Concepts of Information Technology For ECDL Syllabus 

Who Should Attend: This course is suitable for users who would like to understand more about information technology and/or are studying for the ECDL qualification. This is Module 1 of 7

Pre-Requisites: The delegate need not have any prior knowledge of Information Technology

Course Length: One Day

Delegates will learn:

• The Basic concepts of IT
• About Applications and the use of Computers
• IT and Society
• Security, Copyright and the Law
• Hardware, System Software and Ergonomics
• Information Network Services

Basic Concepts

• Identify the component parts of a computer
  
• Understand the concept of an operating system
  
• Understand the function of a computer program
  
• Know the concept of storage and memory
  
• Understand the units of stored data – bit, byte, and file
  
• Understand functionality of graphical interface
  
• Understand the concepts of multimedia

Applications and Use of Computers

• Recognise the importance of using computers
  
• Identify the types of computer systems used in Business, Industry and Education
  
• Identify the types of systems used for hobbies, household accounts, working at home
  
• Identify the types of systems encountered in everyday life e.g. in supermarkets, libraries, and doctors surgeries
  
• Distinguish between system and application software

IT and Society

• Recognise the impact computers have on society
  
• Apply good practice in the use and care of computers
  
• Know what to do if the computer breakdown
  
• Recognise potential dangers to health and safety, e.g. cables are secured and power points not overloaded

Security, Copyright and the Law

• Understand issues relating to software copyright, sharing and lending diskettes
  
• Be aware of privacy issues, and your responsibility to protect data
  
• Outline the main points of the Data Protection Act
  
• Be aware of security issues, protecting your computer, understand how viruses can enter a computer and how this can be avoided
  
• Understand what happens within a computer if there is a power cut

Hardware, Systems Software and Ergonomics

• Know the difference between Software and Hardware
  
• Distinguish between RAM and ROM computer memory
  
• Understand the purpose of backing up your data
  
• Understand the functions of input and output devices
  
• Discuss what affects the speed and capacity of the computer; e.g. clock speed, memory and processor
  
• Understand what a bad working environment, bad posture, glare from screen etc.

 Information Network Services

• Understand the concepts of data communication
  
• E-mail – why is it useful?
  
• E-mail – what is needed to use it from your own computer?

What the Internet is

• How you connect to a communication network
  
• Understand LAN/WAN