First of all, let us look at what a computer is. According to webopedia :
A computer is a programmable machine. The two principal characteristics of a computer are: it responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner and it can execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program).
You can think of the ‘specific set of instructions’ as any input that a user or another program gives to the computer and the ‘response’ as the output provided back. For example, if you want to add two numbers, say 2 and 5, using a calculator, you will have to tell the calculator which operation to perform(addition) on those two numbers and also feed them in it. Now the calculator will perform the task of addition on 2 and 5 and will return 7, which will be your output or desired result. Now, this is a very simple example, a real computer can perform much more complicated tasks at a very high speed. For a little more introduction to a computer, click on the link below:
- What is a Computer? : For now just read the first paragraph and watch the video on different types of computers and then come back to this page for more instructions.
You probably are already familiar with the most popular types of a computer: Desktop and Laptop. The link below gives you an overview of laptops and how they are different from desktops.
- Laptop vs Desktop : Only read this page and then come back to this page for more instructions.
Please note that there are are several different kinds of laptops, and your laptop can look different from the one shown in the above mentioned tutorial.
In the next lessons you will learn more about computers and its components. Remember that the if you have any questions ask your instructor or instructional assistant.
Also if you don’t know how to print a document then go to lesson 1.6 first.
Note that all your assignments can be found on the module assignments page.