Monitor
The monitor is an essential piece of hardware for the computer to communicate with its user. It does this by processing data and producing it graphically on the monitor. The monitor does this by uses pixels the more pixels the better quality screen. I used the monitor to view the data I was inputting, navigating, testing etc. A monitor is very useful as it shows every process made by the user clearly which shows the user accurately what they have inputted. The big disadvantage of a monitor is it is vulnerable to dirt and dust which will decrease the picture quality and also it is vulnerable to breakage as it has a glass panel. There are two types of monitors which do the same task but have different quality’s the CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor which can harm the users eyes if used constantly for a long period of time. The alternative to this is using and LCD monitor which is much better quality and does not harm the user’s eyes and also it takes up less space due to it being flat screen.
CPU
The CPU (central processing unit) is the main part of the computer without this all data would not process and just have no meaning to the user. Basically without the CPU the computer would not work as this is the mean piece of hardware for a computer. The CPU stores and holds all the computers memory. The CPU provides the computer the power it needs to work and run it’s like a car engine provides the power to the car. It is very vulnerable to breakage if constantly tampered with. The CPU can not be replaced with any other piece of hardware.
Printer
The printer is not essential to the computers running but is a very useful piece of hardware. A printer is useful for a number of things, photo printing, document printing. There are three types of printer which all have there own benefits the dot matrix printer is the cheapest, the laser printer is the best quality and the fastest and the ink jet printer is the best compromise between quality and price.
I used a printer to print my work and edit and check where I could see if any improvements could be made. The disadvantages to a printer is the cartridges run out and need replacing which could cost quite a bit of money. Printers also can be prone to errors and breakages as they are very intricate on the inside. If possible and necessary buy a laser printer as they are the best printer overall.
Using software
Software is the packages and programs that ether come with the computer or can be purchased from any established computer shop. These programs enable the computer to perform certain tasks which help the user do work and get the full potential of what the computer can do. A computer would not work properly if some sort of software was not installed. For the work I did I could have used a number of different software to complete it.
Reports and Evaluations
Operating system
Windows XP
Microsoft has the biggest and most popular operating system on the market Microsoft XP. Microsoft XP has many functions that allow easy use for users and the familiar layout that everyone uses. Without an operating system (Microsoft XP) the user would not be able to open any programs or navigate around a user friendly system. I used Microsoft XP for everything I did without it I would not have been able to create the website or write up any reports. Microsoft have recently brought out a new operating system called Microsoft vista which is similar to XP but with many features this would have been a very good alternative to using XP.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft word is a very useful program which is included in the Microsoft office package. It is a word processing program that is very useful for writing reports, letter and creating leaflets etc. There are many functions that allow the user to change fonts, colour and size of the texts which makes the document look more professional. Also images can be inserted and edited and manipulated. There are also many useful tools like spell check which help the user create documents with accuracy. If this program did not suit the user they could replace it with programs like word pad or note pad but these do not have as many features as Microsoft word.
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft publisher is a very useful program for a number of things. It is part of the popular Microsoft office package. Publisher has many templates which help the user along with the task they are given for example businesses cards, websites, letter formats etc. It has many of the same features as word like changing colour, front, size, inserting images etc. I could not pick out any faults with this program as I used to design my website. I could have used front page or dreamweaver to design my website but I decided to use publisher due to the ease of use and the many features it has within the program.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a photo editing software which is very popular product because of its many features and tools. This makes the program very intricate so the images and animation can be produced to perfection. It is a program from an on running series that has changed over the many years it has been on the market. I used the product to edit images and animation for the website for example I merged a number of pictures together and used them as a banner for the website. Its only disadvantage is it has many tools and features, so for the user to get the full potential of the program they will have to know all of them. There are many other photo editing programs out there that could replace this program but I think if you are serious about photo editing this is the program to use. But for a more simple use I would advice using another program.
