GRADE 9 – ICT NOTES (Module 1 & 2)

Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECs) refer to the important

characteristics that should be possessed by an individual to perform entrepreneurial
functions effectively.
Lesson1. Important Entrepreneurial Traits
The following are the fundamental characteristics of an entrepreneur:
1. Hardworking: If you are determined to run your own business, you must concentrate
on your work either as a producer or a seller. The success of your business depends on
how much time and effort you will spend on it.
2. Self- Confidence: You must have a strong faith in your ability despite the problems
that you will encounter along the way.
3. Future-Oriented: Once a person enters in a line of business, you must understand
that you are in a non-stop contract that an entrepreneur should understand. It may take
several years to build up a business to a reasonable standard. The goal for most
successful businesspeople is to build a secure job and stable income for themselves
based on their own ability.
4. Profit-Oriented: When you enter the world of business, obviously, you are looking
for income because you know that this will be your bread and butter not only for you but
also for your family. Therefore, you must see to it the business can generate income.
Another plan of action is to expand your own business using your generated income.
5. Goal-Oriented: An entrepreneur is forward looking. Everything in your business will
have to be set clearly, organized, and planned to depend on the goal you want to
achieve.
6. Persistence: Differences in opinion and judgment. Your opponent can be a part of
the rejection on what you intend to do for your endeavor. As an entrepreneur, you must
be firm, strong-willed, and stick or follow your own belief.
7. Copes with Failure: “Learn from your mistakes”. As an entrepreneur, you must
learn how to deal with the frustrations and failures instead, turn these into productive
learning experiences.
8. Responds to Feedback or Open to Feedback: You must be concerned to know
how well you are doing and keep track of your performance. You must obtain useful
feedback and advice from others.
9. Take the Initiative: A successful entrepreneur takes the initiative. You must put
yourself in a position where you personally are responsible for the failure or success of
your business.
10. Willing to Listen: Take time to listen to the advice, suggestions, and
recommendations of fellow entrepreneurs. It will help your business grow.
11. Set your Own Standards: This involves developing and using logical, step-by-step
plans to reach the goals, or offering evaluation alternatives, monitoring progress, and
switching to successful strategies for the goal you want to achieve. To be a successful
entrepreneur you must take into consideration that sales and production depend on
your own standards.
12. Copes with Uncertainty: You should know how to handle unusual events that may
happen in the business which include problems in managing the workers, problems on
the delivery of goods and services, and the problems on demand and production.
13. Committed: You should know that in your business, personal needs, attachment to
your friends, families and relatives are set aside. You must separate the money for your
business from the amount that you need to spend for personal obligations and lifestyles.
14. Builds on Strengths: Successful businesspeople base their work on strengths. Use
your manual skills, knowledge in creating products or services, knowledge in trade and
industry, ability to make and use of a wide network of contacts to build your business.
15. Reliable and has Integrity: An entrepreneur must build a good reputation,
possess the courage to do the right thing, do what you say, walk your talk, be loyal, and
be fair in dealing with the subordinates and customers.
16. Risk-Taker: Risk sometimes cannot be anticipated. When misfortunes happen,
consider these as challenges and work them out and set good alternatives. Risks may
result to loss of your business or even bankruptcy.
Module 2: Environment and Market
Lesson 1. NEEDS AND WANTS OF PEOPLE
Needs in business are important things that every individual cannot do without in a
society. These include:
1. Basic commodities for consumption 3. Shelter, sanitation, and
health
2. Clothing and other personal belongings 4. Education and relaxation
Wants are desires, luxury and extravagance that signify wealth and an expensive way
of living. Wants or desires are considered above all the necessities of life.
These includes non-basic needs like; fashion accessories, expensive shoes, clothes,
travelling around the world, eating in an exclusive restaurant; watching movies,
concerts, plays, having luxurious cars, wearing expensive jewelry, perfume, living in
impressive homes, and others.
Lesson 2. GENERATING IDEAS FOR BUSINESS
Here are some ways by which you may generate possible ideas for business.
1)Examine existing goods and services.
2)Examine the present and future needs.
3)Examine how the needs are being satisfied.
4)Examine the available resources.
5)Read magazines, news articles, and other publications on new products and
techniques or advances in technology.
Lesson 3. BENEFITS OF HAVING A GOOD BRAND
In operating business ventures, those who got good or strong brands stay in the center
of market environments. Here are five major benefits of having a strong brand:
1)Customer Recognition.
2)Competitive Edge in the Market.
3)Easy Introduction of New Products.
4)Customer Loyalty and Shared Values.
5)Enhanced Credibility and Ease of Purchase.
Lesson 4. ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
Environmental scanning is defined as a process of gathering, analyzing, and
dispensing information for tactical or strategic purposes. The environmental scanning
process entails obtaining both factual and subjective information on the business
environments in which a company is operating.
In generating business idea, you should first identify what type of business is suited to
you and the threats in your environment to ensure that the products/goods and services
you are planning to offer will be patronized within the easy reach by your target
markets/consumers.
SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning that identifies the Strengths, Weaknesses’,
Opportunities, and Threats of a business.

