1.

Investigate the place of ICT

in the world of information

1.1 Investigate the ICT towards the

national development

1.1.1 Definition of ICT

What is ICT
- It is the science of learning about
technology with connection of communication.
- Its not only learning about computer but
people, databases, networking, and other
technologies.
- A computer as an electronic device, which
plays a major role in ICT.

Information and Communication

Technology

Computer

1.1.2 - Uses of ICT in Society

ICT helps various sectors in the
Banking
society :
Educati
and
Transportatio
n

on

Finance

Communicat
ion

IC
T

Busine
ss

Entertainm
ent
Health

Securit
y

1.1.3 - Importance of ICT

Reasons to become the computers

popular..?
Ability of doing a work load in less
time
Storage capacity
User friendliness

1.2 A computer as a system to

convert data into information
A computer can be classified as a device
that takes in raw data as input and
processes it and provides information as
the output. The computer also has the
ability to store data and information.

What is data?
It is a set of facts which describes a particular thing
in the real world. It may represent a single value or
multiple values.
For example, marks of a particular subject of a student
in a class represent a single value data. At the same
time, such a mark may exist with marks of other
students who took that subject. In order to add the
value for these marks, it may be necessary to access
data of other facts such as students name, index
number and year of examination etc.

More examples of Data in different contexts:

- In a company: employees name, number of hours
worked in a week, inventory part numbers, sales orders
In environment: Rainfall data, temperature data,

Data

Quantitati
ve

Qualitativ
e

Discrete

Continuou
s

What is information?
Information is a kind of data which will be
very useful for decision making in different
contexts. Simply, it has more value than
data to understand a particular context.
For example, a teacher may want to know how
many students have obtained marks above 50 in
a particular subject. He/she may also want to
know the student who obtained the highest
mark in the classroom. In such a situation, the
teacher has to analyze data about student
marks together with their identification
numbers.

What is processing ?

Data can be converted into information by carrying out

some series of activities on data.
These activities involve some mathematical operations
and/or tabulation operation. Process describes this series
of activities.

 1.1.4 Types of Data and

Information:
Data and information can be categorized
based on their representation for the
human processing.
Following table summarizes the four main types of
data together with examples.

Characteristics of
information
Accurate: Accurate information is error free. Errors could be
occurred due to different reasons. If there is some problem in the
knowledge required for the process, output (information) may have
errors. At the same time, if input (data) contains some errors, the
output will not be accurate. This is known as garbage in garbage out
(GIGO). Inaccurate information is not error free.
Complete: Complete information contains all the important facts to
make clear decisions.
For example, an investment report may present all possible benefits and
profits without details of cost that will be required.

Economical: Information should also be relatively economical.

Decision makers must always balance the value of information with
the cost of producing it.
For example, if collecting the data takes lots of resources and time, it is not
economical.

Cont.

Flexible: Flexible information can be used for a variety of

purposes. For example, Information on how much inventory is
on hand for a particular part can be for
- a sales representative to determine the sales plan
- a production manager to identify possible constraints for
the production
- a financial executive to calculate the current assets figures
of inventory

Reliable: Reliability of information describes the correctness of

the information. If there are any problems with respect to
correctness of data, it will definitely affect the reliability of
information. For example, if the reliability of data collection
method is poor, it will directly affect the information that will be
produced.
For example, prediction of prices based on rumors (not past
variance information), is not reliable.

Cont
.
Simple: Simplicity in the representation of information is also
a very useful feature utilized to improve the usability of
information in the decision making process. Too many information
could affect the simplicity in the presentation. Therefore it is better to
provide interactive customization to determine simplicity. Providing
too many information is known as information overloading.
Timeliness: Decisions should be made at the right time to
achieve effectiveness. Timely information refers to providing
information at the right time. For example, if you can get to know
todays weather forecast before you leave home, you can decide
whether to bring an umbrella or not.
Verifiable: If it is possible to confirm the reliability of the
information about its correctness (validate), it becomes verifiable
Information. If you are not sure about a particular information (say
foreign news) heard from a radio channel, you can search about it
using Internet.