Programs I didn't use (alternatives)
Microsoft PowerPoint
Power point is part of the Microsoft office package that can be bought from any good computer shop. Microsoft power point is a very useful presentation program that allows the user to show slides with images, animation and audio. It has all the same feature as Microsoft word which makes it a very powerful program. It is mainly used to present some sort of work for example teachers presenting a lesson to school children for a more interactive lesson. I did not use this program but I could have used to present the website to the director of howard health centre. There are not many other presentation programs on the market that I know of.
DreamWeaver
Dreamweaver is a very accomplished website designing program which is very simple to use. It has many useful features which help in the designing of website. I did not use this program as it is very expensive and hard to find also the school did not provide this package so I used Microsoft publisher instead. I could have used front page also to design the website.
Microsoft Access
Microsoft access is database program which has many uses it is also part of Microsoft office. The data base program is usually used for keeping a record of some sort of updating data. I could have used to see what customers thought about the website. I also could have gathered information about signing up and mail merged a letter to word which could be sent to the customer via letter or e-mail.
There are many other data base programs but none that I know of.
Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft front page is an established website creator that comes with the Microsoft office package. It is a very useful program that has many features which are hard to get used but once you do the results are excellent. It is quite hard to use as all tools are not explained clearly in the program. Another disadvantage is that you have to import text from word to improve security and back up. Instead of this program you could use other programs like Microsoft publisher and dream weaver.
Microsoft Paint
Paint is program that comes in the Microsoft package. It is used to create simple drawings for example company logos. It has many features which enable the user to create simple and useful images. Paint can also be very useful when used with a graphics tablet as the program would work like pencil and paper but with many features. I didn’t use this program because I did not need to draw any images for my website. An alternative program would be to use coraldraw although it is much more complicated than paint.
Data Input
I am going to be explaining different ways of inputting data into a CPU. I will explain the hardware used to input data and the different features each piece of hardware, which enables it to input data efficiently. I will also include which method of inputting data is most effective for howard health centre. I will also ensure when inputting data that errors are kept to a minimum as this are time consuming. In the following report I will list the methods of inputting data and evaluate all the methods at the end of the report.
Keyboard
The keyboard is a familiar input device that is used in everyday life. Without a keyboard it would be very hard to input any kind of data that is why it is an essential piece of hardware for all computers. But do not mistake the keyboard for a device that can control the CPU. To use the keyboard staff should be trained as it is more useful when staffs are more efficient at using the device. I have used the keyboard in this project for two tasks, creating the website and writing up reports. If the user was not trained in using the keyboard the task would have been very time consuming and also many errors could have been made. The project had to be completed at speed due to the importance of this job. The keyboard is a very fast way of inputting data but there are other alternatives.
In this project I had to input many types of data, such as text into the website, headings for the webpage. Without the use of a keyboard I wouldn’t have been able to create the website successfully. I also used the keyboard to write up the many reports. The keyboard was quick and easy to use it was the best input device to use as there are not many other alternatives.
Howard health centre would use the keyboard as their default input device as it is the quickest and easiest device to use. Although it may take some time to get up to a certain standard of typing for example 600 characters per minute. The advantages of the keyboard easy outweigh the disadvantages and the keyboard is also a very cheap piece of hardware.
Mouse
The mouse is an essential piece of hardware for the computer to show its full potential. The mouse has two sensors which sense movement when the mouse is moved the data is sent to the CPU where it produces coordinates (which lets you see the cursor). The traditional ball mouse’s are getting rare as the new and better optical (laser) mouse’s are being purchased the advantages of the optical mouse is it does not damage easily unlike the ball mouse, it can work on most surfaces due to having no ball and it works more efficiently. A computer without a mouse would be very hard to navigate around that is why it is essential. Laptops come with already built in mouse’s which are not very efficient and can damage easily. There are three different types of laptop mouse’s, tracker balls, touch pads and small pimples. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The mouse was very important in my project as it allowed me to perform many tasks such as navigating around the website, changing colours, fonts, backgrounds etc. All computer software is based around the mouse; all software’s base the operations around navigating and clicking. Although some tasks can be carried out without a mouse like typing up reports and inserting text, some software will use the mouse in sync with the keyboard for example Microsoft word uses the keyboard to input text and numbers and the mouse uses the tools along the top. Without the mouse I would not have been able to navigate successfully around the desktop and open the required software packages. The only task possible without a mouse would have been writing reports and even that would have been difficult.
