COM MPUT TER ED DUCAT TION YEAR 1 12

2015

Techno ology and Employme E ent Skills Training T Ministryy of Educattion, Fiji. 28th November N r 2014

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Contents No.

Topic

Page

Preface..............................................................................

2

Acknowledgement...............................................................

3

1.0

The Internet and the Web....………………………………..

7

1.1

The Internet and WWW..…………………………………….

7

1.2

The Cyber Culture……………………………………………

10

1.3

Communication...........………………………………………

11

1.4

Web Technologies..……………………………………………..

14

2.0

Careers for Computing Professionals……………………..

21

2.1

Careers In Computing…………………………………………

21

3.0

Computers In Society......…………………………………….

24

3.1

Computerization of Society.....………………………………

24

3.2

Privacy of Information..........................................................

28

3.3

Computer Criminals............................................................

31

3.4

The Computer Crime..........................................................

33

3.5

Measures to Protect Computer Security..............................

38

4.0

Communications and Networks.........................................

44

4.1

Communications and Connectivity......................................

44

4.2

Methods and Modes of Data Transmission.........................

49

4.3

Computer Networks............................................................

52

4.4

Network Types....................................................................

54

4.5

Network Architecture...........................................................

57

2

4.6

Network Strategies..............................................................

60

4.7

Organizational Networks....................................................

63

5.0

Programming.....................................................................

69

5.1

Visual Basic Applications Files...........................................

70

5.2

Integrated Development Environment...............................

72

5.3

Writing Good Visual Basic Applications.............................

79

5.4

Introducing More Controls in Visual Basic........................

84

5.5

Trying hands-on Programming Example............................

88

5.6

Introduction to Variables and Data Types..........................

93

5.7

Trying a hands-on Programming Example...........................

99

5.8

Decision Structures.............................................................

106

5.9

Repetition Structures...........................................................

111

5.10

Writing General Procedures................................................

116

5.11

Menus...................................................................................

120

5.12

Finding and Fixing Errors.....................................................

121

6.0

Managing and Maintaining Data Online...............................

129

6.1

What is Cloud Computing? ...................................................

129

6.2

Common Cloud Storage Services........................................

131

6.3

Switching to the Cloud Service for Data Management.........

138

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Chapter 1 The Internet and the Web

After completing this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Differentiate between internet and WWW 2. Discuss the effects of cyber culture 3. Identify and compare different search tools 4. Describe different web technologies

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1.0 Introduction Internet today can support various kinds of applications and communications. Web utilites provide users a convenient way to interact with internet whether for business or personal use. From small sized to large business organizations and the people in general, all benefit with the advancement of internet technology. However, there has also been a negative side to this huge growth in internet. A huge increase in internet related crime is becoming common. This is known as cyber-crime. Some cyber-crimes are discussed under the disadvantages of internet.

1.1 The Internet and WWW Internet is simply a network of networks. It is the actual physical network that spans the entire globe. It is made up of computers, handheld devices, cables, switches, routers, satellitesand wireless devices. Everything that can be accessed on/from the internet is known as resources. These resources are simply stored on some devices usually known as servers. Servers are computer with huge storage and processing capabilities. The World Wide Web simply provides means and ways to access the internet‘s resources. It gives a multimedia interface whereby we can easily interact with the resources that are available on the internet. Multimedia is a combination of various forms of media. For example: animations such as growing/shrinking text, hypertext, sound, images and videos. WWW organizes information by using hypermedia. Interface is a way of interacting with these media, usually by clicking on hyperlinks or simply on images to view or save it on your computer. Figure 1.1 below shows the structure of the internet web.

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Figure 1.1Internet 1 m map In order to access the WWW,, you need a browser. A browser is i a program m that allow ws you to w site for example, In nternet Expllorer, Mozillla Firefox, Opera, O Apple Safari, launch tthe desired web Google Chrome an nd Netscape. Every web bsite has a u uniform ressource locattor (URL) or o simply T launch a particularr website, yo ou need to type t the UR RL in the known as a websitte address. To addresss box of yourr browser. UR RL example:http://www.fiji.gov.fj For a UR RL, http stannds for Hypeertext Transfeer Protocol, the t protocol used to acceessing most w web sites. WWW, the subdom main, is the network n conssisting of miillions of intternet sites that t offer hyypermedia i known as the t domain name n and .fj is known as the country code. For some URLs resourcees.fiji.gov.fj is it calledd the top leveel domain coode. Table 1.1 1 below shhows some commonly c ussed top levell domain codes. Top Levvel Domain Code C

Meanin ng

..com

Commerrcial

..gov

Governm ment

..edu

Educatioon

..net

Network k

..mil

Military

..org

Organizaation

Table 1.1Top level domain d codees - meaning

Discovery Learning: L Identify, nam me and explaain the differeent parts of some s URLs including thee directoriess and file nam mes

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Apart from the browser, you must also have access to the internet in order to utilize the web services. Internet access is usually granted by Internet Service Providers (ISP). Some common ISPs in Fiji are Connect Fiji, Unwired Fiji, Vodafone, Digicel, Kidanet by Fintel and USP through AARNET for USP students/staff only.