Strength refers to the characteristics of the business that give it an advantage over
others.
Weakness is the characteristic of the business that make it disadvantageous
compared to others.
Opportunity are factors in the environment that can be exploited in the business to
its advantageous outcomes.
Threat are factors in the environment that can endanger or cause trouble for the
business

HELPFUL HARMFUL
Internal Origin
Attributes of Strength Weakness
Organization
External Origin
Attributes of Opportunity Threat
Environment

Module 3: APPLYING QUALITY STANDARD

Characteristics of Materials Used in Specific Projects
1. Quality - the most important factor when choosing materials to buy. Good qualities
are long-lasting and safe to use.
2. Reliability - Products that are reliable will perform its function well. It will operate
safely and gives its best performance.
3. Suitability - Choosing materials which are very necessary to make the project.
Making a list is a good trait of a wise consumer.
4. Cost - Low cost means you can afford to buy the materials without hurting your
pocket and assure better quality.
Factors to be Considered in Choosing the Right Material
1. Selection of Material - The ability to assess the material's impact on the
performance of a product is crucial for reliable performance. Buyers are also
considering the label or name of the company which are producing great quality of
materials and are known in the market.
2. Testing of Material - It provides information on the quality of incoming and outgoing
products. The key to obtaining data for a project, performing failure analysis, or
understanding material interactions. This provides the participants with both
knowledge of the common failure modes.
3. Cost of Material – It is the cost of commodities supplied to an undertaking. The cost
of material is also considered when buying or selecting materials for a specific project.
The amount may vary but never take for granted the quality and the reliability of the
material.
Movement of Materials in a Business
1. Purchase requisition 4. Materials requisition note
Documents use for Documents use for
ordering, issuing inventory.
2. Purchase order 5. Materials transfer note
3. Goods received Note 6. Materials returned note.
Module 4: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Task Identification
Task is defined as usually assigned piece of work often to be finished within a certain
time. In computer systems servicing, there are tasks that require both hardware and
software to be set up. Those tasks require careful planning and preparation to achieve
the required output and to avoid possible injuries and damage to properties.
Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired
goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects
that require conceptual skills.
Preparation is defined as the action or process of making something ready for use or
service or of getting ready for some occasion, test, or duty.
In performing any computer operations, it is important to identify the task to be
undertaken before anything else. Planning must be done carefully for the success of the
task as well as preparing the necessary requirements may it be tools, supplies or
equipment.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a planned system of working to prevent

