Educational Computing Hardware and Software David Goldschmidt, Ph.D. Computer Science The College of Saint Rose

Hardware wireless router system unit power supply motherboard (with CPU) video card hard drive processor cooling fan sound card memory cards

Cool Hardware Tablet PCs combine laptop and PDA features

Cool Hardware Docking stations…

Portable Flash Memory Drives Looks like another hard drive in My Computer Perfect for portability and for backing stuff up

Operating Systems System Software Operating System Computer programs that directly control the operations of the computer and its devices Operating System Coordinates and orchestrates all activities of the hardware devices in a computer Provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI ) for users to interact with the computer

Operating Systems Microsoft Windows Macintosh Others Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP Tablet PC, Windows Vista, Windows 7 Macintosh Mac OS v9.1, Mac OS X Others UNIX, Linux, etc.

Assistive and Adaptive Technologies What are assistive and adaptive technologies? Students may find operating a computer difficult because of a physical, cognitive, or sensory disability Assistive and adaptive technologies refer to any equipment, modification, or accommodation that improves a person’s capacity to learn, communicate, solve a problem, or complete a task through the use of a computer

Assistive and Adaptive Technologies U.S. Census Bureau reports: ~7% of boys ages 5-15 have some form of disability ~4% of girls ages 5-15 have some form of disability What do Microsoft and Apple do to help? Incorporate accessibility features directly into their operating systems: Windows: use the Accessibility Wizard or the Control Panel Macintosh: use the Universal Access feature start ► Programs ► Accessories ► Accessibility

Software Software is a computer program, which “runs” on various hardware Hardware does nothing without software

Application Software Application Software: Computer programs designed to perform specific tasks for users

Documents Many software applications use a document to represent a single piece of work Documents are stored in files with unique names Word doc (.doc or .docx) Excel doc (.xls or .xlsx) PowerPoint doc (.ppt or .pptx) PDF doc (.pdf) etc. File name extensions (not required on Macs)

Versions and Compatibility Why so many versions of software? New hardware New functionality and features Capitalism $$$ Fix errors and bugs in older versions Microsoft Word 2007 Click this link to see Word 2007 demo

Word Processing

Word Processing Features

Word Processing Features

Please print your tent-card In-Class Exercise Use Microsoft Word to create a “tent-card” that displays your first name and the first letter of your last name Use a big font (nothing too fancy) Set the page to “landscape” mode Center your name Fold here and here.... Dr. G Please print your tent-card and bring it to class!

Presentation Software Presentation software allows you to create presentations Communicate ideas Present proposals Share information

Presentation Software Slides can be displayed on a computer, projected on a screen, printed, distributed, etc.

Database Software What is a database? A collection of data organized in a manner that allows access, retrieval, and use of that data Manual filing system Microsoft Access Microsoft Works

Database Software What’s stored in a database? Names Addresses Phone numbers ID numbers Courses Students Classrooms

Database Software Developing a database: Using a database: Determine the data you need to track Define the fields Enter (or import) the data Using a database: Generate reports on the data Export data or reports to a spreadsheet application

Database Software

Database Software

Spreadsheet Software Spreadsheet software allows you to organize numeric data in rows and columns

Spreadsheet Software Advantages of using spreadsheet software: Use a formula to perform calculations on data in the worksheet Use a function to apply a predefined formula e.g. average, standard deviation, etc. Graph data to visually illustrate relationships or trends

Software Suites Put it all together.... Collection of individual software applications sold as a single software package Lower cost Easier to learn because of a common interface across multiple applications