Topic 1 - An ICT system and its components/ 1
What is a system?
A system in everyday life is a way of doing things. All systems involve input, process and output.
What is an ICT system?
A systemic a way of doing something so an ICT system is a way of doing something using ICT.
Name some examples of hardware
Computers Scanners Digital cameras
What does ICT stand for?
Information Communication Technology
What is ICT?
ICT concerns any device or system that allows the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission and receipt of digital information.
What is input?
Involves capturing or entomb the data. In many cases this will involve entering data via the keyboard but there are many other faster and more accurate methods such as bar coding, scanning etc. The input involves turning the data into a form that can be processed by a computer. The data reds to be encoded.
Name different ICT systems a business might use.
Systems for paying staff (payroll systems) Stock control systems Order processing systems Purchasing systems Accountancy systems Personnel (human resources) systems E-commerce systems Banking systems
Name some example of software
Systems software Word-processors Databases Spreadsheets
What is output?
These are the results or the information produced when the data had been processed. All information systems produce output.
What do all systems have in common?
They all involve three steps: input, process and output.
Name some communications technology
Digital TV Digital radio E-mail Internet Broadband Mobile phones GPS (global positioning systems) Fax Videoconferencing Instant messaging
What are the six components of an ICT system and what do they mean?
PE DISH Pro People - are needed to supply the data to the ICT system and also to make judgements and decisions from the output supplied from the system. Data - is the raw material of any ICT system and this is processed by the system to provide the information which is the output produced by the system. Information - the results from processing data. Information is the output from an ICT system. Software - these are the computer programs which provided the step-by-step instructions to get the job done. Hardware - these are the physical components that make up the ICT system. If you can touch it, then it is hardware. Hardware includes input devices (keyboards, mouse, scanner etc.), storage (memory, hard drive, etc.) the processor and the output devices (screen, printer, plotter, etc.). Also included in the hardware are the communication devices needed to send data across networks.
What is processing?
Performing actions on the input data. This would involve performing calculations, searching, sorting, arranging, presenting, converting, transferring, classifying, etc.