Keywords in ICT and the meanings:

Bit:A bit is the smallest amount of information that a computer can store. Eight bits make a byte.
Byte:A byte is what computer storage space is measured in. One character on the keyboard is a byte.
A byte is made up of 8 bits.

Gigabyte:A Gigabyte is a measurement of computer memory capacity. It is equivalent to 1024

Megabytes.
Kilobyte:A kilobyte is a measure of computer memory or storage. It is equal to 1024 bytes.
Megabyte:A Megabyte is a measure of computer memory or storage. It is equal to 1,024 kilobytes. 3
megabytes is like a 3 minute music track in MP3 format.
Terabyte:A terabyte another word for 1,000 Gigabytes.
Storage device:Data is stored on various 'storage media' such as DVD, CDROM, Magnetic Tape and Flash
memory in its many guises such as a sim card (mobile phone), SD card (digital camera) and
memory stick (general storage).
Input Device:An input device is any piece of hardware which is used to enter data or content into a computer
system. Input devices are usually categoried as either manual or automatic.
Output Device:In computing terms, an output device is a piece of hardware that obeys a computer command
to do something in the real world.
Hardware:Hardware is used to describe the physical parts of the computer which you can touch.
Examples include monitors, keyboards, printers, hard disk, wiring, CPU etc.
Software:All computers need a set of instructions to follow in order to run or even boot up. These
instructions are called "software code" or just "software" for short.
Shareware:Shareware is computer software that is distributed for free on a trial basis on the understanding
that if you want to continue to use the software after the trial is over e.g. 30 days, then you will
voluntarily send the author of the software a small payment.

Firmware:Firmware is semi-permanent data held within a piece of equipment. The data exists on memory
chips that can be re-programmed if required.
Malware:Malware is a term used to describe a type of software that has been created with ill intent.
Open Source:Open Source means that the source code is freely available so anyone can read and alter it as
they wish, then compile it to create a new version. If the new version is good enough, then the
group looking after that particular 'project' may include it in the next stable release of the source
code.
USB:Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a type of connector that links devices. It is mostly used on PCs
but can also be used on other devices such as the PlayStation, and the Xbox.
Flash drive:A type of non-volatile memory. The technology is called 'Flash'. It makes use of electrical
effects in a solid-state chip to store data rather than magnetism which a hard disk uses, or light
as used to burn a DVD.
Peripheral:A peripheral is any device which sends or receives data from the CPU. Peripherals may be
internal or external devices.Examples of peripherals include printers, monitors, scanners, hard
disk drive, sound cards, speakers and so on.
Firewall:A firewall is designed to help protect a computer network from intruders. It does this by
controlling what data can and cannot pass through it.
Anti-Virus:This is refering to software that can detect the presence of a virus within a computer file and
warn you there is a problem.The anti-virus software may then offer to 'quarantine' the file so it
cannot be used to spread the virus.
Password protected:If you have an account on something it will usually be password protected which means that
only you have access to it by entering the specific password you've chosen.
User:A person making use of the computer system, hardware and software.
Encryption:Encryption means to scramble a message in such a way that only the people who are meant to
read it can do so.

Tagging:A web design term. You use HTML to code a web page and HTML is made up of a number of
'tags'. Each tag tells the browser how 'render' the web page i.e the way it looks
Social networking:Social Networking sites offer a free, personal page for you to describe your interests, a list of
friends that are also on the site, favourite music, recent photographs, what's happening and so
on.The idea is for people to share their pages so that they can share news, views and offline
events.
Cloud computing:All it means is that a data-intensive service is being provided by another company on your
behalf via the internet. This service may be for your own use or it may be for your
customers.They normally have one or more dedicated data centres to provide the service
advertised.
Blu ray:A blu ray disk can store more data than a dvd. A single layer disk can hold up to 25GB whislt a
double layer disk can hold up the 50GB
Gif:GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format.This is a common graphics format which is used
for image files. It is especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same colour, for
example, clipart.GIFs display in 256 colours and make use of compression. Thus, file sizes tend
to be smaller than with other image formats such as jpegs.
Jpeg:This stands for 'Joint Photographic Experts Group'.JPEG is a common format used for
images.It compresses the image size by deleting information that it considers unnecessary. This
means that some of the image quality is sacrificed for a smaller file size.
Bit map:This is an file format for digital images.A Bitmap image is made up of a large number of dots
or pixels which look like a picture as long as you are sitting a reasonable distance away from
the screen. As soon as you zoom in close or enlarge the image, you will see the individual
pixels.
Network:In general a network is a word to describe a collection of parts joined together by links of some
kind.A network is as basic as two computers being connected together.Computers are linked
together in order for them to share and exchange data with each other. When this is the case, the
computers are said so be NETWORKED.
Server:A server is a networked computer that is providing a specific service to other computers on the
network

CPU:A CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the core of every Personal Computer. Without it, no PC
can function.The CPU is a microchip that is installed on a motherboard and acts as the
computers brain - performing calculations and coordinating the hardware components.
Bookmarking:This is a method of storing or saving a link to a web page. The bookmarks are listed making it
easy for you to return to that web page in the future.
Plagiarism:Taking someone elses work and presenting it as your own.
Http:HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. This tells the browser that the rules for
moving files from the web server will be those defined by the protocol called 'http'
ISP:An Internet Service Provider, or ISP, is a company which usually for a monthly subscription
fee, will allow a user to connect to the Internet.
Phishing:Phishing is a form of Internet fraud where criminals aim to steal valuable information such
as credit cards, social security numbers, user IDs and passwords for bank accounts.
Collaboration:Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that
involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers.
RAM:Random access memory (or simply RAM) is the memory in a computer that is used to store
computer programs while they are running any information the programs need to do their job.
ROM:ROM is a memory chip where essential system instructions (BIOS) are permanently stored.The
data held on ROM can be read but not changed. This is done during manufacturing. ROM is
non volatile, meaning that the data stored on it will not be lost when the computer is switched
off.
Biometrics:A security term, This describes various technologies used to measure some feature of a person
in order to identify them within a security system.
E-Mail:Email is short for 'Electronic Mail'. Electronic mail is a form of communication where mainly
text based messages are exchanged by using computers attached to a network.

Protocol:A 'protocol' is a rather technical word. But it simply means an agreed method of doing
something. A 'network protocol' is the agreed method of communication to be used within the
network. For example the network protocol for the internet is TCP/IP. As long as computers
connected to the internet are using TCP/IP they should be able to exchange data.
RSI:RSI is a painful condition which causes the tendons in the wrists and lower arms to become
inflammed. This leads to pins and needles or a painful burning sensation. It is caused by
prolonged repetitive movements such as using a computer keyboard or piano.
Blog:Blog is the shortened version of the word for web-log. A blog is a website that is used like a
diary. Many people create a blog and then write regularly about things they have been doing or
events which have taken place. Posts often include links to other site.
Cookie:A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer when you visit some websites.
HTML:This is short for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is a coding language which was
developed in order to lay out (markup) web pages. HTML is made up of a series of 'tags' that
tell the Web browser how to display the text and images on a web page.
URL:URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is pronounced "you-are-ell".A URL is the
unique web address which every webpage has, for an example 'www.teach-ict.com' is the
unique url for the home page of this website.
Download:Download is getting information from another computer. The opposite is upload, sending data
to another computer.