.
A computer system is an electronic device which consists of
several components that together provide the capability of
executing a stored program. It is a device that accepts data,
processes and stores these, and produces a result.
It performs the four basic functions such as input, process,
storage and output as shown on the figure below:

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

Components of a Computer
Basic Computer Functions
Basically, computer as a system is consists of different components
or elements. There are three major components of a computer
system namely hardware, software, peopleware.
These three elements interact with one another in order to produce
desired information from a given set of data.
Hardware refers to the physical components of a computer that
you can actually touch, such as the keyboard, monitor central
processing unit (CPU, mouse, printer, etc.

Data and Information

On our definition of computer, it is important to note the
word data and information. The following discussion identifies the
difference between data and information.

Software unlike hardware this element of computer system is

untouchable. It is a set of instruction use to direct the hardware on
how to turn data into useful information for people to use. These are
programs used by the user to interact with the computer.
Peopleware these are the people who used the computer system.
They are the most important factor in a computer system because
they manipulate and program the computer system to make it useful.
A typical computer system is consists of the following:

The Element of a Computer System

Advantages of Using Computers

The benefits of computers are possible because computers have the
advantages of speed, reliability, consistency, storage and
communications.
Speed
Computers process data into information. Data is a
collection of unprocessed items which can include text, numbers,
images, audio, and video. Information conveys meaning and is
useful to people.

Computer operations occur through electronic circuit.

When data, instructions, and information flow along these circuits,
they travel at incredibly fast speeds. Many computers process billions
or trillions of operations in a single second.

Data are raw, unprocessed facts; facts that may take the
form of a number, an image, sound or statement that are processed
into information. It is the plural form of the Latin word datum which
means, given or fact.

Reliability

Informationis processed and organized data and thus is

more meaningful and useful. Processing involves data manipulation
which aims to produce information.

Consistency

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

The electronic components in modern computers are

dependable and reliable because they rarely break or fail.

Given the same input and processes, a computer will

produce the same results consistently. Computers generate errorfree results, provided the input is correct and the instructions work.

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

Storage
Computers store enormous amounts of data and make this
data available for processing anytime it is needed.

your team and combine your lists. Consider how each computer is
used. How were the tasks the computers perform done before
computers? Submit your group answers on a one whole intermediate
pad.

Communications

References

Most computers today can communicate with other

computers, often wirelessly. Computers allow users to communicate
with one another.

Shelly, Gary B., Cashman, Thomas J., Vermaat, Misty E.,

Discovering Computer Fundamentals.Third Edition, Thomson
Learning Asia Course Technology. 2006.
Information Technology. Retrieved June 1, 2008 from the world
wide web at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology

Disadvantages of Using Computers

Some disadvantages of computers relate to the violation of privacy,
the impact on the labor force, health risks, and the impact on the
environment.
Violation of Privacy
It is crucial that personal and confidential records stored
computer in computers be protected properly. In many instances,
where these records were not properly protected individuals have
found their privacy violated and identifies stolen.
Impact on Labor Force
Although computers have improved productivity and
created an entire industry with hundreds of thousands of new jobs,
the skills of millions of employees have been replaced by computers.
Health Risks
Prolonged or improper computer use can lead to health
injuries or disorders. Computer users can protect themselves from
health risks through proper work place design, good posture while at
the computer, and appropriately spaced work breaks.
Impact on Environment
Computer manufacturing processes and computer waste
are depleting natural resources and polluting the environment.

Learning Activities
Working Together
Computers are everywhere. Watching television, driving a car, using
a charge card, ordering fast food, and the more obvious activity of
typing a term paper on a personal computer, all involve interaction
with computers. For one day, have each member of your team make
a list of every computer he or she encounters (be careful not to limit
yourselves just to the computers you see). Meet with the members of
Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

used to move a pointer on the screen.
Underneath is a ball that is rolled on a flat
surface to control the movement of the pointer.
A trackball is similar to a mouse but the ball is
the one directly moved to control the movement
of the pointer.
A joystick is a pointing device with a base and
a vertical handle that pivots in all directions.
This is usually used in playing computer
games.