Microphone
The microphone is not a popular input device as it is not required for the computer to work. There are many different types of microphone, headset microphones, inbuilt laptop microphones and standard microphones all of this do the same job. The microphone is essential for the voice recognition software that is included in Microsoft XP and vista operating systems. The software enables the user to dictate words and commands though a microphone which is turned into data and produced onto a monitor. The software requires training to get used to the users tone and pitch of voice this is very time consuming. So the software would not recognize two different voices on the same account, if there is more than one user multiple accounts have to be created. The software is also very vulnerable to background noise, so the software can only be used in very quiet environments. So the software would not appeal to businesses as the employees would have to go though hours of training and have to have their own rooms to create a quiet environment.
This type of inputting data would not suit the needs of howard health centre. Even if voice recognition became much more accurate it would not become and option due to long amounts of training required and the need for quick access to data. I didn’t use voice recognition training because I have not applied the training to my computer this would have taken a considerable amount of time. Also the keyboard is a quicker input device, when the user is trained properly.
Scanner
This is a very fast and useful input device. It works like a digital camera takes a digital image of the information on the flatbed it then sends this to the computer where it is output onto the monitor so the data is at the disposal of the user. Also scanners can’t input text very well there is software called OCR (Optical Character Recognition) this helps the scanner input text although it is still not very accurate. A scanner is very useful for transferring written documents onto to computer where they can be manipulated and edited. The scanner becomes very useful when transferring drawings and paintings onto a computer as they can not be created by a computer. A scanner will input data much faster than a keyboard but it is useless if you have to create the data by yourself. Also you must know how to use the scanner or many mistakes can be made, this can become very costly. I didn’t use the scanner in the project because there are much more useful ways of inputting data and it was unnecessary for the project.
During this project I have identified that the best way of inputting data is though a keyboard as it is the fastest and most accurate way inputting data.
Although it may take a long time to enter the data if you are not trained properly, it is very easy to spot when you make mistakes and also using the spell check tool on Microsoft office. I did not use the microphone because of the vigorous training and accuracy of the software. Also at the end the work would have not been to the same quality as it would have been though a keyboard.
Systems Output
On this task I will be portraying the different methods and different pieces of hardware used in outputting data though a computer. I will be analysing the differences in the methods to come to a conclusion of what method is the best for the use of howard health centre. Outputting data is much quicker than inputting data. This is due to the main way of outputting data is though a monitor and this is instant and also printing is much quicker than typing. I will explain in more detail the different pieces of hardware used to output data.
Printers
Laser Printer
Laser printers are the fastest and best quality printers due the way the machine prints. The printer uses an electric charge to attract the ink to the page and the unused ink is sent back to the cartridge by electric charge. This makes the chances of a smudge or a mistake very rare. Laser printers are also the most expensive printer which is why most people do not buy them. Laser printers are popular in offices as they are fast and good quality and also they can be linked up in a network to the computers, this is very useful as each individual computer does not have to have an individual printer. The ink lasts quite long compared to other printers and also the toner power lasts very long. Although if the printers breaks down it could be very expensive to repair due to the complicated components of the device. I feel that howard health centre would be interested in a laser printer because of all its benefits. Although in this project I did not resort to using this device as I found it unnecessary due to the amount of work I was producing and also I did not need it to be of high quality.
For howard health centre laser printers are a cheap solution to buying individual printers for everyone. Also the quality and speed are much better than those of an inkjet printer. Laser printers are also cheaper per print than inkjet printers. Laser printers are devices of the future inkjet printers will be gone a few years and be replaced by laser printers because it is a much better option than the inkjet.
