ICT Learner Guide (1) - 21-43
ICT Learner Guide (1) - 21-43
1.3 Operating systems Characteristics of operating systems including: Command Line Interface (CLI),
Graphical User Interface (GUI), dialogue based and gesture based interface
Differences between types of operating systems
Fixed and portable solid-state drive (SSD) including SSD, pen drive, flash drive
The differences and similarities between an extranet, intranet and the internet
Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wide Area
Network (WAN) and the differences between these networks
4.2 Network issues and Privacy and confidentiality of data transfer
communication
Avoiding password interception by using up to date anti-spyware and regularly
changing passwords
The differences between strong and weak passwords
6 ICT applications
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
6.1 Communication Communication media characteristics and uses including newsletters, posters,
websites, multimedia presentations, audio, video, media streaming and
ePublications
The use of mobile devices for communication including: SMS messaging, phone
calls, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video calls, accessing the internet
6.2 Modelling applications Computer modelling including: personal finance, bridge and building design,
flood water management, traffic management, weather forecasting
Advantages and disadvantages of using computer modelling rather than humans
6.4 School management Systems are used to manage learner registration and attendance
systems
Systems are used to record learner performance including computer aided
learning
6.5 Booking systems Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of online booking systems
including travel industry, concerts, cinemas, sporting events
6.6 Banking applications Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of Automatic Teller
Machines (ATM) including: withdrawing cash, depositing cash or cheques,
checking account balance, mini statements, bill paying, money transfers
Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT), credit/debit card transactions, cheques, internet banking
6.7 Computers in medicine Information systems in medicine - Characteristics and uses of patient records,
pharmacy records
3D printers - Including printing of prosthetics, tissue engineering, artificial blood
vessels, customised medicines
6.8 Expert systems Characteristics, uses and purpose of expert systems including mineral
prospecting, car engine fault diagnosis, medical diagnosis, chess games, financial
planning, route scheduling for delivery vehicles, plant and animal identification
Components of an expert system: user interface, inference engine, knowledge
base, rules base, explanation system
How an expert system is used to produce possible solutions for different
scenarios
6.9 Computers in the retail Characteristics and uses of computers in the retail industry including point of
industry sale (POS) terminals and electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS)
terminals
Point of sale (POS) terminals including updating stock files automatically and
ordering new stock automatically
7.3 Development and The need to test the system before implementation
testing
Test designs, test strategies, test plan (test data, expected outcomes, actual
outcomes, remedial action) following testing
Test designs including the testing of data structures, file structures, input
formats, output formats and validation routines
Test strategies including to test each module, each function and the whole
system
The definition, characteristics and use of test data using normal, abnormal and
extreme data
The use of live data
8.2 eSafety The principles of a typical data protection act and why data protection
legislation is required
Characteristics of personal and sensitive data including personal name, address,
date of birth, a photograph in school uniform, medical history
The need for personal data to be kept confidential and protected to avoid
inappropriate disclosure
The need for eSafety when using the internet, email, social media, online gaming
Phishing, pharming, smishing, vishing including the methods that can be used to
help prevent them
Viruses and malware including how to take preventative action to avoid the
danger of infecting a computer from a downloaded file
Card fraud including shoulder surfing, card cloning, key logging
Secure socket layer (SSL) including encrypted links between the server and the
client computer
Encryption including its purpose for the protection of data on hard discs, email,
cloud, HTTPS websites
Firewall including its purpose
User id and password including how they are used to increase the security of
data
9 Audience
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
9.1 Audience appreciation Show a clear sense of audience and purpose
9.2 Copyright The need for copyright legislation and the principles of copyright relating to
computer software (e.g. software piracy)
The methods that software producers employ to prevent software copyright
legislation being broken
10 Communication
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
10.1 Communication with Characteristics, uses and constraints of email communication including
other ICT users using email acceptable language, guidelines set by an employer, the need for security,
netiquette, email groups, carbon copy (cc), blind carbon copy (bcc), forward,
attachments
Characteristics and effects of spam email including the methods which can be
used to help prevent spam
10.2 Effective use of the Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of using the internet
internet including the differences
between the internet, an intranet, an extranet and the World Wide Web
(WWW), blog, forum, wiki, social networking
Functionality including Internet Service Provider (ISP), structure of a web
address, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), hyperlink, web browser
Use of search engine including speed of searching, amount of information, the
speed of finding relevant information, ease of finding reliable information
Evaluating the information found on the internet including how up to date,
reliable, biased and valid this information is
Internet protocols including HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText
Transfer Protocol secure variant (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure
Socket Layer (SSL)
Risks of using the internet including inappropriate and criminal material,
restricting data through parental, educational and ISP control
11 File management
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
11.1 Manage files effectively Locate stored files
11.2 Reduce file sizes for Reduce file sizes for storage or transmission where necessary using file
storage or transmission compression including .zip, .rar
The need to reduce file sizes for storage or transmission
12 Images
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