Review Exercise 1.1 True/False a) Internet and WWW are same. b) Multimedia can be used as hypermedia. c) .com is an example of a top level domain code. d) Browsers are programs that allow access to Web resources. Completion

a) The domain code .org stands for b) A(n) c) The

.

is the protocol used by browsers to access websites. provide internet service to its subscribers.

Short Answer Questions

a) What is the difference between internet and WWW? b) Explain the parts of an URL? c) Give five examples of URLS? d) What is hypermedia?

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1.2 The Cyber-culture Cyber - culture is a set of sociaal expectationns, etiquette (manners), history and d language used u by a collectioon of peoplee active on the t World Wide W Web. Just as the non-cyber n w world is separrated into cliques ((groups) and d countries, the t cyber wo orld is separaated into taxoonomies (claassifications)) and web spheres((circles). Thee countries of o the worldd are partiallyy represented in cybersp pace (interneet) by the country domains, bu ut more thann ever peoplee are less coonnected by language annd locale andd more by commonn interest. The importtance of thiss cyber-cultuure to educattional technoology is thatt it is the ground uupon which we should build our e--learning fram meworks as it is rapidly y becoming common ground for f every con nnected persoon in the worrld. Over thee years cybeer culture haas been channging rapidlyy. This is paartially becau use the brow wsers and website are capable of so much more rich media m than inn the past, an nd partially because b the internet i is becominng ubiquitouss (everywherre) in mainstrream offline society. Everyone in the real world haas to have a connecction to the cyber-world c w have constructed. we Businessses can mark k their successs by the streength of theirr online brannd. Some treends in use of o the internet show that intternet users have h been decreasing in age. a For those younger inn age, there are a social m connnections networkking sites such as Faceboook, MySpacee, and Twitteer, all of whicch serve to maintain with num merous friends. Users on these sites may m post whaat they are do oing – which h all their frieends are able to vview – and co omments on what w other peeople are doiing. It may bee the world‘ss largest gosssip chain, and not a word has too be spoken for f it to happen. Friends and a siblings may m not speaak for over a year, yet they willl still be ablee to tell whatt the other paarty had for breakfast b thatt morning. Rumors R can be b started on netwoorking sites, and they cann sometimes ruin ―real-lifeǁ friendshiips, if they arre vicious ennough. It seem silly to think thhat somethingg typed on a computer scrreen can havve such a far influence, i buut such is the poweer of the inteernet.

Figure 1.2 1 Social neetwork 10

The effects of Cyber-culture With the creation of the internet, the lifestyles of people around the globe have undergone a quick and drastic change. This new method of communication accounts for a large portion of how people interact, shop, learns, and transmits information. What used to take several months to cross from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere now only takes a few seconds, courtesy of the power of electricity. While some may argue that the internet has only helped improve the cultures already existing, a valid argument may be made for the new internet subculture that has evolved. Americans in particular are notorious for spending more and more of their time in this new ―cyber-cultureǁ.

1.3 Communication and Search Tools Communication There are several types of communication possible over the internet. The most common form of communication is electronic mail (e-mail). E-mail is the sending and receiving of electronic messages over the internet. There are two main types of e-mail. Web-based e-mail enables you to access your email account from any computer and usually store your e-mails on a Web server. Google‘s G-mail, MSN‘s Hotmail and Yahoo Mail are typical examples of these. The other type is the client based e-mail, which consists of an email program you install on your computer where the e-mail is downloaded and stored locally on your computer. In order to send and receive an email, you need an email account and internet access. The most commonly used client based e-mail programs for email are: Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird and Apple Mail. A typical email message has three basic elements: header, message and signature. The header is typically made of three parts: Address, Subject and Attachment. Address: This is the section where you type the email address of the person you are sending the message to. Subject: gives a brief topic/heading as to what the message is about. Attachment: any other item that is not directly part of the message can be tagged together with the message, for example images, small videos, music and other files. The message comes after the header, this is where you simply type the message you want to send the other party. The final part is the signature which is simple the additional information of the person sending the message. This signature is set once only and is tagged automatically with the message every time you compose a new email message. Figure 1.3a shows the three parts of a typical Microsoft Outlook email. The second major form of communication these days is through instant messaging (IM) and chat. Both IM and chat offer live and direct communication however, IM is more sophisticated compared to chat.