Inkjet Printer
The inkjet is the most popular printer due to its compromise of quality and price. There are two types of inkjet printer a bubble jet printer and an inkjet printer the difference is a bubble jet heats the ink when applied. It is not the best printer but it is the best value for money printer typically costing between £30 and £100 depending on the speed and other factors although the price is always falling due to new technology. But the cost of running this printer is very expensive to the ink cartridges that have to be purchased for the printer to operate typically costing between £15 and £50 depending on the quality and what type. My research shows that most households own an inkjet printer.
For the duration of this ICT project I used an inkjet printer to print off every single piece of work I did. This is because I have an inkjet printer at home which is very convenient to print off documents and images. The printer is an all in one printer (printer, scanner and photocopier) and is of good quality and very reliable. The printer did not make any mistakes when printing the desired documents I printed the following documents on it, the wage slip, data capture form, the design report, evaluations, testing, the database, user guide. The printer was quite fast in printing the documents. If I didn’t have the use of my inkjet printer I wouldn’t have a hard copy of my work, I wouldn’t have had a physical back up copy of my work and also I wouldn’t have been able to analysis my work properly.
An inkjet would be a suitable option for howard health centre as it is easy to use and is cheap. The disadvantages of inkjet is a laser printer as better quality prints and is much slower than a laser printer. Also the ink takes long dry which is time consuming if you want to fax the document and also vulnerable to smudging and being damaged. Inkjet printers are much more suitable for home and personal use not office or business use.
Monitor
Monitors are the main output device needed for a computer to run they show all the data processed though the CPU which then is communicated to the user. Monitors in the past few years have gone though a change involving the old CRT (cathode ray tube) and the new LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. The reason for this exchange is because of the size and quality difference of the two monitors. The CRT monitors are big and heavy and the quality of the screen is ok but can not deal with the new and advanced high definition signals. On the other hand the LCD monitors are light and thin and are of excellent picture quality and also can handle high definition. Without anyone of these monitors a computer would communicate with the user the computer would still be working but to no effect. I used the monitor for everything I did on the computer. It enabled me to see what data I was inputting into the computer and also if I had made any mistakes, it also allowed me visually to see what I had created.
In this project the monitor was the most important output device due to me having to see what I was doing. If I made any mistakes like, entering the wrong formula the logic unit would have informed me of an error, spelling a word wrong I could have seen the spell check function working by using the red and green line. The monitor was even more important than the keyboard and mouse although if they were missing it would have been very hard to complete the work. Without a monitor it is like being blind, you cannot see any of the computers information.
Though out the project I have identified that the most important output device is a monitor as it allows the user to see what they are doing. And also allows the computer to work effectively. I have also identified that the best printer is laser printer because it prints the best quality prints and also is the fastest printer up to 60 Pages Per Minute. But also the inkjet printer is a useful piece of equipment as I have shown from the quality of my printed work. But my work may have been improved if I had used a laser printer. My conclusion is if you print occasionally and are not that bothered about speed then use an inkjet printer but if you are serious about printing and haven’t got time to spare then use a laser printer.
Design
Data flow diagram
Updating site information:
Here is the process of how the update of the sites information will take place:
Store on any Website storage device
Microsoft Office
Publisher Storage
Director of HHC Exsisting information Internet
Time plan
Initial design
Template design
Detailed layout of homepage
The designs above are my initial designs and will be presented to the director of howard health centre for further improvements. This is what he had to say “I like the initial design but I think the page is to crowded I would like you to space the features of the page out a bit more I would like this because customers will not want to look at a website that is packed with information in a little space, everything else is up to standard and meets the needs of the target audience”. I will make the improvements in the final design which will be the design that will be published to the World Wide Web.
Final design
The following section is on my final design this design is the improved version of my initial design. The two following pages are from the howard health centre website that will be published soon. I have taken into consideration the advice the director has given me to improve the designs and will show the improvements in the following designs.
Home page
About US page
User guide
This page will contain the following instructions to help the user along with creating the website.
