URDANETA CITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta
AND ARCHITECTURE

MODULE 1
APPS IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCTION:

This module presents the fundamentals of information technology. It talks

about the basic concepts of information. You will be exploring the elements
involved in the operation of computer systems and learn to appreciate what it
can bring to this information age.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After studying the module, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the concepts of information.

2. Identify the elements of computer system.
3. Categorize different types of applications software.

DIRECTIONS/MODULE ORGANIZER:
There are three lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully then
answer the activities. For instructions about submission, you will be guided by
your instructor.

In case you encounter difficulty, do not hesitate to discuss this with your
instructor during the face-to-face meeting or through other means of
communication.

Bright future starts here

Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology
 URDANETA CITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta
AND ARCHITECTURE

LESSON 3
APPS IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES

Application software or simply “apps” (also called programs) has now become
an important part of daily life in this era—the “IT era”. More applications are
developed as more needs arise in solving various day-to-day tasks and problems.
In this lesson we are going to look into the different classification of software
based on their type, implementation and licensing.

TYPES OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE

An application software is something that performs a specific task in the computer.

Depending on the level of task there are different types of application software. The
following are some of the common application software we use on a day-to-day
basis.

1. Word processing apps

This software is used to create letters, professional documents, correspondence,

memos, etc.
Examples: MS Word, MS Works, AppleWorks

2. Spreadsheet apps or e-spreadsheet

This app is used to compute number intensive problems like bookkeeping,

statistics, budgeting, etc.
Examples: MS Excel, Google Sheets, MS Works

3. Publication Software

This tool is used to create, banners, newsletters, signs, gift cards etc.
Examples: MS Word, MS Publisher, Adobe PageMaker

Bright future starts here

Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology
 URDANETA CITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta
AND ARCHITECTURE

4. Database Software

Used to store data like records, memberships, address etc. which helps users to
manage information accordingly.
Examples: MS Access, MySQL, Maria DB

5. Communication Software

Allows connected computers to communicate with each other using audio, video or
chat-based medium.
Examples: MS Net Meeting, IRC, Messenger, Skype, Google Hangout

6. Presentation Software

Used to create multimedia slides or frames for presentation.

Examples: MS PowerPoint, Prezi, Hyper Studio, Flash, Super Card, HyperCard

7. Internet/Web Browsers

This tool allows one to surf the web.

Examples: Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome

8. Games

There is at least one game app in your personal computer or mobile gadgets. These
apps are ways to entertain or to pass time.
Examples: Solitaire, Mobile Legends, Counter Strike

Bright future starts here

Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology
 URDANETA CITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta
AND ARCHITECTURE

9. Multimedia Player

This software is used to play videos and/or audios

Examples: VLC, Windows Media Player

IMPLEMENTATION OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Now we are going to look how apps are implemented in a computer.

A. Desktop Application VS. Mobile Application VS. Web Application

Desktop applications are application software that are developed to be used on

desktop or laptop computers. Examples are the applications in MS Office Suite like
MS Word, MS Excel, or MS PowerPoint.
Most applications implemented on a desktop computer have their mobile
counterpart. Mobile Apps are generally implemented on devices such as mobile
phones and tablets. Examples may include Facebook App, Messenger App, and
games like Mobile Legends which can be played on a smartphone.
Web Applications are applications that can be accessed via a web browser. These
applications are commonly networked apps. Examples are online editing tools such
as Google Docs and Sheets.

B. Standalone VS Networked

1. Standalone (Offline) applications can function without the necessary requirement

of connection to a computer network. Once installed its major functionalities can
be used.

2. Networked applications can only function when the computer or device is

connected to the network on a machine known as server. Networked applications
can be further classified as either online or on LAN. The functionalities of online
applications can only work when there is an internet connectivity. Unlike online,
LAN applications can function without an internet connection. But unlike
standalone, it should be connected to a network.

Bright future starts here

Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology
 URDANETA CITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta
AND ARCHITECTURE

SOFTWARE LICENSE

Software licenses governs the end users’ rights and responsibility in using the
software created by its developer. Software licensing terms and conditions usually
include fair use of the software, the limitations of liability, warranties and disclaimers
and protections if the software or its use infringes on the intellectual property rights
of others.
The following are the types of licenses:
1. Proprietary software is a commercial software. It is not free and bound with
restrictions regarding use, distribution, and modification. An example would be
the Microsoft Office Suite composed of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. You need to
buy the license for you to use this software.

2. Shareware is a software that is freely provided to users. However, it has a time limit
for using it unless you pay for it. Shareware apps can often be downloaded from the
internet and allows you to freely distribute or share it to others for trial usage. Once
the trial period expires, it won’t be usable anymore unless you pay for its full version.
Note that you cannot get the most out of a shareware app unless you purchase.

Shareware can further be categorized with the following types:

2.1 Adware – Contains ads to generate revenue for the developers. If you do not want
to see ads on your app you have to pay for the software.
2.2 Donationware – Payment is optional. Hence, it could be a type of freeware.
2.3 Nagware – Annoyingly reminds the user to buy the software. Usually by
constantly showing or popup messages.
2.4 Freemium – Offered free but limited to non-premium or basic features. Whereas
if you pay for premium features, you get more advanced features. One example is a
video editor that puts its watermark on your video if you are not a premium user.
2.5 Crippleware –This shareware has its vital features disabled. For example, a
video editor that has its saving or exporting of videos disabled. Ultimately, using this
type of app will never let you produce any output.
2.6 Trialware – You can only use it within a trial period. Usually a 15-days or 30-days
trial.

Bright future starts here

Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology
 URDANETA CITY
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AND ARCHITECTURE
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta

3. Freeware software is a software that is available for free. A user can

download freeware from the internet and use it. They can also share and
distribute the software for free. Examples of freeware apps are some games
or apps from Google Play Store or Apple Store which you can download for
free.

4. Open-Source software is the software which has its source code available
to users. Source code is a part of a program or software. We have talk about
programming language in our previous lesson. These are what we also call
source code. Users can modify it to enhance or tweak the software to their
desire. Additional features can be added in the source code.

An open-source software can either be free of cost or chargeable. Most

open-source software allows many programmers to contribute to the
functionalities and capabilities of the software. For example, the web
browser Firefox is an open source. A community of developers improves it,
and if you have skills in programming, you may join that community.

SUMMARY

In module I, you have learned about the fundamentals of Information

Technology. You have learned the concept of information and what
technology has to do with it.

There are three lessons in module I.

Lesson 1 introduces you to the concept of information, information age, and

information technology.

Lesson 2 familiarized you with the elements of computer system— hardware,

software, and peopleware.

Lesson 3 presented the classification of application software. Congratulations!

You have just studied Module I.

Bright future starts here Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology

 URDANETA CITY
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AND ARCHITECTURE
Owned and operated by the City Government of Urdaneta

LEARNING ACTIVITY 3

1. Enumerate your top five (5) apps that you use or know and identify
them based on their type of application software.
2. Based on your understanding, what do you think the importance of
application software's own words?

REFERENCES

Stair, Ralph M. and Reynolds, George W., Principles of Information Systems, 8th
Edition. (2011). Cengage Learning.
https://techterms.com/definition/it
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics
https://www.teach-ict.com/as_as_computing/ocr/H047/F451/311/a_
components_system/miniweb/index.htm
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-types-of-application-software
https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/software-license
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/open-source-freeware-and-shareware-
softwares/

Prepared by:

REYNANTE M. PASCUA, CpE

Faculty, College of Engineering and Architecture

Bright future starts here Module 1: Fundamentals of Information Technology