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Heeader Siignature

Message

Figure 1.3aMS 1 Outllook email coomposition In addittion to text messages, IM M also allow ws file transfer, voice and a video communicatioon. Some commonn examples of o IM are Skyype, MSN livve messenger and Yahoo o messenger. You must noote that at present there is no cross comm munication possible p bettween differrent IMs. Foor example, a yahoo S user. messengger user cannnot communicate with a Skype Chat on the other haand offers onlly text based d messaging. However, th his is far morre favored annd utilized b it costs c less. Sending plain n text messaages over thhe internet iss much cheaaper than simply because communnicating via live l video. Search T Tools Search ttools (also knnown as searcch engines) are a programss that enable searching for relevant infformation on the WWW W much easier. Mostt search enginnes present a default chooice of everytthing or web category. This cateegory display ys relevant websites w for the t informatiion being seaarched for. Howeveer, the user can select a search category for im mages, videoos, scholar articles, new ws, maps, shoppingg and many more for a more m refined d and direct search. The world‘s most widely used search engine ttoday is Gooogle. Some other comm monly used search engines are Yahhoo, MSN, Bing B and WebCraawler. Figuree 1.3b showss the Google search enginne home pagge with the caategory tabs.

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Category tabs t

Default caategory

Figure 1.3b 1 Google search enginne home pagge Discoveryy Learning: What are the other forrms of commu unication appart from e-m mail, IM and chhat? Describee them. Review Exercise 1.33 True/Faalse a) The thhree parts off an e-mail arre address, su ubject and atttachment. b) Googgle chrome iss a search enggine. c) IM is more populaar than chat. Compleetion a) Skypee is an exampple of b)

.

alllows people to communicate direct annd live by seending plain text t based messages. m

c) The hheader of an email comprrises of

,

Short A Answer Quesstions a) Comppare and conntrast IM and chat. b) Whatt is purpose of o the signatuure in an emaail?

c) Descrribe the stepss to set up a signature s forr your e-maill account. 13

an nd

.

The Inteernet is a worldwide w coollection of networks that t links millions m of bu usinesses, governm ment offices,, educationaal institutionns, and individuals. Daata is transfeerred over thhe Internet uusing serveers, which are a computeers that mannage networrk resourcess and providde centralizzed storage areas, a and clients, c whicch are compputers that can c access the t contentss of the storage aareas. The data d travels over comm munications lines. l Each computer or o device onn a communnications lin ne has a num meric addresss called an IP (Interneet protocol) address, thhe text version oof which is called a dom main namee. Every tim me you speciify a domain name, a DNS (d domain nam me system)) server tran nslates the domain d nam me into its associated a IP P address, so data cann route to thee correct coomputer.

The mosst widely used service on o the Internnet is the World W Wide Web. The World W Wid de Web (W WWW or Web) W consistss of a world dwide collecction of elecctronic docu uments called Web pages. A browser is i a softwaree program used u to acceess and view w Web pagees. Each Weeb page has a uniique address, called a URL(Unifo U orm Resourrce Locatorr), that tells a browser where w to locate thhe Web pagee. A URL coonsists of a protocol, domain d nam me, and someetimes the path p to a specific W Web page or o location on o a Web paage. Most URLs U begin n with http:///, which staands for hypeertext transsfer protocool, the comm municationss standard thhat enables pages to traansfer on the Web. h engine is a software program p yoou can use too find Web sites, Web pages, and Internet A search files. To find a Webb page or paages, you ennter a relevaant word or phrase, callled search text or k keywords, in n the searchh engine’s teext box. Maany search engines e thenn use a proggram called a spider s to reead pages onn Web sitess and create a list of pagges that conntain the keyywords. Any Webb page that is listed as the result of o the searchh is called a hit. Each hit h is a link that t can be clickeed to display y the associiated Web site s or Web page. Many exxciting Webb pages use multimedia m a. Multimed dia refers too any appliccation that inntegrates text withh one of the following elements: e grraphics, souund, video, virtual v realiity, or otherr media elementss. A graph hic is a digittal representtation of infformation suuch as a draawing, chartt, or photoggraph. Two com mmon file fo ormats for graphical g im mages on thee Web are JPEG(Join J t Photograaphic Experts Group) annd GIF (Graaphics Inteerchange Format), whhich use com mpression teechniques to reducee the size off graphics files fi and thuus speed dow wnloading. Animatiion is the apppearance of o motion crreated by displaying a series s of stilll images inn rapid sequencee. One popu ular type of animation, called an an nimated GIF, G uses com mputer anim mation and grapphics softwaare to combiine several images intoo a single GIF file.

