Grade 10 Information and Communication Technology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering fundamental concepts, definitions, and components from Grade 10 Information and Communication Technology.

Data

The numbers, words, images, and symbols that do not convey a specific meaning when standing alone.

Information

Meaningful and structured output obtained by arranging and processing data, which can be used to make decisions.

Information System

A combination of components that receive data as input, process and store them, and provide the results as output when required.

e-Government

The use of Information and Communication Technology by a government to communicate with its citizens, businesses, government/non-government organizations, and other foreign governments.

Learning Management System (LMS)

An internet-based software system used by educational institutions to manage courses, upload assignments, publish results, and conduct discussions through online forums.

Telemedicine

The use of Information and Communication Technology to remotely examine and provide healthcare services to a patient who is located far away from a hospital.

Telesurgery

The capability of a doctor to perform a surgical procedure on a patient in consultation with a specialist who is not physically present at the location using telecommunication technologies.

Analytical Engine

A mechanical calculating machine designed by Charles Babbage that established the foundational computing concepts of input, process, output, and store.

Supercomputer

A large, rare, and expensive computer that possesses the highest computing power, typically used by organizations like NASA for scientific, engineering, and military simulations.

Mainframe Computer

A high-capacity, multi-user system where multiple users connect via terminals simultaneously to share, store, and retrieve large volumes of data in commercial enterprises.

Microcomputer

A small, low-cost computer intended for personal use that consumes little electricity, such as desktop PCs, laptops, and smartphones.

Hybrid Computer

A computer system that combines both analog and digital processing techniques, such as an ECG machine that accepts analog heartbeat signals and converts them to digital data.

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

The internal component of the Central Processing Unit that executes all mathematical computations and logical comparison operations.

Control Unit (CU)

The component of the Central Processing Unit that manages data flow and transmits control signals to coordinate all devices connected to the computer system.

Cache Memory

A high-speed, low-capacity memory positioned between the CPU and primary memory to store frequently accessed data and instructions.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

The volatile primary memory that temporarily holds incoming data, instructions, and processed information; its contents are completely cleared when the computer is turned off.

Read Only Memory (ROM)

Non-volatile primary memory that permanently stores firmware, such as the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) commands required to boot the computer.

Simplex Mode

A unidirectional data transmission mode where signals travel in one direction only, from the sender to the receiver, as seen in radio broadcasts or printer outputs.

Half-Duplex Mode

A bidirectional data transmission mode where data can flow in both directions, but only in one direction at any given time, such as in walkie-talkie communication.

Full-Duplex Mode

A simultaneous bidirectional data transmission mode where both sender and receiver can transmit and receive data at the exact same time, such as in telephone conversations.

Network Topology

The structural layout or geometric configuration used to interconnect computers and devices within a computer network.

Bit

The fundamental and smallest measuring unit of computer data storage, represented by either of the two binary digits: $0$ or $1$.

Byte

A standard unit of digital data storage consisting of a sequence of $8$ bits.

Nibble

A data measurement unit consisting of $4$ bits, representing half of a byte.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; a character encoding standard using $7$ bits to represent $128$ characters.

Unicode

An international character encoding standard that uses $16$ bits to uniquely represent $65536$ symbols and characters across various global languages.

Logic Gate

An elementary electronic building block of digital circuits that evaluates one or more binary inputs to generate a single binary output based on a Boolean function.

Truth Table

A mathematical table that lists all potential binary input states for a logic circuit alongside their corresponding logical output states.

Booting

The startup sequence of a computer during which the BIOS performs hardware checks (POST) and loads the Operating System into RAM.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A visual interface enabling human-computer interaction through Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers (WIMP) instead of typed text commands.

Disk Defragmentation

A disk utility process that rearranges non-contiguous, fragmented sectors of files on a hard drive into contiguous blocks to improve system access speeds.

Mail Merge

A word processing capability that links a master document with an external data source to generate multiple personalized letters, envelopes, or certificates automatically.

Relative Cell Reference

A spreadsheet cell address that shifts its column letters and row numbers proportionately when a formula is copied or dragged to other cells.

Absolute Cell Reference

A spreadsheet cell address locked with dollar signs ($$) to keep the row, column, or both fixed when copying a formula to other locations.

Database Management System (DBMS)

A software package containing objects such as tables, forms, queries, and reports designed to create, maintain, and retrieve data from a structured database.

Primary Key

A unique column or set of columns in a database table designated to uniquely identify each individual record without allowing null or duplicate entries.

Foreign Key

A field in a relational database table that corresponds to the primary key of another table, creating an association or link between the two tables.

Data Redundancy

The unnecessary and repeated storage of identical data across several database tables, leading to waste of storage and potential inconsistencies.

Data Consistency

The uniformity and reliability maintained across database tables by eliminating redundant storage so that updates occur accurately in a single location.