8th Grade Keyboarding Notes

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8th Grade Keyboarding Notes
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HARDWARE
INPUT DEVICE
OUTPUT DEVICE
MONITOR
MOUSE
PRINTER
KEYBOARD
MODEM
SPEAKERS
MODEM
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INPUT DEVICE
1. A keyboard's primary function is to act as an
input device. Using a keyboard, a person can type
a document, use keystroke shortcuts, access
menus, play games and perform a variety of other
tasks. Keyboards can have different keys
depending on the manufacturer, the operating
system they're designed for, and whether they are
attached to a desktop computer or part of a
laptop. But for the most part, these keys, also
called keycaps, are the same size and shape from
keyboard to keyboard. They're also placed at a
similar distance from one another in a similar
pattern, no matter what language or alphabet the
keys represent.
2. The main goal of any mouse is to translate the
motion of your hand into signals that the
computer can use. A ball inside the mouse touches
the desktop and rolls when the mouse moves. Two
rollers inside the mouse touch the ball. When the
ball rotates, one or both of these rollers rotate
as well. The rollers each connect to a shaft, and
the shaft spins a disk with holes in it. When a
roller rolls, its shaft and disk spin. On either
side of the disk there is an infrared LED and an
infrared sensor. The holes in the disk break the
beam of light coming from the LED so that the
infrared sensor sees pulses of light. The rate of
the pulsing is directly related to the speed of
the mouse and the distance it travels. An
on-board processor chip reads the pulses from the
infrared sensors and turns them into binary data
that the computer can understand.
3. The word "modem" is a contraction of the words
modulator-demodulator. The sending modem
modulates the data into a signal that is
compatible with the phone line, and the receiving
modem demodulates the signal back into digital
data. Wireless modems convert digital data into
radio signals and back.
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OUTPUT DEVICE
1. Often referred to as a monitor when packaged
in a separate case, the display is the most-used
output device on a computer. The display provides
instant feedback by showing you text and graphic
images as you work or play. Resolution refers to
the number of individual dots of color, known as
pixels, contained on a display. Resolution is
expressed by identifying the number of pixels on
the horizontal axis (rows) and the number on the
vertical axis (columns), such as 800x600.
Resolution is affected by a number of factors,
including the size of the screen.
2. An inkjet printer is any printer that places
extremely small droplets of ink onto paper to
create an image. If you ever look at a piece of
paper that has come out of an inkjet printer, you
know that The dots are extremely small (usually
between 50 and 60 microns in diameter), so small
that they are tinier than the diameter of a human
hair (70 microns)! The dots are positioned very
precisely, with resolutions of up to 1440x720
dots per inch (dpi). The dots can have different
colors combined together to create photo-quality
images.
3. A microphone works something like our ears. It
has a diaphragm that is vibrated by sound waves
in an area. The signal from a microphone gets
encoded as an electrical signal. When you play
this signal back, the amplifier sends it to the
speaker, which re-interprets it into physical
vibrations. Good speakers are optimized to
produce extremely accurate fluctuations in air
pressure. A speaker is essentially the final
translation machine -- the reverse of the
microphone. It takes the electrical signal and
translates it back into physical vibrations to
create sound waves. When everything is working as
it should, the speaker produces nearly the same
vibrations that the microphone originally
recorded and encoded on a tape, CD, LP, etc.
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SOFTWARE
WORD PROCESSING
COMMUNICATION
DATABASE
GRAPHICS
SPREADSHEET
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
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SOFTWARE
WORD PROCESSING Document format Example
MSWord
COMMUNICATION e-mail Outlook/AOL
DATABASE Collection of information MSAccess
GRAPHICS Pictures/Drawings Clipart
SPREADSHEET Formula/charts Excel
DESKTOP PUBLISHING Newspaper MSPublisher
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COMPUTER PARTS
MOTHERBOARD
POWER SUPPLY
RAM
HARD DISK DRIVE
ROM
CPU / MICROPROCESSOR
EXPANSION CARD
PORTS
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1. The microprocessor is the heart of any normal
computer, whether it is a desktop machine, a
server or a laptop. A microprocessor -- also
known as a CPU or central processing unit -- is a
complete computation engine that is fabricated on
a single chip. A microprocessor executes a
collection of machine instructions that tell the
processor what to do. Using its ALU
(Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a microprocessor can
perform mathematical operations like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. Modern
microprocessors contain complete floating point
processors that can perform extremely
sophisticated operations on large floating point
numbers. A microprocessor can move data from one
memory location to another, and it can make
decisions and jump to a new set of instructions
based on those decisions.
2. Random access memory (RAM) is the best known
form of computer memory. RAM is considered
"random access" because you can access any memory
cell directly if you know the row and column that
intersect at that cell. You can never have enough
RAM, especially if you do a lot of
graphics-intensive work or gaming. Next to the
CPU itself, RAM is the most important factor in
computer performance. If you don't have enough,
adding RAM can make more of a difference than
getting a new CPU! If your system responds slowly
or accesses the hard drive constantly, then you
need to add more RAM.
3. Read-only memory (ROM), also known as
firmware, is an integrated circuit programmed
with specific data when it is manufactured. ROM
chips are used not only in computers, but in most
other electronic items as well. Data stored in
these chips is nonvolatile -- it is not lost when
power is removed. Data stored in these chips is
either unchangeable or requires a special
operation to change (unlike RAM). The way a ROM
chip works necessitates the programming of
perfect and complete data when the chip is
created. You cannot reprogram or rewrite a
standard ROM chip. Creating the original template
for a ROM chip is often a laborious process full
of trial and error. Once the template is
completed, the actual chips can cost as little as
a few cents each. They use very little power, are
extremely reliable and, in most small electronic
devices, contain all the necessary programming to
control the device.
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Title Bar
Menu Bar
Standard Toolbar
Formatting Toolbar
Workspace
Status Bar
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Word Screen ID Key

