GCSE ICT Coursework Write-up

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GCSE ICT Coursework Write-up

Matthew Dodd 9M

      Introduction

There were a few practical tasks that linked in to make up the whole project. The main tasks were firstly to design a logo to go onto a wage slip for employees. Then, the spreadsheet of the employee’s wages was to be done which was then to be mail merged to the actual payslip which would have the logo also on it. The payslip would have to show the employee’s name, position, salary, tax and national insurance number, and show the amount of money that they would receive.

      Hardware

Hardware are physical items that The hardware items that I used are; a keyboard, which is an input device, an optical mouse, which is also an input device and a 15” CRT monitor which is an output device.

The keyboard is used to input information into software (see software section for definition), which is very useful as it is quick and easy to use. There are some disadvantages though, as by pressing a wrong key, the wrong information could be inputted. Also a key may stick and use up time and not properly function. The keyboard can also be used to use different functions of software by using keys such as “tab”, “alt” or “F1-12”. Alternatively other than using a keyboard I could’ve used a microphone and spoken in the words.

The optical mouse is used to make windows easier to use and to make parts of software easier and quicker to use. This is better than a ball mouse as the ball mice need cleaning otherwise they become less responsive and worse at their job. The disadvantage of using a mouse is that it is possible to click on the wrong thing, and record some information in the incorrect place. Instead of using a mouse, I could’ve just used a keyboard, as it can perform many of the same functions as a mouse, though by using a mouse it quickened my work.

The 15” monitor that I used displays what you are doing with the computer and so it was essential to my work. Instead of using this type of screen I could have used a flat screen monitor as this would give a slightly larger screen and therefore would be easier to use programs such as Excel that I used for making the spreadsheet of the employee’s wages. Another advantage of using a flat screen monitor is that it is lighter and takes up less room, but they are more easily damaged than CRT monitors. Alternatively I could have used a larger monitor, for example a 17” monitor to avoid having to scroll while using Excel.

 For designing the logo I used all three pieces of hardware, as I used the keyboard to type in the letters on the logo, the mouse to design the logo and the monitor to view what I was doing. For the spreadsheet and the actual payslip, I also used all three devices, as I needed the monitor to see what I was doing, the keyboard to input the device and the mouse to quickly access different parts of the spreadsheet/payslip table.

I used all three devices to interact with each other, as I used the mouse to access parts of the payslip table and the spreadsheet, then I inputted information by using the keyboard. I viewed what I was doing with the monitor which interacted with the keyboard and mouse by displaying what I was doing as I was doing it.

      Software

Software is computer programs that instruct computers on what to do. I used Microsoft Word, Macromedia Fireworks and Microsoft Excel to produce the final payslip.

 I designed the logo using Macromedia Fireworks as it gave me the ability to write on letters which I wished to have on my logo. It also enabled me to close crop the images so I could layer on other images on top of the background to the logo that I could create using Fireworks. Instead of this I could’ve used Paint Shop Pro or Paint, which have similar functions.

 I used Excel for creating the spreadsheets of the employees’ wages. This is because it is a program that is specifically designed for creating spreadsheets, and also useful for doing calculations (e.g. for tax). I could also mail merge the spreadsheet from Excel with the Word payslip, so that and changes being made would just be put in the spreadsheet and it would also be changed on the payslips.

Word is used for word processing and has other functions, like drawing tables and inputting images into a document. It is also able to mail merge the document with the Excel spreadsheet so instead of copying all of the values and typing them out, I could just mail merge them from the spreadsheet into the document. I used this for the payslip, as I was able to easily draw a table for the payslip and to insert the logo that I designed using Fireworks then mail merge the information into the payslip.

Inputting Data

Input devices are devices used to give instructions to a computer, for example, a keyboard or mouse. Accuracy is important when inputting data as if it is inputted incorrectly, then it may affect other parts of tasks as well as being incorrect and so affecting the task. An example of checking the accuracy when typing in Word is using Spell-check which informs you of grammatical and spelling mistakes. Also, if you look at the screen while you type or use a mouse, you can see when you make a mistake by pressing the wrong key or clicking on an incorrect button. This can help ensure that you see any mistakes as soon as you make them.

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The input devices that I used were the mouse and keyboard. When using the mouse it is possible to click on an incorrect button. This can cause the computer to do unintended actions and waste time. Also when using a keyboard you can lose further time by typing incorrect buttons and making mistakes. Autocorrect is also useful as it automatically corrects mistakes that you make, saving on time when typing. On excel validation is a useful tool, as it stops typing errors outside a range that you can set. For example if when typing 10 you type 109 accidentally, and ...

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