illness and injury where you work by recognizing and identifying hazards and risks.
Health and safety procedure is the responsibility of all persons in the computer and
technology industries. You must identify the hazards where you are working and decide
how dangerous they are.
There are three steps to manage health and safety at work:
1. Spot the hazard (Hazard Identification).
2. Assess the risk (Risk Assessment).
3. Make the changes (Risk Control).
You can use these three Think Safe Steps to help prevent accidents at work:
1. Spot the Hazard
Examples of workplace hazards include:
• frayed electrical cords • boxes stacked precariously • noisy machinery
During working hours, you must remain alert to anything that may be dangerous. If you
see, hear or smell anything odd, take note. If you think it could be a hazard, tell
someone.
2. Assess the Risk
Whenever you spot a hazard, assess the risk by asking yourself two questions:
• How likely is it that the hazard could harm me or someone else?
• How badly could I or someone else be harmed?
For example, (1) Ask your supervisor for instructions and training before using
equipment, (2) Ask for help moving or lifting heavy objects, and (3) Tell your supervisor
if you think a work practice could be dangerous.
3. Make the Changes
It is your employer's responsibility to fix hazards. Sometimes you may be able to fix
simple hazards yourself if you don't put yourself or others at risk. For example, you can
pick up things from the floor and put them away to eliminate a trip hazard.
 Common Hazards Encountered by Computer Technicians and Users
1. Physical Hazards - Is a factor or circumstance that can cause harm with contact.
Example: If someone trips, falls, and hurts himself because of a cable you ran across the
floor, someone has a serious legal negligence problem

2. Mechanical Hazards - Are hazards created by exposure to either powered or

manually operated equipment, machinery, and plant.
Example: You might move your hand past a computer chassis and lose a chunk of flesh
because it is razor sharp.
3. Chemical Hazards - Is any substance that can cause a health problem when
ingested or inhaled.
Example: Using any chemicals for electronic equipment, always read the warnings and
instructions on the label.
4. Electric Shock Hazard - Are those associated with the impacts of electric current on
the body.
Example: Inside computers and electronic equipment, there is a range of voltages from
3.3 volts to 25 volts, most of which are harmless. At the power supply, you will find
line voltage, which is a lethal 220 volts.

WHAT ARE COMPUTER OPERATIONS?

