Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Lecture Notes

Comprehensive flashcards covering the evolution of ICT, emerging technologies, online safety, netiquette, collaboration principles, and graphic design fundamentals.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Encompasses both hardware and software that facilitate human interaction and connectivity.

Pre-Mechanical Period

An era from $3000\text{ BCE-1450 CE}$ where people developed ways to share, process, and communicate information using basic tools and symbols like stone tablets and papyrus paper.

Mechanical Period

An era from $1450-1840\text{ CE}$ focused on enhancing numerical computation through automation and increased speed.

Charles Babbage

Known as the Father of Computer, he created the Analytical Engine, a $19\text{th century}$ general purpose computer which was the first programmable device.

Blaise Pascal

The creator of the "pascaline," which is considered the first mechanical calculator.

Johannes Guttenberg

The inventor of the "printing press."

Electromechanical Period

An era from $1840-1940\text{ CE}$ where inventions were designed to process data faster, including the Harvard Mark I Computer.

Electronic Period

An era from $1840-\text{Present}$ that introduced technologies like transistors, integrated circuits, and microprocessors to improve efficiency and automation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A computer science field focused on creating computers that work and act like humans.

SimSimi

An AI program created in $2002$ by "Ismaker"; its name is pronounced as shim-shimi and means "bored."

Robotics

A field of computer science and engineering concerned with creating devices that can move and react.

Sophia

A robot created by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong that was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship.

Biometrics

Technology used to measure and analyze the human body characteristics such as DNA, fingerprints, and eye retinas.

Virtual Reality (VR)

A three-dimensional, computer-generated environment that can be explored and interacted with by a person.

Augmented Reality (AR)

A technology where virtual objects are placed into real-life environments.

IBM Simon

A smartphone released in $1994$ featuring the first touch screen.

Digital Citizenship

The practice of using technology in a responsible and respectful way to interact with others or participate in society.

Digital Footprints

A file of unique, traceable online activities and contributions specific to an individual.

Active Digital Footprint

Information that a user intentionally provides, such as when creating a social media account.

Passive Digital Footprint

Data gathered without a user's awareness, often used by businesses to monitor web traffic.

Cookies

Small text files stored on a device by websites to remember preferences, login details, or user activity.

Netiquette

Shorthand for "network etiquette," it is the set of rules for proper communication and browsing on the web.

Virginia Shea

The creator of the $10$ Rules of Netiquette and a network manners guru.

Collaboration

Derived from the Latin word "collaboratus," it means working together with another person or group to achieve a goal.

Hierarchical Team Structure

An organized structure where individuals are divided into teams that must complement each other's abilities.

Word Processor

Software application, such as MS Word, that performs tasks like composing, editing, formatting, and printing documents.

Mail Merging

An MS Word feature that allows a user to create a document and merge it with another document or data file.

Spreadsheet

A computer application, like MS Excel, used for computation, analysis, and storage of data as a replacement for analog accounting sheets.

Presentation Software

Application software like MS PowerPoint used to create visual aids to communicate ideas and messages.

Advocacy

A process of supporting and enabling people to express their views, access services, and defend their rights.

Justice Oriented Digital Citizen

A person who critically analyzes social issues and uses technology to promote justice and systemic change.

Super Paint

The grandfather of all graphic software, created in $1972$ by Richard Shoup at Xerox PARC.

Balance

A design principle describing the placement of elements of equal weight on a page, which can be symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial.

Proximity

A design principle describing the organization and relationship of elements by moving them physically close together.

Contrast

The combination of opposing characteristics of elements, like color and size, to allow emphasis and add aesthetic interest.

Whitespace

Also known as the "art of nothing," it is the negative space or large margins that allow a design to breathe.

Unity

The sense of oneness of design elements that creates balance and harmony.

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group; a popular lossy image format where original information is lost to keep the file size small.

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format; an $8\text{ bit}$ palette format limited to $256\text{ colors}$, often used for animation effects.

BMP

Bitmap Image File; an uncompressed raster image format made of millions of pixels, used in the Microsoft Windows operating system.

TIFF

Tagged Image File Format; a high-quality raster image format originally created by Aldus Corporation, now controlled by Adobe Systems.

PNG

Portable Network Graphic; a nonproprietary alternative to GIF designed specifically for the web that supports full-color images.

Infographics

Creative representation of data using shapes, colors, and pictures to make complex information more understandable.

Typography

The style or appearance of text on a page, including font families like Sans Serif and Serif.