CXC Theory Syllabus Unit 3 (Year 12)

APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
This Unit seeks to provide students with an awareness of:
(i) (ii)
computer use and the implications of that use; careers in the field of Information Technology.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
CONTENT
The students should be able to:
1.
identify and describe appropriate hardware and software to meet the particular needs of a given application;
Variety of computer systems used in commerce, industry, science and technology, education, law, recreation and entertainment with particular reference to the choice of unique hardware and software such as robots, voice synthesizers, videotex, plotters, scanners, expert systems, mainframes, mini and micro computers.
2.
discuss the reasons for the collection, storage and sharing of information in organizations;
Variety of application areas in which information is used as a commodity, for tactical and strategic decision making, as a tool in controlling, monitoring and supervising operations. Problems associated with shared data.
3.
identify and discuss concepts associated with the internet and intranet;
Electronic mail (e-mail), newsgroups, (Internet Relay Chat) IRC, Telnet, (File Transfer Protocol) FTP, (WorldWide Web) WVW, web browser, (HyperText Markup Language) HTML, web page, website
4.
identify and describe measures to secure data;
Passwords, encryption, physical access restrictions, software access restrictions, back-up and recovery, fireproof cabinets, archiving. Virus protection, data corruption.
5.
discuss possible misuse of information;
Privacy, propriety data and software propaganda, computer fraud.



SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
The students should be able to:
6. identify and discuss issues which should be addressed by laws to protect individuals and organizations;
7.
discuss current technological trends;
8.
discuss the impact of Information Technology on job skills and careers;
9.
discuss the roles of various personnel in computer related professions.
CONTENT
Privacy, electronic eavesdropping, industrial espionage, surveillance, storage of inaccurate information.
Expert systems, natural language processing, robots, voice synthesis, laser technology, CADD, CAE, CAM, CAI, telemarketing, teleconferencing desktop publishing, commerce on internet.
Computer skills used by office employees, teachers, engineers, - medical personnel, musicians, mass media personnel, law enforcement personnel, movie industry. Loss of jobs. Retraining. Telecommuting, e-commerce.
Structure of a data processing department. The functions of individuals in computer-related fields such as programmers, systems analysts and designers; operators, managers; systems programmers; database administrators; network managers; data entry and control clerks; librarians; technicians; computer engineers. Jobs in service and support industries: software writers; consultants; data communications specialists; computer trainers; EDP auditors; sales staff.