Expplain How E-Mail, F FTP, Newssgroups Annd Messag ge Boards, Mailing Lists, L Chat Roooms, Andd Instant Messaging M Work A varietyy of servicees are used widely w on th he Internet, including e-mail, e FTP, newsgroupps and message boards, maailing lists, chat c rooms,, and instantt messaging g. E-mail (eelectronic mail) m is Y use an e-mail proggram to the transsmission of messages annd files via a computerr network. You create, seend, receivee, forward, store, s print, and delete messages. To T receive messages, m y need you an e-maiil address, which is a combination c n of a usernname and a domain d nam me that idenntifies a user. 14

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an Internet standard that allows you to upload and download files with other computers on the Internet. An FTP server is a computer that allows you to use FTP to upload files to, and download files from, an FTP site. With anonymous FTP, anyone can transfer some, if not all, available files. A newsgroup is an online area in which users conduct written discussions about a particular subject. A mailing list is a group of e-mail names and addresses given a single name. Instant messaging (IM) is a real-time Internet communications service that notifies you when one or more people are online and then allows you to exchange messages or join a private chat room. Business to consumer e-commerce often allows buyers to purchase directly from businesses, eliminating the middleman and thus providing goods and services at lower costs. Other advantages of e-commerce include:      

twenty-four hour access global presence two-way communication decreased costs lower product display and storage costs reduced salesperson costs

1.4 Web Technologies Web Utilities Web Utilities are specialized programs that make using the Internet and Web easier and safer. Three web utilities discussed below are plug-ins, filters and file transfer. Plug-ins are programs that can be loaded automatically as part of the browser thus enhancing the browsers capabilities in displaying information such as images and videos. A plug-in is the most important web utility. Figure 1.4a lists some commonly used plug-ins.

Filters are programs that simply allow blocking access to certain websites. Filters are usually useful for parents to use to block access to the unwanted sites that their children may be exposed to. Browsers such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have built in filters that can be activated when necessary. 15

File trransfer utilitiies such as file fi transfer protocol p (FT TP) enable the user to upload and downlooad files. Uplloading is thhe process of savving files froom your loccal computer to the inteernet for Figuree 1.4a examplee, saving you ur photo on the t Facebookk website. Doownloading is the processs of saving files such as music, video, im mages or anyy other inforrmation from m the internnet to your local l compuuter. Most websitess these days enable userrs to upload and downlooad files, forr example USP‘s Moodle website allows USP U studentss to downloaad lecture notes and tutorrial questionss/solutions as a well as upload their assignm ments for mark king. A more convenient way w of transsferring files is through a peer-to-peeer (P2P) netw working (expplained in w you to bypass any webssite to transfeer files (can be b very hugee files like chapter 4). These proograms allow uter. Limew wire, Frostwiire, Gnutellaa and Bit Toorrent are movies) directly to another perrson‘s compu ms that enable P2P file shharing. examplees of program

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Social Networks The fastest growing use of the internet today is social networking. This simply allows people all over the world to be connected to each other through the internet. Social networking also offers people gaming and file sharing possibilities. The most common application used is chat. Through chat people communicate direct and live with their friends, family and colleagues. Social networking can be

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categorizeed as follow ws: reuniting sites, s friend of a friend siites and com mmon interestt sites. Exam mples of free sociial networkinng sites are given g in Figu ure 1.4b.

Discovvery Learnin ng: Descriibe the three categories of o social netw working sitess and give at leasst two exampples of each category. c

Blogs A blog iis a journal or o newsletterr that is updaated frequenntly and inten nded for the general publlic. Blogs reflect ttheir author‘s philosophiical reflectio ons, thoughtss, ideas and opinions onn social, political and Information and Com mmunicationns Technolog gy (ICT) relaated issues. Sometimes S it is also usedd as a way ps of friends tto keep in tou uch. Automaated tools alloow users (eveen with littlee technical for families or group ww.blogger.ccom and backgrouund) to eaasily create and mainntain blogs. Blog sitees like ww www.bloogcatalog.co om, offer suchh tools and free fr space forr blogs whichh also includdes uploadingg photos.

