Basic ICT Skills Class 10 Notes PDF Quick Guide

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Session 1: Basic Computer Operations

What is ICT?

ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology. ICT refers to all the methods,
tools, concepts related to storing, recording and sending digital information.

Computer Hardware and Software

A computer system consists of two main parts — the hardware and the software. The
physical parts that we can see, and touch are called hardware. Another important part is
known as software which we can see but we cannot touch it.

What is Operating System?

The most important software in any computer is the Operating System (OS). When we
start computer the first software display on the desktop is operating system. Some of the
most commonly used operating systems for laptops and desktop are Ubuntu, Microsoft
Windows and Mac OS.

How to start and shutdown the computer?

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To start a computer, click on Power button on the CPU. This will start the operating
system of your computer and display main screen of the monitor.

a. Basic Functions performed when a computer starts

When you start a computer, automatically computer will run a basic program called BIOS
(Basic Input/Output System). The BIOS first does a self-test. If the self-test shows that the
system is fine, the BIOS will load the Operating System.

b. Login and Logout

Login and Logout is used to protect your computer from unauthorised person. To make
sure your computer is locked, you have login-IDs and passwords.

c. Shutting Down a computer

When you click Shut down button, the Operating System will safely close all the
applications and turn off the computer.

Using the Keyboard

A keyboard is an input device used to type text, numbers and commands into the
computer.

Some of the important keys of Keyboard are –

Function Keys – Keys from F1 to F12 is known as function key which perform
specific functions.
Control keys – Keys, such as Control (CTRL), SHIFT, SPACEBAR, ALT, CAPS
LOCK and TAB, are special control keys that perform special functions.
Enter key – The key can be either ENTER or RETURN, you use the ENTER or the
RETURN key to move the cursor to the beginning of a new line.
Punctuation keys – Punctuation keys include keys for punctuation marks, such as
colon (:), semicolon (;), question mark (?), single quotation marks (‘ ’), and double
quotation marks (“ ”).
Navigation keys – Keys, such as the arrow keys, HOME, END, PAGE UP, and
PAGE DOWN are navigation keys. These are used to move up and down, right and
left in a document. The HOME and END keys move the cursor to the left/right end
of a line of text, respectively.
Command keys – Keys, such as INSERT (INS), DELETE (DEL), and BACKSPACE
are command keys. When the INSERT key is turned ON, it helps you overwrite
characters to the right of the cursor. The DELETE key and the BACKSPACE key are
used to remove typed text.
Windows key – Pressing this key opens the Start menu.

Using a Mouse

The mouse is small device that you can use to move, select and open items on your
computer screen.

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 Roll Over or Hover
Point and Click
Drag and Drop
Double-click

Session 2: Performing Basic File Operations

Creating and managing files and folders

a. Files – In computer, information are stored in files, every file having a file name and
extension. The file name and file name extension are separated by a period or a ‘dot’. for
example, if you store information in Notepad and file name is school then notepad
extension will be .txt and it will look like “school.txt”.

b. Folder – A folder is a location where a group of files can be stored.

Session 3: Computer Care and Maintenance

Importance of Care and Maintenance of Computers

When we take good care of computer on a regular basis, we can use them for a longer
time. This will help us save money as we do not need to buy new devices too often.

Basic Tips for Taking Care of Devices

Here are some simple ways that you can follow to take care of your computer.

Keeping a Device Clean

You can clean a keyboard with a soft brush and remove crumbs and dust particles.
You can wipe the screen with a soft cloth to remove any finger marks.
Be careful with food and drinks and avoid eating and keeping glasses of water or
cups of coffee near a computer
Handle devices carefully and avoid dropping or banging it against a hard surface.
Keep the computer, mobile device cool and avoid leaving a device in the sun.
Do not overcharge your battery
Always plug in devices carefully
Do not run too many programs at a time

Prepare a Maintenance Schedule

We need a plan or a schedule for maintenance of the computer –

(a) Daily Maintenance

Clean up your e-mail inbox

Download e-mail attachments and save in proper folders

(b) Weekly Maintenance

Clean your keyboard

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 Clean your monitor
Dust CPU and printer
Backup your data to an external drive

(c) Monthly Maintenance

Transfer photographs to computer and delete from drive

Organise photos into folders or albums
Clean up ‘Download’ folder
Uninstall unused programs and apps
Run disk-cleaner software
Run full system virus scan

Backup Your Data

Backup means to save the data present on your computer on another device, such as
CD/DVD
drives or hard disk. This data can recover using backup when the computer stops
working.

Scanning and Cleaning Viruses

Computer virus can affect the computer system performance and data; to protect the
computer we can install anti-virus software.

Increasing Computer Performance

When we are using computer for a long time then lot of unnecessary files and data stored
in computer automatically, this unnecessary file is called temporary files which decrease
the performance of computer. Try to keep clean this type of temporary files using disk
cleaner software or deleting temporary file directly from the “temporary folder”.

Removing SPAM from your Computer

Sometimes we get unwanted emails from companies who are advertising a product or
trying to attract you to their website. Such mails are called SPAM. Set email filters in the
settings to prevent SPAM from entering our mailbox.

Session 4: Computer Security and Privacy

We are keeping our personal information in our computer, so, it is essential to keep
computers secure and our data safe. If any of this information gets lost or leaked and falls
into the wrong hands, it can cause a lot of harm to the people.

Computer Security Deals with Protecting Computers

Protecting Computer against Viruses

Computer security and privacy deals with the measures used to prevent loss of data.

Reasons for Security Break – Security break is leakage of information, personal

information can be lost or leaked in two ways:

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 1. We are not careful in giving out personal information over the Internet. For example,
we share our account details and password on unsecure sites.
2. A person gets unauthorised access to our computer. This can happen in the office if
we leave are computer without logging out.

Threats to Computer

Threats are the ways in which personal information can be leaked from a computer
without our knowing.

(a) Theft – Theft means stealing of information or hardware. These maybe of three types:

Physical – Where a person may steal your desktop computer or laptop.

Identity – Where a hacker steals your personal information and using this
information as a false identity.
Software Piracy – This is stealing of software and includes using or distributing
unlicensed and unauthorised copies of a computer program or software.

(b) Virus – Viruses are computer programs that can damage the data and software
programs or steal the information stored on a computer. Major types of viruses are
Worms and Trojan Horse.

Worms – These are viruses that replicate themselves and spread to all files is
known as Worms virus. This type of virus is very difficult to remove from computer.
Trojan Horse – A Trojan Horse appears as a useful software program, but once it
reaches a computer it starts behaving like a virus and destroying data or
transferring data from one computer to another computer.
Online Predator – Online predators are people who trap you into inappropriate
relationships. This type of online predator can do bullying you into doing illegal
activities.
Internet Scams – Sometimes you are receiving offers in email or in WhatsApp, they
are offering attractive prizes or saying you won a huge money in a lottery, these
types of offers are known as Internet Scams.

Protecting your Data

To protect our data from theft and viruses we can take the following measures –

Use passwords to login to your computer – Use passwords that are difficult to
guess. for example, using small letter, capital letters, numbers and special
characters in the password.
Install Anti-virus and Firewall – Anti-viruses and firewalls helps to monitor the
data and prevent your computer from viruses and from hackers.
Encrypt Data – Banks and Companies encrypt their data using Windows
(BitLocker) or using any other data encrypt software and preventing their data from
unauthored usage using password.

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Secure sites – Always try to check https:// and lock symbol in browser when every
you are purchasing or transfer your money on the Internet using Credit Card or
Debit Card. HTTPS helps to transfer the data in secure manner.

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