Using Computers
Hardware and software, input and output, file management and staying safe and organised on a school network.
Hardware and software
Every computer is made of two things working together.
Hardware is the physical parts you can touch: the screen, keyboard, processor, memory and hard drive.
Software is the instructions that tell the hardware what to do. You cannot touch software. It is stored as data.
Two kinds of software
- System software runs the computer itself. The operating system, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iOS, is the most important example.
- Application software lets you do a task: a browser, a word processor, a game, a photo editor.
If you would install it to get a job done, it is an application. If the computer needs it to work at all, it is system software.
Input, process, output, storage
Every computer system follows the same pattern.
| Stage | What happens | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Input | Data goes in | Keyboard, mouse, microphone, camera, sensor, scanner |
| Process | The CPU works on the data | Calculating, sorting, comparing |
| Output | Results come out | Monitor, speaker, printer, motor, light |
| Storage | Data is kept for later | Hard drive, SSD, USB stick, cloud |
A digital camera takes light in (input), turns it into an image (process), shows it on the screen (output) and saves it to a card (storage).
Step 1 of 5 Input: hardware that gets data into the computer.
- Hardware is the physical parts you can touch, such as the monitor, keyboard, processor and memory.
- Software is the programs: the instructions, such as a browser, a word processor, a game or the operating system.
- Software gives the instructions and hardware carries them out. A computer needs both.
Files and folders
Files get lost when they have no system. A good system takes seconds to set up and saves hours later.
File names
- Use names that say what the file is:
year7-homework-networks.docx, notdoc1.docx - Avoid spaces at the start and unusual symbols
- Keep the file extension, the bit after the dot, because it tells the computer which program opens it
| Extension | Type of file |
|---|---|
| .docx | Word processed document |
| .xlsx | Spreadsheet |
| .pptx | Presentation |
| .png .jpg | Image |
| .mp3 .wav | Sound |
| .mp4 | Video |
| .py | Python program |
| .txt | Plain text |
| Portable document |
Folder structure
Folders inside folders make a hierarchy. Group by subject, then by topic:
Documents Computing Year 7 Networks Python English
Saving
- Save As creates a new copy with a new name. Use it to keep versions.
- Save overwrites the file you already have.
- Save often. Work only exists once it has been written to storage, because RAM is wiped when the power goes.
- Folders inside folders make a tree. The path shows where a file lives.
- A good file name says what the file is, so it can be found later.
- The extension tells the computer which program to open the file with, so keep it.
Staying safe and being organised
Passwords
A strong password is long and not guessable.
- Three unrelated words joined together are strong and easy to remember:
copper-badger-lantern - Avoid your name, your birthday, your pet, and anything on your social media
- Never use the same password for two important accounts
- Never share your password, not even with a friend
On the school network
- Your account is yours. Anything done while logged in as you looks like you did it, so always log off.
- Files on the network are usually backed up. Files on a USB stick are not.
- Your school can see what you do on its network. That is not spying, it is safeguarding.
Being a decent person online
- Anything you post can be screenshotted and kept forever, even on apps that promise otherwise
- If you would not say it to someone's face in front of a teacher, do not type it
- If something online makes you uncomfortable, tell an adult. You will not be in trouble for reporting.
- A common word is cracked at once, however long it feels to type.
- Eight random characters from 95 symbols: about 6.6 quadrillion possibilities.
- Five random words from a list: far more possibilities, and easier to remember.
Key terms you must be able to define
- Hardware
- The physical parts of a computer system that you can touch.
- Software
- The programs and instructions that tell the hardware what to do.
- Operating system
- The system software that manages the computer and lets you run programs.
- Input device
- Hardware that puts data into a computer, such as a keyboard or a sensor.
- Output device
- Hardware that gets results out of a computer, such as a monitor or a speaker.
- File extension
- The letters after the dot in a file name that tell the computer what type of file it is.
- Hierarchy
- A structure of folders inside folders used to organise files.
Flashcards
Say the definition out loud before you flip the card. Retrieving it from memory is what builds recall, reading it again is not.
Reach the top grade on this topic
To reach the top level at Key Stage 3 on this unit, you need to do more than name parts.
Classify with a reason. A touchscreen is both an input device and an output device, because it displays information and detects where you touch. Saying that shows real understanding.
Explain what would go wrong. Why does a computer need storage as well as memory? Because memory is wiped when the power goes, so without storage all your work would disappear every time you switched off.
Apply file organisation to a real situation. Given a messy list of files, group them sensibly and explain your grouping.
- Sort any device into input, output, storage or processing, and justify it
- Explain the difference between Save and Save As and when to use each
- Design a folder structure for a set of school subjects
- Explain what makes a password strong, using an example
Mistakes that cost marks here
- Calling the whole computer 'the hard drive'. The hard drive is only the storage.
- Saying a printer is an input device. It takes data out of the computer, so it is output.
- Deleting a file extension when renaming a file, which stops the computer knowing how to open it.
- Thinking that closing a program saves your work. It does not unless you tell it to.
The first computer mouse, built in 1964, was a wooden box with two metal wheels. Its inventor Douglas Engelbart never earned a penny from it, because the patent expired before mice became common.
Knowledge check
Exam-style questions
Five written questions in the style of the real paper. Write a full answer, then let the marker check it against the mark scheme.
- LHardware is the physical parts you can touch
- LSoftware is the programs or instructions that tell the hardware what to do
Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system that you can actually touch, such as the keyboard, monitor and processor. Software is the set of programs and instructions that tell the hardware what to do, and it cannot be touched because it is stored as data.
- LFirst input device named with a use
- LSecond input device named with a use
- LFirst output device named with a use
- LSecond output device named with a use
Two input devices are a keyboard, which is used to type text and numbers into the computer, and a microphone, which is used to record sound. Two output devices are a monitor, which displays images and text so the user can see the results, and a printer, which produces a paper copy of a document.
- LMemory is wiped when the power is switched off
- LStorage keeps data permanently
- LWithout storage all work would be lost every time the computer was turned off
A computer needs memory to hold the programs and data it is working with right now, but memory is wiped as soon as the power is switched off. Storage keeps data permanently, so it is still there the next time the computer is turned on. Without storage, every document, photo and program would be lost every time the computer was shut down and everything would have to be created again from scratch.
- LIt is hard to find a particular file
- LThe names do not say what the files contain
- LSuggests using meaningful file names
- LSuggests using folders for different subjects or topics
The first problem is that the student cannot tell what any file contains without opening it, because names like doc1 give no information at all. The second problem is that with everything in one folder, finding a particular piece of work means scrolling through a long list, and this gets worse every week as more files are added. Instead the student should give each file a meaningful name that describes it, such as year7-computing-networks-homework, and create a folder structure with a folder for each subject and subfolders inside for each topic, so that related work is grouped together and easy to find.
- LIt should be long
- LIt should not be guessable from personal information
- LGives a suitable example
A strong password is long, because every extra character makes it far harder for a computer to guess by trying every combination. It should also not contain anything someone could find out about you, such as your name, your date of birth or the name of your pet, because those are the first things an attacker would try. A good method is to join three unrelated words together, for example copper-badger-lantern, which is long and very difficult to guess but still easy for you to remember.