Cont

Accessible: Accurate information plays a major roll in

the decision making process of any organization. Therefore
it is essential to be able to access the Correct/ relevant
information by authorized personnel at the right time to meet
their needs.

Secure: the value of information could be lost due to

issues such as unauthorized user access or intentionally
damaging its existence. Therefore, it is important to make
steps to protect valuable data and information. For example,
use of passwords to protect data and information.

1.3 Explores the evolution of

computers
History
The history of any area is important in
understanding it. Knowledge about the
history will give you an overall idea of how
the computers today has evolved to this
extent. The knowledge about history will
help us in understanding the computers
today and the significant milestones they
have achieved from its inception.

1.2.1 Key developments

Many new ideas have contributed significantly to the development of
computer systems.
Some of the key developments of computer systems from the past
are:

Abacus - calculating device (3000 BC)

Pascaline - mechanical adding machine (1642)
Babbage - analytical engine (1830s)
Ada - first programmer (1800s)
Punched cards - data storage (1800s)
Hollerith - tabulating machine (1890s)
Mark I - general purpose computer (1944)
ENIAC - electronic computer (1946)
UNIVAC - US Census Department (1951)
EDVAC - Stored Program Concept (1951)
Apple II - first personnel computer
IBM PC
Portable computers

ABACUS
Abacus (3000 BC): Abacus (figure
2.1) is an ancient calculating
device. This is still
being used in China, Russia and the
Far East.

Pascaline
Pascaline (1642): Pascaline
(figure 2.2) is a desktop
mechanical adding machine. This
was developed by Blaise Pascal.

Analytical Engine
Analytical Engine (1830s): This was invented
by Charles Babbage who is known as the
father of computers.

The Analytical Engine included the units which a general purpose computer
has today. Therefore it is considered the real predecessor for general purpose
computers used
today. The units included were:
An input device: Punched cards provided the input.
A control unit: A unit used to control or program the processor.
A processor (or calculator) : A unit which consisted mechanical parts to
process data.
Storage: A unit which could hold 1000 50-digit numbers.

Looming Machine
Punched Cards (1800s): A card punched with
holes (figure 2.4) in certain places so that a
computer can read data coded from the combination of
holes. This was first used by Joseph Jacquard to
automate his weaving factory.
Tabulating machine (1890s): This was invented
by Herman Hollerith to tabulate 1890 US census
data. It was electrically powered and, used punched
cards.

Mark I
Mark I (1944): This was invented in 1944 by
Dr. Howard Aiken.

 In 1937 John V. Atanasoff created the Atanasoff-Berry

Computer (ABC). This is considered as the first
electronic computer.

In 1945 John von Neuman specified the architecture of

the EDVAC, which introduced the stored-program
computer concept.
In 1946 John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert introduced
the ENIAC, an electronic computing machine.

In 1952 UNIVAC I was developed and this is the first

commercial computer which got a large amount of public
attention.

In 1953 IBM releases the IBM 701 which is IBMs first

electronic computer.

Generations of Computers
The development of computers and
the consideration of key
developments have enabled
computers to be categorised into
various generations. Following is a
summary of the
generations of computers.

First Generation (1951-1958)

Used vacuum tubes (figure 2.12) for internal

operations
Used low-Level languages for programming
(machine language)
Used magnetic drums for primary memory.
Primary memory was limited.
Heat and maintenance problems were there.
Used punch cards for input and outputs.
Input and output was slow.
e.g. UNIVAC I, EDVAC

Second Generation (1958-1964)

Used transistors (figure 2.13) for internal
operations.
Increased use of high level languages.
Used magnetic cores for primary memory.
Increased memory capacity.
Binary coded data were used.
Increasing processing speed.
Used magnetic tapes and disks for secondary
storage
E.g. IBM 1620 (figure 2.24), UNIVAC 1108.

