ICT BOARDS

• Devices


  • Desktops
  • Laptops
  • Tablets
  • Smartphones
• Desktops


  • More powerful than mobile devices
  • Usually have a larger screen than a laptop
  • Screen at eye level and so helps with better posture
  • Easy to upgrade and expand, eg adding more memory
  • Less easy to steal and carry
  • Cost less for the power and facilities they offer
  • Excellent for work functions
  • Full-size keyboard
• Laptops


  • Light and portable
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
  • Less expandable than a desktop but more expandable than smartphone or tablet
  • Quick to start up
  • Portable
  • Easy to use
• Tablets


  • Lots of apps to choose from
  • Ability to transfer data
  • They can be expanded by the addition of a portable keyboard
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
• Smartphones


  • Pocket sized
  • Can make calls, and send texts and emails
  • Can use Wi-Fi
  • 4G/5G connectivity to access the web from most places
  • Lots of apps available
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
• Advantages of desktops


  • More powerful than mobile devices
  • Usually have a larger screen than a laptop
  • Screen at eye level and so helps with better posture
  • Easy to upgrade and expand, eg adding more memory
  • Less easy to steal and carry
  • Cost less for the power and facilities they offer
  • Excellent for work functions
  • Full-size keyboard
• Disadvantages of desktops


  • Not portable
  • Restricted to one working area
  • Take up a lot of space
  • Larger and heavier than a tablet or smartphone
• Advantages of laptops


  • Light and portable
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
  • Less expandable than a desktop but more expandable than smartphone or tablet
  • Quick to start up
  • Portable
  • Easy to use
• Disadvantages of laptops


  • Slower to start than tablets
  • Amount of battery life
  • Can be expensive
  • Not all have expandable memory
• Advantages of tablets


  • Lots of apps to choose from
  • Ability to transfer data
  • They can be expanded by the addition of a portable keyboard
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
• Disadvantages of tablets


  • Small screens can make reading difficult
  • Amount of battery life
  • Web browsing can drain the battery quickly
  • Typing on a small touch screen may be slow
• Advantages of smartphones


  • Pocket sized
  • Can make calls, and send texts and emails
  • Can use Wi-Fi
  • 4G/5G connectivity to access the web from most places
  • Lots of apps available
  • Integrated camera, speaker and microphone
• Disadvantages of smartphones


  • Amount of battery life
  • Speed of data transfer and compatibility
• Technology changes rapidly, becoming ever more powerful and capable, offering more and more benefits in the ways that they impact people's lives
• Emerging technologies include artificial intelligence and extended reality (virtual reality and augmented reality)
• Artificial Intelligence


  Computer-controlled or computer-simulated behaviour that mimics human intelligence, including learning, problem solving, and decision making
• Artificial intelligence can be applied in many ways, including in industrial robots that can perform tasks more efficiently and well than humans, but cannot themselves reprogram or modify their own behaviour
• Using artificial intelligence, a computer system can modify its own behaviour and outcomes, teaching itself how to perform tasks better based on examples. This is known as machine learning.
• PM&ROM


  Smaller, faster accessing data
• Internal Memory


  • Expensive
  • Fixed
• Types of Computers


  • Desktop Computers
  • Laptop Computers
  • Smartphones
  • Tablets
• Smartphones


  Can make normal phone calls, has numbers and applications
• Tablets


  No calls can be made, works same as a smartphone and has larger screen
• Extended Reality


  Refers to real and virtual combined environments
• Augmented Reality


  Merger between the virtual and physical world, can provide extra information to street views such as names of shops and restaurants, can provide a virtual guide to lead you to your destination
• Advantages of Augmented Reality

  • Saves money for businesses by minimising returns
  • Allows customers to try out different paint colours
  • Allows architects, builders, developers and clients to visualise proposed designs
• Virtual Reality


  Enables an entirely new world to be created, a computer generated environment, can be used for training and remote surgery
• During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, many people turned to VR as an alternative to a real travel experience