- Involves the use of a computer set (hardware components) with installed Operating
System (OS) and Software Applications (both are software components).
which means the appropriate use of the hardware components and software programs
in the computer (includes encoding, printing, saving files, running a program, etc.)
WHAT IS A COMPUTER?
- is an electronic device that manipulates information, or data. It can store, retrieve, and
process data.
TWO (2) COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM
1)Hardware Components - is any part of your computer that has a physical structure,
such as the keyboard or mouse.
a. External – Computer case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, camera, speaker,
microphone, etc.
b. Internal – Motherboard, RAM, video card, sound card, LAN card, etc.
2)Software Components - is any set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do
and how to do it.
Different Types of Computers
Based on the operational principle of computers, they are categorized as analog, digital
and hybrid computers.
1. Analog Computers: These are almost extinct today. It uses continuous variables
for mathematical operations and utilizes mechanical or electrical energy.
2. Digital Computers: They use digital circuits and are designed to operate on two
states, namely bits 0 and 1. These are suitable for complex computation and have
higher processing speeds. They are programmable.
3. Hybrid Computers: These computers are a combination of both digital and
analog computers. In this type of computers, the digital segments perform process
control by conversion of analog signals to digital ones.
Classification of Computers
The following are the classification of the different types of computers based on their
sizes and functionalities:
1. Mainframe Computers: Large organizations use mainframes for highly critical
applications such as bulk data processing and ERP. Most of the mainframe computers
 have the capacities to host multiple operating systems and operate as a number of
virtual machines and can substitute for several small servers.
2. Minicomputers: In terms of size and processing capacity, minicomputers lie in
between mainframes and microcomputers. Minicomputers are also called mid-range
systems or workstations. The term began to be popularly used in the 1960s to refer
to relatively smaller third generation computers.
3. Servers: They are computers designed to provide services to client machines in a
computer network. They have larger storage capacities and powerful processors.
Running on them are programs that serve client requests and allocate resources like
memory and time to client machines. Usually they are very large in size, as they have
large processors and many hard drives. They are designed to be fail-safe and
resistant to crash.
4. Supercomputers: The highly calculation-intensive tasks can be effectively
performed by means of supercomputers. Quantum physics, mechanics, weather
forecasting, molecular theory are best studied by means of supercomputers. Their
ability of parallel processing and their well-designed memory hierarchy give the
supercomputers, large transaction processing powers.
5. Microcomputers: A computer with a microprocessor and its central processing unit
it is known as a microcomputer. They do not occupy space as much as mainframes
do. When supplemented with a keyboard and a mouse, microcomputers can be called
personal computers.
Personal computers come in different forms such as desktops, laptops and
personal digital assistants.
1. Desktops: A desktop is intended to be used on a single location. The spare parts of a
desktop computer are readily available at relatively lower costs. Power consumption
is not as critical as that in laptops. Desktops are widely popular for daily use in the
workplace and households.
2. Laptops: Similar in operation to desktops, laptop computers are miniaturized and
optimized for mobile use. Laptops run on a single battery or an external adapter that
charges the computer batteries.
3. Netbooks: They fall in the category of laptops but are inexpensive and relatively
smaller in size. They had a smaller feature set and lesser capacities in comparison to
regular laptops, at the time they came into the market.
4. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs): It is a handheld computer and popularly
known as a palmtop. It has a touch screen and a memory card for storage of data.
PDAs can also be used as portable audio players, web browsers and smart phones.
Most of them can access the Internet by means of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi communication.
5. Tablet Computers: Tablets are mobile computers that are very handy to use. They
use the touch screen technology. Tablets come with an onscreen keyboard or use a
stylus or a digital pen. Apple's iPod redefined the class of tablet computers.
6. Wearable Computers: These computers can be worn on the body and are often
used in the study of behavior modeling and human health. Military and health
professionals have incorporated wearable computers into their daily routine, as a part
of such studies. When the users' hands and sensory organs are engaged in other
activities, wearable computers are of great help in tracking human actions. Wearable
computers do not have to be turned on and off and remain in operation without user
intervention.

COMPUTER SYSTEM, DEVICES AND PERIPHERALS

1. System Unit- The main part of a microcomputer, sometimes called the chassis. It
includes the following parts: Motherboard, Microprocessor, Memory Chips, Buses, Ports,
Expansion Slots and Cards.
2. Motherboard / Mainboard / System Board- The main circuit board that contains
all the circuits and components that run the computer.
3. CPU (Central Processing Unit) - The processor is the main “brain” or “heart” of a
computer system. It performs all of the instructions and calculations that are needed
and manages the flow of information through a computer.
4. Primary storage- (internal storage, main memory, or memory) is the computer's
working storage space that holds data, instructions for processing and processed data
(information) waiting to be sent to secondary storage. Physically, primary storage is a
collection of RAM chips.
Two (2) Types of Memory
a. ROM – (Read Only Memory)
ROM is non-volatile, meaning it holds data even when the power is ON or OFF.
b. RAM – (Random Access Memory)
RAM is volatile, meaning it holds data only when the power is on and when the
power is off, RAM's contents are lost.
5. Expansion Bus - A bus is a data pathway between several hardware components
inside or outside a computer. It does not only connect the parts of the CPU to each
other, but also links the CPU with other important hardware.
6. Adapters- Printed-circuit boards (also called interface cards) that enable the
computer to use a peripheral device for which it does not have the necessary
connections or circuit boards. They are often used to permit upgrading to new different
hardware.
7. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Installed in the back corner of the PC case, next to the
motherboard. It converts 120vac (standard house power) into DC voltages that are used
by other components in the PC.
8. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - Also known as hard drive, is a magnetic storage device
that is installed inside the computer. The hard drive is used as permanent storage for
data. In a Windows computer, the hard drive is usually configured as the C: drive and
contains the operating system and applications.
9. Optical Drive - An optical drive is a storage device that uses lasers to read data on
the optical media. There are three types of optical drives: Compact Disc (CD), Digital
Versatile Disc (DVD) and Blu-ray Disc (BD).
10. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) - Designed to optically access data stored on a DVD.
A laser moves back and forth near the disk surface and accesses data at a very fast
rate.