• Title Bar Shows the name of the document. The
  three buttons on the right side allow you to
  Minimize, Maximize, or Close the Program.
• 2. Menu Bar All the commands in the program are
  found here.
• 3. Standard Toolbar Standard commands for
  documents.
• 4. Formatting Toolbar Allows you to change the
  appearance of text.
• 5. Ruler Shows you where you are on the page.
• 6. Workspace The white area is where you type
  your document.
• 7. Scroll Bars These bars show where you are in
  the document.
• 8. Status Bar This bar tells you what page you
  are on and where your cursor is located. At 1
  Ln1 Col 1 means your cursor is at the top of the
  page.
• NOTE To see what an icon represents, place your
  mouse pointer on the icon and wait 2 seconds. A
  tip should appear that explains the button.

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BUSINESS LETTERS
DO THIS NOW...
USE YOUR CURRENT SKILLS...

• Business Letters are a formal way to communicate
  with a business or companies.
• Neatness counts no errors in spelling or
  grammar.
• Organized in a very specific way following exact
  format.
• Formal English, no slang or casual chat.
• All parts in the letter are left justified,
  or lined up on the left.

NOTE SAVE TEST NOTES!
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Business Letter Parts (Block Style Format)

• In order from top to bottoms
• Return address letter writers address.First
  and last name, address, city, state and zip code.
  
• The date
• Inside address of recipient (who you are
  writing the letter to) First and last name,
  title, Company, address, city, state and zip
  code.
• Salutation If the person is not a friend, write
  Dear Mr. Smith. If the person is a friend, you
  may say Dear Sally.
• Body of Letter this is the purpose of the
  letter. Should be clear and concise, with an
  introduction, body of information, and a
  conclusion 3 paragraphs.
• Closing sincerely, or best regards, yours
  truly, etc
• Space for a handwritten signature
• Typed name of writer

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2 inches from the top of the page Ms. Emily
Smith 6999 Main Street (Return Address of
letter writer) Chicago, IL 88998 January 2, 2000
(Date month, day, year) 4 full spaces Mr.
Sam Jones President KR Toys (Inside Address
recipients formal name, title, company 3444
Elm Drive name, address, city, state,
zip) Wichita, KS 66500 2 full spaces Dear Mr.
Jones (Salutation formal) 2 full spaces (Body
of Letter purpose and details) This letter is
to inform you of a problem I have had with a toy
that I purchased at your store. 2 full
spaces I purchased a karaoke machine at your
store on December 20, 1999. It was to be used for
a New Years Eve party that my family had for some
of my friends. That evening, before the party, we
plugged in the machine and set it up. When I
first tried to test the machine, the CD started
to play sound, but there were no words on the
screen. We read the directions and tried other
CDs, but the machine never worked. As you may
guess, the party wasnt the same without a
karaoke machine. Therefore, I wanted to write
this letter to let you know what happened, and to
ask that you use brands that are more reliable
than the one that I purchased. 2 full
spaces Thank you very much for your time. 2
full spaces Sincerely, (Complimentary closing
ex. Sincerely, Regards, Yours truly, From)
(Signature 4 full spaces) Emily Smith (Typed
name of letter writer)
Example of a Business Letter