Lesson 2
The Components of Computer System

A touch screen is a display screen that allows

users to interact with the system by touching
specific areas on the screen.

Learning Objectives

A light pen is a sensitive stylus or pen device

that is serves as a virtual pen that allows
freehand drawing.

At the end of the class the students should be able to:

a.
b.
c.
d.

Identify the different components of a computer system

Recognize the different classifications of hardware such as
input device, output device, system unit, storage devices and
communications devices.
Classify computer software
Identify the four major compositions of peopleware

A flatbed scanner translates images of text,

photo and other graphics into digital form. The
digitized image can then be manipulated or
reproduced using a computer.
A barcode scanner translates barcode
symbols into digital form and is usually used in
malls and supermarkets.

HARDWARE
Hardware a\may be classified into input devices, output
devices, the central processing unit (CPU) and secondary storage.

A web camera (or webcam) is a realtimecamera whose images can be accessed

using the World Wide Web, instant messaging,
or a PC video calling application.

Input Devices
Input hardware consists of external devices that is,
components outside of the computers CPU that provide
information and instruction to the computer used to input or to enter
data or information in the computer. Table below shows the different
typical input devices:

Input Devices

A desktop microphone is a computer device

use for communication that capable of
transferring voice to a particular recipient.

Description
A computer keyboard has alphabetic, numeric
and function keys for the entry of data.
Output Devices
A mouse is a handheld pointing device that is

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

Consists of devices which communicate the result of
processing back to the user by converting electrical signals
There are two types of output that a computer system
produced, these are:
Output Devices

Description
Monitors display images using grids of dots
called pixels. It is the most common output
device that shows information on the screen.
A printer is common equipment used to output
information from the computer. The digital
equivalent of the information shown on the
screen are transferred or printed on paper.
The three basic types of printers are: dot
matrix,
inkjet and laser printers.

A plotter is an output device used to produce

high quality drawings. It is use to print huge
images.
Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers,
are external speakers that are use to produce
sounds.

Soft copy- Information that is displayed on a screen, given by voice,

or stored in a form that cannot be read directly by a person, as on
diskette, compact disc, or flash drive.
Hard copy- Information printed on paper in contrast to being
electronically displayed on a computer screen. This term is now used
by many people to represent all paper documents.
System Unit
All operations performed by the computer system are
controlled by the physical device called the central processing unit. It
is the brain of the computer system. Its main function is to perform
arithmetic and logical operations on data taken from the primary
storage or on information entered through any input device.
Basic Components of CPU
1.

Main Storage

Also called the memory of primary storage, it is like an

electronic filing cabinet capable of holding data or instructions. This
is where instructions and data are stored while processing is being
done. The two types of memory inside the main storage are the ROM
and the RAM

A head phone is a receiver, as for a telephone,

radio, or stereo, held to the ear by a headband.

A multimedia or video projector takes a

videosignal and projects the corresponding
image on a projection screen using a lens
system. Video projectors are widely used for
conference room presentations, classroom
training, and home theatre applications.

Two Types of Output that a Computer System Displays

2.

Random Access Memory (RAM) This kind of memory is

volatile. RAM requires electric current to retain information on
it. Hence, all information stored in it are lost or erased when
the computer power is turned off or interrupted.
Read Only Memory (ROM) This type of memory is nonvolatile; the instructions still hold even when there is power
interruption or shut-off.
Registers

This function as fast accessed temporary memory

locations. The bits of information taken from the main memory and
those that will be placed in the main memory are temporarily held in
the registers while computations are being performed.
3.

Buses

These are bundles of tiny wires that serve as the

communication path between components of the CPU. The three
most important buses are the address, data and control buses.
4.

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

It performs operations such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division, as well as moving, shifting, and
comparing data (Logical Calculations).
5.

data.

Control Unit

USB flash drives are typically small,

lightweight, removable and rewritable. They are
generally faster, hold more data, and are
considered more reliable (due to their lack of
moving parts) than floppy disks.
Flash Drive 128MB- 4GB or more

This component is responsible for directing the flow of

instructions and data within the CPU. It fetches the instruction from
the main memory for execution in the CPU.

