COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION 

Prepared by:Lea N. ObilloBEED4

COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION

 

The proliferation of the microcomputer in the market, as well as the school has virtually made it accessible to everyone. Today, software games are available and youngster learn to operate computers and appreciate games they can play through a computer, however, computers can be effective devices in other areas of human endeavor, e.g., business and industry, science and technology and educational institutions.

A computer is a mechanical or electro apparatus capable of carrying out to repetitions and highly complex mathematical operations at higher speed, within its central processing unit, based on the set of program instructions and produces results in the form of meaningful and useful output. The use of computers is influential almost in every facet of human modern life.

 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A COMPUTER 

1. A computer is an electronically apparatus and performs its functions and achieves results through electronic impulses and not through the physical movement of its internal parts.

2. A computer as an internal storage system and has ability to store simultaneously program instruction and data.

3. A computer can store program and allows a pattern of statements in its internal storage which instruct it in detail on specific operations to perform and the order in which to perform them.

4. A computer has a program execution modification and change the course of execution of program statements.  

FUNCTIONS OF A COMPUTER 

1. To perform operation in a fast, perfect, reliable and accurate manner.

2. To store and recall information.

3. To perform arithmetic and logical operations-add, subtract, divide and multiply as well as determine whether a number is positive, negative or zero.

4. To compare two numbers and decide whether one variable is greater than, equal to, or less than to the other variable.

5. To handle large volumes of repetitive tasks accurately over long period of time.

6. To communicate with its operators and with other computers.

7. To detect errors and perform decisions.

8. To process one job at a time or several job almost simultaneously.

COMPUTERS ARE CLASSIFIED

ACCORDING TO: 

A.Purpose

1.General Purpose Computer

These can handle various application jobs; e.g. payroll preparations, inventory control, accounting and auditing and other institutional problems. These types of computers are very versatile but quite slow in speed and less efficient.

2. Special Purpose Computer

These are designed to handle special types job. They are specifically designed and used in traffic control management, airline reservations, industrial process control and satellite tracking. These computer are highly sophisticated and are designed exclusively for a specialized type of task.

 B. Type of Data Handled

1. Analog Computers

Are used in handling and dealing with continuously changing physical data such as current, pressure and temperature.

2. Digital ComputerThese computers are readily adapted to business data processing application in as much as they specialized in counting and provide 100 percent accuracy arithmetic operations.

3. Hybrid ComputerThese computers combine both the analog and digital features and are used in specific types of problems in science and engineering.

C. Capacity1. Microcomputers These computers are also called “single-chip” processor. This computer is a digital computer system under the control of a stored program that uses a microprocessor, a programmable read only memory (ROM).

2. MinicomputersThese types of computers are products of the miniaturization revolution and most talked about computer system in the industry.

3. Medium-sized Computers These computers can provide greater speed and larger memory capacity than the microcomputer and mini-computers and is capable of furnishing high-speed input- output devices efficient data handling.4. Large-scale ComputersThese computers are very expensive but valuable to big firms that handle hundreds of thousands of customer accounts every day.

5. Super ComputerThis computer is the biggest and fastest model in which can handle numerical computation at a high speed up to fifty million operations per second.

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