AT101: Computer Jargon

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AT101 Computer Jargon

• How to talk tech

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When you do a job, there is
The Task
Your Human Factors
Your Workspace Tools
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A metaphor for your workspace

• A desktop
• A bookshelf
• A file cabinet
• A telephone
• Optional or required?
• A computer
• High speed Internet access (DSL or Wireless)

Or is the next scene more like yours?
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When you work (in an unwired world) you might

• Take pen or pencil and write or draw
• Take a book from your bookshelf and open it on
  your desktop
• Put completed work into folders and put the
  folders in your file cabinet
• Send letters or give papers to others
• Call someone on the (cell) phone
• Well get to text messaging IM later...

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You might also

• Use a calculator
• Look up something in a reference book
• (Yes, some people still do that)
• Check your phone and/or address book
• (Not your cell phone contacts list)
• Use scissors to cut and tape bits of paper
  together
• Make copies of your work

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To write or draw

• You might use a
• Pen
• Pencil
• Brush
• Eraser

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On your bookshelf

• You might have
• Textbooks curriculum guides (how to teach)
• Reference books (what to teach)
• Style manuals (how to write)

These we use but dont usually change but we
might highlight our own
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To store your work

• You may have
• File cabinets
• With drawers
• Containing file folders
• That have documents inside

OR You have one drawer with everything loose
inside it!!
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But in a digital world, we create a virtual
workspace
Using a computers hardware and software
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Our Desktop

• Consists of
• A place to work
• Desktop RAM
• And the software applications that allow us to do
  our work

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Application programs are our

• Tablets pencils (word processor)
• Calculators and/or graph paper (spreadsheet)
• Index card or notebook (databases)
• Textbook or workbook (e-book, educational
  software)
• Telephone (email or IM)

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The size of our desktop

• Is defined by the amount of RAM (Random Access
  Memory)
• The more memory, the bigger (and faster) our
  desktop
• Applications run
• In the foreground (what we are doing)
• In the background (waiting to be used)

The Taskbar shows whats running and waiting
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Memory

• The short term memory of the computer
• Active Memory
• Measured in bytes (KB, MB, GB)
• RAM vs ROM
• Different from Cache

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To DO something on the desktop we need

• Input devices
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Touch screen
• Scanner
• Stylus
• Microphone
• Voice Recognition
• Digital camera

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Input Devices

• Tools that allow a user to interface with a
  computer.
• Many different options.
• Basic requirements are alphanumeric input and
  pointing input.

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Input Devices, Cont.

• Alphanumeric Input
• Keyboards
• Switches
• Onscreen Keyboards
• Voice Recognition
• Scanners/OCR

• Pointer Input
• Mouse
• Switches
• Touch Window
• Track Ball
• Joystick
• Track Pad
• Voice Recognition

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To see or hear work on the desktop we need

• Displays (visual or auditory)
• Monitor
• LCD panel
• Sound card speakers
• Speech synthesizer

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Output Devices

• Allows the user to receive information that the
  computer has processed.
• Types of output are highly variable.

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Output Devices, Cont.

• Screens (Many Sizes)
• Printers
• Audio Output
• Braille Embossers
• Refreshable Braille Displays

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To keep our work, we have

• Storage
• The long term memory of the computer.
• Can be fixed or portable.
• Measured in bytes (KB, MB, GB).

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Storage, Cont.

• Fixed
• Hard Drive

• Portable
• Floppy Disk
• CD-ROM
• Zip Disk
• Tape
• Portable Hard Drive
• Flash Cards
• And.

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Storage, Cont.
Smart Card
Java Ring
Flash Drive
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For our bookshelf, we have

• Read-only Media
• PDF files
• CD or DVD
• Web-based search engines
• Google
• Yahoo
• On-line Databases
• Milner Library

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For communicating with others, we have

• Communication devices
• Dial-up Modem
• Network or wireless card
• With high speed Internet access (DSL)
• Internet phone

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And controlling it all, we have

• The Brain with
• A Microprocessor (CPU)
• A Display processor (EGA, VGA, SVGA)
• And etc
• Sound cards
• Media players

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The CPU

• This carries out all the computers thinking
  processing commands
• Difference from CPU to CPU is measured in speed
  (MHz)
• Examples
• Pentium
• G4

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And we will use Assistive Technology to alter
How we input
How we view
How we produce output