Loading the system up
1. After the computer has loaded up the window should appear like the one below. You should enter your assigned user name and password which will grant you access to your computer. Pressing options will bring up another icon.
2. By pressing options will bring up another icon which will allow you to turn the computer.
Saving a document
1. To save a document click on file in the left hand corner of screen then move the cursor down to the save as icon.
2. A new window should appear in the middle of the screen where you can save your work to the designated location by opening the tab and selecting the location you would like to save it to. Then after that you should name the document so it easy to find. When you have done that press the save button which will store the file.
Printing a document
1. To print a document simply press file in the top right hand corner of the screen then put your cursor over the print button or press ctrl and p together this should bring up another window in the centre of the screen.
2. The new window that opens will have options on how many pages you wish to print you can change this by clicking on the arrows next to the words number of copies. You can also pick what page you wish to print this can be done by changing the options on the right of the window. Finally to print the document press the print button this will print the document out of the printer onto paper.
Website design
Opening publisher
1. Firstly put your cursor over the start button in the bottom right hand corner and left click. This will then bring up another menu where you should put the cursor over the programs icon, which will bring up another menu which will have a number of programs as icons you should then put the cursor over the Microsoft office icon at the top of the menu. This should then make a list of Microsoft office programs appear, you should then simple put you cursor over the Microsoft publisher program and left click.
2. A window like this should appear then you may do any work you wish.
Choosing a template
1. After publisher is opened a taskbar bar will appear on the left of the screen this there to help with what you want to design. Firstly click on websites and e-mail the will bring up a bar where you should click on web sites which bring up another set of options where you should click on the option best suited for your task.
2. After you have completed task 1 you should then see a menu of many small pictures of many templates. You should then click on one of the templates which will enlarge the template you have chosen to fill the publisher window.
Setting up the pages for the website
1. To add pages for your website click on the insert a page button on the task bar on the left hand side of the screen. This should bring up a new window in the centre of the screen on the left side of the window a list of possible pages will appear. After you have picked the page you wish to insert press the ok button.
2. After you have picked all of the pages you wish to use there will all appear in the navigation bar to the left of the screen.
Creating hyperlinks
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Creating hyperlinks on publisher is very simple it is done automatically when creating pages. Firstly insert all the pages essential for your website then they should appear in the navigation bar on the left. To change pages on publisher just hold ctrl and click on the page you wish to view. When you are on the page the page name should be highlighted on the navigation bar.
Changing background colour
1. Firstly to choose the colour of the background you wish to use click on more colours. This will bring up a new window where in the middle will be a hexagon shaped pallet of colours; you should then pick a colour from the pallet and press ok.
2. After you have picked the colour you wish to use you then will have to pick a certain texture. All of the textures will be the same colour but have different shades and patterns on them. You can pick a texture by selecting a small picture of what it will look like on the left hand side of the screen. Once you have chosen the texture you wish to pick you should click on the arrow which will bring up two options one apply to one page and the other to apply to all pages.
Changing colour and font schemes
1. To change a colour scheme all you have to do is click colour schemes on the help bar on the left hand side of the screen. This should bring up a list of different colour schemes just put your cursor over the colour scheme you wish to have then the colours of the navigation bar, background and shapes around the website will all automatically change.
2. To change your font style simple click on font styles on the help bar to the left hand side of the screen. This should bring up a list of different combinations of font sizes, styles and format to insert this into the page simply click the arrow next to the desired font and new list of options should appear click the apply scheme option which automatically change all the text in the website.
Inserting images
1. To insert an image simply click where you have placed an image to and an image toolbar should appear automatically. The first icon to the left of the toolbar should have an image on it; click this to insert an image from another source. A new window should appear where you should select the image you wish to be used. Firstly you should select the location of the image by pressing the down arrow at the top of the window then selecting the location of the image or you can type in the name of image in the text bar at the bottom of the window. Once you have down this image files should appear in the window select the one you wish to use then to insert it press the insert button located at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
Testing
In the new website there are many attributes that have to be tested to ensure they work properly and efficiently. I will test three different stages of the website, input, processes and output. Firstly input this stage will contain many aspects, data entry (information that is entered by the user), navigation etc. The processing stage will include aspects like, clicking hyperlinks to navigate to another page. Finally the output should contain the expected results for all the inputs and processes. To show these tests I will create a table which will contain the following, what I am testing, expected results and the achieved results. The table will help me analysis and compare the results of all the tests.