Storage Devices

A memory card or flash memory card is a

solid-state electronic flash memorydata storage
device used with digital cameras, handheld and
laptop computers, telephones, music players,
video game consoles, and other electronics.
They offer high re-recordability, power-free
storage and small form factor. Memory
Capacity- same as a flash drive

The secondary storage is where the data are stored

permanently. It is outside the primary storage and serves just like a
filling cabinet. The two classes of secondary storage media are direct
access media and sequential access storage media.

Direct Access Media (e.g. floppy disks) supports

sequential or random access where data can be accessed
directly.
Sequential Access Media (e.g. magnetic tape) where
data are accessed in a specific order.

Secondary
Storage Media

Portable Disks
A portable counterpart of a hard disk that is use
for storing computer data. Hard disks generally
offer more storage and quicker access to data
than floppy disks do. Memory Capacity- same
as an ordinary hard drive.

Description

A memory card reader is a device, typically

having a USB interface, for accessing the data
on a memory card.

Magnetic Tape This is the old traditional

medium which is sound, robust, with high
capacity and the cheapest storage medium.
Magnetic Disks
a. Floppy disks (e.g. Diskette 1.44MB) are
slower to access than hard disks and have
less storage capacity, but they are much less
expensive. And most importantly, they are
portable.

b. Hard Disk 10-100 GB or more - a digitally

encoded non-volatile storage device which
stores data on the magnetic surfaces of hard
disk platters.
The term hard is used to distinguish it from a
soft, or floppy, disk. Hard disks hold more data
and are faster than floppy disks.
Optical Disc
Is flat and circular. Optical discs were initially
used for storing music and software. An optical
disk is a plastic-coated disk that stores digital
Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

CD 700MB
DVD 4GB- 17 GB or more
Mini Disc 200-300 MB

Communication Devices
A communication device is a hardware component that
enables a computer to send (transmit) and receive data, instructions
and information to and from one or more computers. Communication
occurs over cables, telephone lines, cellular radio networks, satellites
and other transmission media. Some transmission media, such as
satellites and cellular radio networks are wireless, which means they
have no physical lines or wires.
The following are some of the most common communication devices
used.
Communication
Devices

Description

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

Routers
Cables
In the network you will commonly find three
types of cables used, these are the coaxial
cable, fiber optic, and twisted pair.

Routers operate at the network layer (layer 3)

and therefore, make forwarding decisions on
the basis of network addresses which are
called IP (Internet Protocol) or logical
addresses

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) - this is the

most popular form of cables in the network
and the cheapest form that you can go with.

Modem
A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a
device that modulates an analog carrier signal
to encode digital information, and also
demodulates such a carrier signal to decode
the transmitted information.

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) is more

common in high- speed networks. The biggest
difference you will see in the UTP and STP is
that the DTP uses metallic shield wrapping to
protect the wire from interference
Coaxial cable consists of a hollow outer
cylindrical conductor that surrounds a single
inner wire made of two conducting elements.

Satellite Dish
A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of
parabolic antenna designed to receive
microwaves from communications satellites,
which transmit data transmissions or
broadcasts, such as satellite television.

Fiber Optic cable is the most expensive

network cable. This cable is smaller and can
carry a vast amount of information fast and
over long distances.
SOFTWARE

Hubs
Hubs are sometimes called concentrators or
wiring concentrators when they are central
component in a star topology because they
provide a common connection among
devices.

The set of instructions or programs that tells the computer

how to do a specific task is called a software(there is no such word
as softwares, because the plural form of software is also software.
Software is categorized into two, namely system software and
application software.
1. System Software
It helps to computer programs or library files whose primary
purpose is to help run the computer system. It performs tasks
necessary to the efficient management of the hardware.
Types of System Software

Switch

Switch is a connectivity device similar to a

hub, except switches make intelligent routing
decisions on the basis of layer 2 hardware
addresses, whereas hubs are dumb and do
not make any routing decisions.