Third Generation (19651970)

Used (ICs) (figure 2.14) on silicon chips for
internal operations.
Memory capacity was increased.
Minicomputers became a common use.
Software industry emerged.
Reduction in size and cost of computers
happened.
Increase in speed and reliability.
E.g. HONEY WELL-6000 SERIES

Fourth Generation (1971-today)

Used Large Scale Integration (LSI) and Very Large
Scale Integration (VLSI) for internal operations.
Development of the microprocessor happened.
Introductions of micro and super computers.
Intel 4004 is the
Increase in speed, power and storage capacity.
first
Parallel processing was introduced.
microprocessor
chip
Artificial intelligence and expert systems were
introduced.
Robotics was introduced.
Increased use of Micro/Personal Computers.
E.g. Apple II , IBM PC ,Micro Computers
Apple II

Fifth Generation (1981-1990s)

A project to develop intelligent
computers.
They are computers with artificial
intelligence.
Symbolic manipulation and symbolic
reasoning is required.

Characteristics of computers
according to changes.

Speed increased
Size decreased
Capacity increased
Accuracy - increased
Efficiency increased

Classification of Computers
Computers categorize / divide into 03 :
Classification of computers

According to Size

According to
Technology

According to
Purpose

Mainframe

Analog

General

Mini

Digital

Special

Micro

Hybrid

Super

Spe
ed

Siz
e

Mainfram
e

Mini

Micro

Examples for

Mainframe : UNIVAC, EDVAC, ENIAC

Mini
Micro

Super

SPARC, POWER, Itanium, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

: Laptops
Desktops
Palmtops (PDA Personal Digital Assistants )
Servers and Workstations
:

CRAY

Characteristics of computers
according to changes.

Speed increased
Size decreased
Capacity increased
Accuracy - increased
Efficiency increased

Past Papers

 2007

1.

Which of the following is considered as raw data?

1.
2.
3.
4.

2.

Marks obtained by a stdents in a class

Sorted lists of marks obtained by students in a class
Maximum marks obtained by students in a class.
Average marks obtained by students in a class .

First Generation (1G / 1 Gen) computers were based on

1. Vacuum tubes

3.

2. Transistors

3. Integrated circuits

4. Microprocessors.

Under which of the following categories is a laptop computer classified?

1.
Microcomputer
2. Minicomputer
3. Mainframe
4. Supercomputer

2008
1.

Which one the following does not contain information?

1. A weather report 2. A time table 3. A price list displayed in a super market
4. An unlabelled chart

2.

. is a very small computer that can be hled in the palm of a person.

1. PC
2. Laptop
3. PDA
4.
Minicomputer

PART II
i)

Write in one sentence, the difference between raw data and information.

 2009
1. A doctor monitors the temperature of a patient having fever over a five hour period
by :
(A) Laying the hand on the patients forehead at an hourly interval.
(B) asking the patient about the fever condition at an hourly interval.
(C) drawing a graph using the readings obtained by a thermometer at an hourly interval.

Which of the above gives/give the doctor, information about the patients fever
condition ?
1. Only (A)
2. Only (B)
3. Only (C)
4. All (A), (B) and (C)
2. The invention of the IC marked the start of the generation of computers.
1. first
2. second
3. third
4. fourth
PART II
List two developments in ICT which make it easier for students to carry out their
educational activities from home.

. 2010
After the replacement of micro processors instead of transistors, and vaccume tubes the computer ..
was reduced.
1. Capability
2.
Size
3.
Reliability
4.
Efficiency

Information systems convert .. Into .

1.
information, data
2.
data , information
3.
data, instructions
instructions , information

4.

 2011
Which of the following can be classified as data in comparison with information?
1. Average monthly temperature in the city of Anuradhapura.
2. A pie chart showing percentage of male and female students in a school.
3. Last four digits of a residential telephone number.
4. Maximum mark obtained for Mathematics by Grade 10 students
Part II
Classify computers into two types according to their purpose.