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References Class work
Click on each module below
Work effectively in an information technology environment
Apply occupational health and safety procedures
Operate computing packages
Operate computer hardware
Design organisational documents using commercial computing packages
Integrate commercial computing packages
Maintain equipment & consumables
Communicate in the workplace
Connect hardware peripherals
Install software applications
Maintain system inventory
Receive and process oral and written communication
Maintain equipment / software inventory
Interact with clients
Identify components of multimedia
Access the internet

© S. Wilkins 17 October, 2006

Imtegrate Commercial Computing Packages - Activities

Activity 1: Word Processing

Answer the questions to test your knowledge of word processing. While written answers are required for this exercise, you will find it useful to turn on your computer and try out each task before you write your response. Click here to see a Word Tutorial.

  1. What file operations can you carry out from within Word?
  2. How do you add a border to a paragraph?
  3. Why is a bulleted paragraph described as a hanging indent?
  4. How do you select a particular type of tab stop?
  5. What are the advantages of creating space between paragraphs using formatting?
  6. What is the difference between soft and hard page breaks?
  7. Explain the difference between using cut and paste and copy and paste.

Activity 2: Spreadsheets

Answer the questions to test your knowledge of word processing. While written answers are required for this exercise, you will find it useful to turn on your computer and try out each task before you write your response. Click here to see an Excel Tutorial

  1. What is a workbook and how is it different from a worksheet?
  2. How does Excel recognise that you are entering a formula into a cell?
  3. How can you print just part of a worksheet?
  4. When should you use absolute addressing?
  5. How do you enter a title on a chart?
  6. What is the difference between searching and filtering?

Activity 3: Database Review

Answer these questions to test your knowledge of Databases as you have in the previous activities.

  1. What do the following terms mean when you are talking about databases?
    • attribute
    • field
    • record
  2. What is a primary key and why is it useful?
  3. Explain how a data entry Form is better than entering raw data into a table.
  4. What is the relationship between the following terms; query, find and filter?
  5. What advantage do Reports have over printed Forms?

Activity 4: Transferring Files

The size of computer files becomes important when you want to transfer them. You can transfer computer files by (copy into word and then fill in the missing parts):

DEVICE

ADVANTAGE

DISADVANTAGE
Floppy Disk Portable media needed if you don’t have access to e-mail, a zip drive etc  
Cd Burner   finger prints can ruin a CD before burning if not careful
Email    
Flash Disk    
Network File Server allows you to move freely within the work environment, logging on to different workstations to retrieve work at own pace. Back-up is performed to ensure work is saved.  

Activity 5: Compress and Decompress files (Homework)

SENARIO

You have just finished designing a brochure for your local soccer club. Your printer is out of order so you have to give it to a friend to print. But when you try to save it on to a floppy disk, it doesn’t fit.

The only storage device you can use is the flopy drive. What can you do?

INFORMATION

‘Compressing’ means ‘to make smaller’.

Large files are compressed to save time when transferring from one place to another. Another reason to compress large files is to save storage space on your system.

There are several tools for compressing files. They include:

  • WinZip (Windows OS)
  • NetZIP (Windows OS)
  • MacZip (Mac OS)
  • Zip (UNIX OS)
  • Unzip (UNIX OS)

Most software that you download from the Internet will arrive as a zip file with a .zip suffix added on to the end of the file name. When you receive the zip file, double-click on it and it will automatically decompress (unzip) providing you have the same compression software on your computer system.

Helpful hint: If you do not have compression software, go to http://www.shareware.com/ for freeware versions (free software)!

HOMEWORK ACTIVITY:-

  1. Download and install your choice of compressing software. Use this software to create one compressed file containing a word processing file, a spreadsheet, a JPEG and a Text file. (Your compressed file must be under 500kB in size)
  2. Email this compressed file to your teacher
  3. List the steps you took to on how to 'ZIP' and 'UNZIP' the file.