WHAT ARE THE INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES OF A COMPUTER?

*Input Device is composed of a device that accepts data and instructions from the user
or from another computer system.
*Output device is any piece of computer hardware that displays results after the
computer as processed the input data that has been entered.
Two (2) Types of Input Devices
1. Keyboard Entry – Data is inputted to the computer through a keyboard.
Keyboard - The first input device developed for the PC. Data is transferred to the PC over
a short cable with a circular 6-pin Mini-din connector that plugs into the back of the
motherboard.
2. Direct Entry – A form of input that does not require data to be keyed by someone
sitting at a keyboard. Direct-entry devices create machine-readable data on paper, or
magnetic media, or feed it directly into the computer’s CPU.
Three Categories of Direct Entry Devices
1. Pointing Devices - An input device used to move the pointer (cursor) on screen.
Mouse - The most common 'pointing device' used in PCs. Every mouse has two buttons
and most have one or two scroll wheels.
Touch screen- A display screen that is sensitive to the touch of a finger or stylus. Used
in myriad applications, including ATM machines, retail point of-sale terminals, car
navigation and industrial controls. The touch screen became wildly popular for smart
phones and tablets.
Light Pen - A light-sensitive stylus wired to a video terminal used to draw pictures or
select menu options. The user brings the pen to the desired point on screen and presses
the pen button to make contact.
Digitizer Tablet - A graphics drawing tablet used for sketching new images or tracing
old ones. Also called a "graphics tablet," the user contacts the surface of the device with
a wired or wireless pen or puck. Often mistakenly called a mouse, the puck is officially
the "tablet cursor."
2. Scanning Devices- A device that can read text or illustrations printed on paper and
translates the information into a form the computer can use.
3. Voice- Input Devices - Audio input devices also known as speech or voice
recognition systems that allow a user to send audio signals to a computer for
processing, recording, or carrying out commands. Audio input devices such as
microphones allow users to speak to the computer to record a voice message or
navigate software.

OUTPUT DEVICES
1. Computer Display Monitor- It displays information in visual form, using text and
graphics. The portion of the monitor that displays the information is called the screen or
video display terminal.
Types of Monitor
a. CRT Monitors - Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) were the only type of displays for use with
desktop PCs. They are relatively big (14" to 16" deep) and heavy (over 15 lbs.).
b. LCD Monitors – Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology has been used in laptops for
some time. It has recently been made commercially available as monitors for desktop
PCs.
c. LED Monitors - (Light Emitting Diode) - A display and lighting technology used in
almost every electrical and electronic product on the market, from a tiny on/off light to
digital readouts, flashlights, traffic lights and perimeter lighting.
2. LCD Projectors- utilize two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution
between them. An electric current passed through the liquid causes the crystals to align
so that light cannot pass through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either
allowing light to pass through or blocking the light.
3. Smart Board - A type of display screen that has a touch sensitive transparent panel
covering the screen, which is similar to a touch screen.
4. Printer - A device that prints text or illustrations on paper.
Types of Printers
a) Inkjet or Bubble-Jet Printer - spays ink on a sheet of paper. Ink-jet printers
produce high-quality text and graphics.
b) Laser Printer - Uses the same technology as copy machines. Laser printers produce
very high-quality text and graphics.
c) LCD and LED Printer- Similar to a laser printer but uses liquid crystals or light-
emitting diodes rather than a laser to produce an image on the drum.
d) Line Printer - Contains a chain of characters or pins that print an entire line at one
time. Line printers are very fast but produce low-quality print.
e) Thermal Printer- An inexpensive printer that works by pushing heated pins against
heat-sensitive paper. Thermal printers are widely used in calculators and fax machines.