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

a.Operating System this are sets of programs which controls and

coordinates the whole operation of the computer system.
Ex. Microsoft Windows NT/XP/2000/98/95/3.1, Disk Operating
System (DOS), UNIX, Mac OS,LINUX OS/2
b.Utility Programs are system software service programs that
help the operating system efficiently manage files and do
housekeeping functions.
Ex. Norton Utilities, Disk Defragmenter, McAffee Virus Scan,
Disk Clean up, AVG Anti-virus Software
c.Compilers and Interpreters are programs that translate highlevel language programs into object code. Compilers translate the
whole program as an object code at once while interpreter translate it
one statement at a time.
Ex. COBOL compiler, C compiler, Fortran compiler, BASIC

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

compiler
1.

Management Group
Computer Systems Manager - directs and plans
programming computer operations and data processing.

2.

Systems and Procedure Group

- with expertise on hardware and software design they analyze,
develop and apply principles to produce computer applications
and gadgets.
Computer Scientist
Computer Engineer
Systems Analyst

3.

Programming Group
Computer Programmer - Responsible for writing, testing
and maintaining detailed instruction or programs.

4.

Computer Operations Group

Computer Operator The computer operator sets up the
processor and related equipment, loads and unloads
programs, and ensures proper and correct operations of
the computer
Data Encoder/ Data Entry Operator A data encoder
prepares and encodes documents to transform source
documents into machine readable and acceptable inputs.
Computer Librarian A computer librarian is responsible
for cataloguing, storing and securing processed storage
media like disks and tapes.

2. Application Software
Programs that help solve and meet user problems and
needs directly. They are designed to perform specific functions,
which make daily activities easier and facilitate the performance of
work efficiently and effectively.
Different Categories of Application Software
1.

2.

3.

4.

Productivity Software
a. Word processing Software
b. Spreadsheet Software
c. Database Software
d. Presentation Graphics Software
e. Personal Information Manager Software
f. Project Management Software
Graphics and Multimedia
a. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Software
b. Desktop Publishing Software
c. Web Page Design Software
d. Imaging Editing Software
e. Video/Audio Editing Software
f. Multimedia Authoring Software
Home, Personal and Educational Use
a. Integrated Software
b. Personal Finance Software
c. Legal Software
d. Photo-Editing Software
e. Clip Art / Image Gallery
f. Home Design / Landscaping
g. Educational Software
h. Entertainment Software
Communications
a. E-mail software
b. Web Browser
c. Chat client software
d. Newsreader software
e. Instant Messenger Software
f. Groupware Software
g. Videoconferencing Software

Three Basic Types of Application Software

1.
2.
3.

Commercial Application Software comes prepackaged and

is available from software vendors, in short, it must be
purchased.
Shareware are software developed and released as
demonstration versions of their commercial products.
Open Source is created by generous programmers and
released to the public domain for free and for public use.

Learning Activities

Short Answer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

How is hardware different from software?

How is an input device different from an output device? Identify
some commonly used input and output devices.
What are the common storage devices and how do they differ?
List down different communication devices commonly used.
What is the difference between application software and system
software?
What are the four basic categories of peopleware? How do they
differ from each other?

References
PEOPLEWARE
The skilled workers in the Information Technology field are
considered as the peopleware. The major compositions of these IT
professionals are the management group, systems and procedures
group, programming group and the computers operations group.
Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega

Shelly, Gary B., Cashman, Thomas J., Vermaat, Misty E.,

Discovering Computer Fundamentals.Third Edition, Thomson
Learning Asia Course Technology. 2006.

IT Fundamentals / Intro to IT/ BSIT 1A&B

Albano, Gisela May A., AtoleRonnel R. &Ariola, Rose Joy Y.
Introduction to Information Technology, Trinitas Publishing, Inc.,
Meycauyan, Bulacan, 2003
Andes Sr., Antonio M., Introduction to Computer.World Class
Printing and Packaging. 2003

Mrs. Michelle C. Tanega