Hardware and Software
You need to know the names of the different parts of your equipment - the Hardware. The equipment is called hardware because you can touch it.

Computer programs are called Software - they are usually on the drive inside your computer so, unlike the hardware, you can't touch them!

Click here to learn about the important pieces of hardware.

Knowing what each of the pieces of hardware are and what they do is important. But more important is knowing how to turn the computer on.

Now that you know about the important parts of the computer we need to show you how to tell the computer how to do things.

We have a small piece of software which will show you how to use the mouse. After you have finished the program you will be brought back to this page. This program will give you some of the knowledge and language that you will need to help you to use the computer effectively.

On the next page you will find some of the important words you will need to help you understand Information Technology. You can go over them in your own time and make sure you understand them.

Here you will find a short test to prove you can understand some of the jargon (technical words). This will complete the assessment criteria for the first two parts of the course.