All the six tests were all successful and proved that the website was compatible with all users. All the tests produced the correct results all the websites functions work. These tests were produced a number of times by many different users which helped me discover what the users thought of the website. All the users thought it fulfilled the needs of howard health centre.
Implementation
Benefits and drawbacks to the new website
ICT Is becoming a major part of the newly built health centre, computers are being used all around the health centre in all different departments of the centre. The new ICT technology that has been introduced has helped most staff to carry out their daily tasks. On the other hand it has also lead to unemployment in certain departments. ICT will play a major part in the health centres future as doctors, dentists and opticians are using more complex cures which can only be performed by machines and computers which both involve ICT. There are many benefits of ICT but there are also a few drawbacks as there is for anything.
Benefits
ICT is worldwide it is becoming more essential to everyday life. There are many benefits of ICT as the popularity shows; ICT is mainly used in businesses as it helps the productivity of businesses which in turn will increase the businesses profit and sales. For example in howard health centre staff would be able to find patients information much quicker through a database program instead of going through lots of filing cabinets to find the desired document. This would save a lot of time which could be used in doing more urgent tasks like treating more patients. The downside to using database programs is that staff would have to be trained properly in using the system, if they used the filing system this is self explanatory. Also sometimes off site training would have to be carried out which would lead to staff shortages and also if the system was updated this would require more training for staff. Some staff will also take the change in system different to others as they may be used to using the paper based system.
Another benefit of ICT is the internet; the internet has masses of information ready to be acknowledged. This would help all staff as they could find out health related information which could help them in the task they are given. For example if a dentist wanted to know about a new solution for cleaning teeth they could just look on the internet for the necessary information. Also the internet would enable dentists, doctors and opticians to communicate with each other for advice and also communicate with patients if they have any problems this could be done by using e-mail. Without the internet all of this information would have to be done manually and communicating would have to be done by telephone which costs money. To conclude ICT speeds up tasks and make tasks more accurate, makes life easier for staff there fore making the business more likely to be successful.
Drawbacks:
There are not many drawbacks to ICT but there are some that might affect how a business is run. Firstly staff become very lazy when using a system that does all the hard work so when they come to doing it manually they do not know what to do. Another big disadvantage is the internet is very big and a lot of people publish websites that have false information that lead to many mistakes in peoples work the only way to solve this is using an alternative method like going to library to read up on the desired information. A big worry is that a big system like howard health centre could always fail due to a power cut, this would cause many problems unless they could have an alternative way of working as a back up plan for example all data could be backed up onto a hard drive and laptops could be used in the mean time. All of these drawbacks cost businesses money and time which would lead to the business not fulfilling its full potential.
Another drawback for the website is that Howard health centre will need to employ staff to oversee the running of the website. For example they will have to employ staff to update and improve the website; this costs money which could be spent in other areas of the health centre. Also if the website is not designed properly the customers will look else where for health assistance that is why they need to employ someone to accompany the target markets needs which will improve sales.
Conclusion:
There are many benefits and drawbacks to ICT and the new website but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Also there are many solutions for these drawbacks. Overall the centers productivity would increase because of the effects of ICT. Also technology is becoming better, so some of the drawbacks will be vanished as long as howard health keeps up to date with technology. But there would be some unemployment if the technology was continuously used because technology would replace some people’s jobs. The drawback to the website initially it will cost a lot of money to create and run but in the long howard health centre will see the benefits from an increase in patients and interest. To finally conclude the website is a very good attribute to howard health centre and its staff.
The ICT effects of the internet and new communication methods on society
Evaluation