5. Speakers - Used to play sound. They may be built into the system unit or connected
with cables. Speakers allow you to listen to music and hear sound effects from your
computer.

WHAT IS A STORAGE DEVICE?

Storage device is any apparatus for recording computer data in a permanent or semi-
permanent form.
Types of storage devices
1. Floppy diskette- (obsolete component) is a random access, removable data storage
medium that can be used with personal computers. The term usually refers to the
magnetic medium housed in a rigid plastic cartridge measuring 3.5 inches square and
about 2millimeters thick. Also called a "3.5-inch diskette," it can store up to 1.44
megabytes (MB) of data.
2. LS-120- is a drive which supports a special floppy diskette which can store up to
120MB of information as well as being backwards compatible and still supporting the
standard 1.44MB floppy diskettes.
3. Compact disc (CD) – also called optical disc is a nonmagnetic, polished metal disk
used to store digital information. The disc is read by the CD- ROM.
4. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)- an optical disc technology with a 4.7 gigabyte
storage capacity on a single-sided, one-layered disk, which is enough for a 133-minute
movie.
5. Jump drive and USB flash drive- is a plug-and-play portable storage device that
uses flash memory and is lightweight enough to attach to a key chain. A USB drive can
be used in place of a floppy disk, Zip drive disk, or CD.
6. Zip drive- is a small, portable disk drive used primarily for backing up and archiving
personal computer files
7. Hard drive- is the main, and usually largest, data storage device in a computer. The
operating system, software titles and most other files are stored in the hard disk drive.
8. Solid-state drive (SSD) - is a nonvolatile storage device that stores persistent data
on solid-state flash memory.
What is an Operating System?
The operating system is the most important program that runs on a computer. Every
general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs.
Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard,
sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk,
and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.
For large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It
is like a traffic cop -- it makes sure that different program and users running at the same
time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for
security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.

Operating systems can be classified as follows:

Multi-user: Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. Some
operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.
Linux, UNIX, Windows 2000, Windows Server
Multiprocessing: Supports running a program on more than one CPU.
Linux, UNIX, Windows 2000, Windows Server
Multitasking: Allows more than one program to run concurrently.
UNIX Windows 2000 and Windows Multipoint
Multithreading: Allows different parts of a single program to run concurrently.
Linux, UNIX, Windows 2000, and Windows 7, 8, 10 & 11
Real time: Responds to input instantly. General-purpose operating systems, such as
DOS and UNIX, are not real-time.
Operating systems provide a software platform on which other application programs can
run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating
system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the
applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS, OS/2,
and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.

COMPUTER APPLICATION OR SOFTWARE

Computer software, also called software, is a set of instructions and its documentations
that tell a computer what to do or how to perform a task. Software includes all different
software programs on a computer, such as applications and the operating system.

System software is a type of computer program that is designed to run a computer’s

hardware and application programs. If we think of the computer system as a layered
model, the system software is the interface between the hardware and user
applications. The operating system (OS) is the best-known example of system software.
The OS manages all the other programs on a computer.

Application software (app for short) is a program or group of programs designed for
end users. Examples of an application include a word processor, a spreadsheet, an
accounting application, a web browser, an email client, a media player, a file viewer,
simulators, a console game, or a photo editor. The collective noun application software
refers to all applications collectively. This contrasts with system software, which is
mainly involved with running the computer. Example: MS Office Suite, web browsers,
photo editors, sound and video players, communication apps, etc.

Microsoft Office Applications: These office applications are compatible only to Windows PC.
These applications are used so that the users can input the data into the computer and produce
accurate outputs for users to save the stored documents or files on the storage devices.
Examples of these are MS Word and MS Excel.