Discovvery Learnin ng: Find some s examples of blogginng websites. Observe andd write the commoon features amongst a them m.

Figure 1.4bFree soocial networkking sites

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Wikis A wiki is a type of website w that allows a users to add, modiify and delette contents. Wikipedia, W tthe online b know exxample of thiis. The only problem p with h wikis is thee quality andd accuracy encycloppedia is the best of the coontent added d by users. Soome open souurce software such as Meedia Wiki andd TWiki are aavailable for creatting wikis.

Discovvery Learnin ng: Select any topic off interest to yoou. Go to thee Wikipedia website w and search s for thaat topic. See if you unnderstand thee explanationns given andd if not, try annd add your own coomments. Bee sure not to delete d any otther commennts.

Really S Simple Synd dication Feed ds Really SSimple Synddication Feeeds (RSS) provide p a more m convennient and faast way to distribute informattion. RSS puulls the latest updates from fr news, ssports, enterttainment, blo ogs, wikis and a social networkk websites that you have subscribed to t and bringss these updates at one coonvenient plaace. Most people uusually activ vate RSS feeeds into theirr e-mails. Using Outlookk to subscribbe to an RSS S Feed is quick annd easy and does d not invoolve a registrration processs or fee. Aft fter you subsccribe to an RSS R Feed, headlinees will appeaar in your RS SS folders. RSS R items apppear similar to e-mail meessages in yoour inbox. When yoou see a head dline that intterests you, juust click or open o the item m. Podcastting A podcaast is an electtronic audio file, such as an MP3/4 fiile uploaded on the Web for users to download d to their m mobile devicces like iPodds, iPhones, and a iPads. It is like a personal radio station s on thee internet. iTunes aand iPodder websites w colllect and storee podcast for everyone to download. One O example in Fiji is the Vodaafone‘s helloo tunes.

Discoovery Learniing: Descrribe the diffeerence betweeen and iPod, d, iPhone andd iPad.

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Review Exercise 1.4 True/False a) A plug in is a program that is independently activated to enhance the capabilities of a browser. b) Filters are programs for blocking access to certain sites. c) Uploading is the copying of files from the internet. d) Blogs allow news updates to be fed into your email. Completion a) The three types of web utilities are b)

,

and

.

enables people to download music to their phones.

c) The most commonly used application in social networking is

.

Short Answer Questions a) What is the difference between a reuniting and common interest social network website? Give two examples of each. b) Describe how RSS feeds work. c) Give an example of podcasting.

Summary 1.

Internet is the actual physical network that spans the entire globe. It is made up of computers, handheld devices, cables, switches, routers, satellitesand wireless devices. WWW is the multimedia interface to the resources available on the internet.

2. The most widely used communication tool over the internet is email. An email is made up of three parts, header, message and signature. The header has further three elements, address, subject and attachment. 3. Search engines allow people to search for their desired information on the WWW easily. Different categories allow search to be more refined and subject focused. 4. Web utilities allow safe and convenient ways to surf the net. 5. Social networks connect people, friends and colleagues all over the world. 6. Blogging allow people to express their opinions on certain social, political, and ICT related issues. 20

7. Wikis allow people to add, delete and modify contents posted on a website. 8. Podcasting enables people to download music to their mobile devices.

Key Terms blogs

plug-in

chat

podcasting

e-mail

RSS

ergonomics

search engine

filters

wikis

instant messaging

WWW

internet

Review Questions – Multiple Choice

1) Rules for exchanging data between computers is a. Prototype. b. Procedures. c. Protocols. d. Programs.

2) The fastest growing activity on the internet is a. Blogging. b. E-mailing. c. E-commerce. d. Social networking.

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3) The extensions, .com, .edu, .mil, .net and .gov all refer to a. Protocols. b. Domain codes. c. Domain names. d. Sub-domain names. 4) Highlighted text on a web that connects other web sites or places within the same website is called a a. hyperlink. b. plug-in. c. filter. d. blog.

Review Questions – Short Answers

1) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of internet. 2) Briefly describe the difference between the internet and the WWW. 3) What is social networking? Give three examples. 4) What is the difference between blogs and wikis? 5) Explain how plug-ins works? Give four examples.

Additional Readings

O‘Leary, T. J, O‘Leary, L. I. Computing Essentials 2012 Complete Edition. McGraw Hill, New York, 2011. Bidgoli, H. MIS2. Course Technology, Cengage Learning, Boston USA, 2010.

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