12 Images Place an image with precision
Crop an image
Rotate an image
Group and layer images including grouping and ungrouping, moving to the front
or back
Recognise that reducing the file size can be achieved by reducing the image
resolution or colour depth
13 Layout
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
13.1 Create or edit a Enter and modify text and numbers with total accuracy
document
Use editing techniques to manipulate text and numbers including highlight,
delete, move, cut, copy, paste, drag and drop
Place objects into the document from a variety of sources including text, image,
screenshot, shapes, table, graph or chart, spreadsheet extract, database extract
Wrap text around a table, chart or image including above, below, square and
tight
13.2 Tables Create a table with a specified number of rows and columns
Edit a table and its contents including insert row(s) and column(s), delete row(s)
and column(s), merge cells
Format a table including to set horizontal cell alignment (left, right, centre, fully
justified), set vertical cell alignment (top, middle, bottom), show gridlines, hide
gridlines, wrap text within a cell, shading/colouring cells, adjust row height,
adjust column width
13.3 Headers and footers Know the purpose of headers and footers
14 Styles
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
14 Styles Create, modify, update and apply styles to ensure consistency of presentation
Font including font face, type (serif, sans-serif), point size, colour
15 Proofing
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
15.1 Software tools Use automated software tools (spell check, grammar check) and make
appropriate changes to ensure all work produced contains as few errors as
possible
Use validation routines to minimise data entry errors
Know that automated suggestions given by spell check software do not always
give the correct response
Importance, characteristics and uses of appropriate validation including range
check, character check, length check, type check, format check, presence check
Label the graph or chart including chart title, legend, sector labels, sector values,
percentages, category axis title, value axis title, category axis labels, value axis
labels, data value labels
Add a second data series
Adjust the maximum and minimum values of an axis scale and set incremental
values
Enhance the appearance of a graph or chart including extracting a pie chart
sector, changing the colour scheme or fill patterns
17 Document production
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
17 Document production Edit page layout including page size, page orientation, page margins, number
of columns, column width, spacing between columns, set and remove breaks
(page, section and column breaks)
Set line spacing including: single, 1.5 times, double, multiple, spacing before and
after paragraphs
Set tabulation including: left, right, centred and decimal tabs, indented
paragraphs and hanging paragraphs
Text enhancement including bold, underline, italic, superscript and subscript,
changes in case
Create or edit lists including bulleted, numbered
18 Databases
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
18.1 Create a database Import data from existing files (including .csv, .txt) using specified field names to
structure create tables
Set appropriate data types to fields including text, numeric (integer, decimal,
currency), date/time, Boolean/logical
Set sub-types of numeric data including percentage, number of decimal places
Create a data entry form including specified fields, appropriate font styles and
sizes, appropriate spacing between fields, character spacing of individual fields,
use of white space, radio buttons, check boxes, drop down menus
Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of a flat file and a relational
database
Characteristics of primary key and foreign keys
18.2 Manipulate data Use arithmetic operations or numeric functions to perform calculations
including calculated fields, calculated controls
Use formulae and functions to perform calculations at run time including
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, sum, average, maximum,
minimum, count
Use a single criterion, or multiple criteria to sort data into ascending or
descending order
Use a single criterion, or multiple criteria to select subsets of data using a query
Perform searches using a variety of operators including AND, OR, NOT, LIKE, >,
<, =, >=, <=, <>
Perform searches using wildcards
18.3 Present data Produce reports to display data including displaying all the required data and
labels in full
Use appropriate headers and footers within a database report including report
header, report footer, page header, page footer
Set report titles
Produce different output layouts including controlling the display of data, labels,
tabular or columnar format
Align data and labels appropriately including right aligning numeric data and
decimal alignment
19 Presentations
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
19 Presentations Create a new presentation using a text file
Use a master slide Insert and edit objects consistently including images, text,
shapes, logos, slide headers and footers, placeholder position, automated slide
numbering
Format master slide objects including headings, subheadings, bullets,
background colour
Apply slide layout
Insert and edit objects on a slide including text (headings, subheadings, bulleted
lists), images (still images, video clips, animated images), charts, tables, audio
clips (sound), symbols, lines, arrows, call out boxes and shapes
Add presenter notes
Insert and edit a hyperlink including linking text or objects to a slide within the
presentation, an external file or an email address
Insert an action button including modifying settings to navigate to a specified
slide or file
Add alternative text/screentip to an object
20 Spreadsheets
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
20.1 Create a data model Insert cell(s), row(s) and column(s), delete cell(s), row(s) and column(s), merge
cells
Create formulae using cell references
Replicate formulae using absolute and relative cell references where appropriate
The order in which mathematical operations are performed including the use
brackets to make sure that formulae work
Characteristics and use of absolute and relative cell referencing
20.2 Manipulate data Using a single criterion, or multiple criteria sort data into ascending or
descending order
Using a single criterion, or multiple criteria, select subsets of data
Perform searches using a variety of operators including AND, OR, NOT, >, <, =,
>=, <=, <>
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology 0417 / 0983 39
Learner Guide
Adjust row height, column width and cell sizes so that all data, labels, and
formulae is fully visible
Wrap text within cells so that all data is fully visible
Enhance a spreadsheet including text colour, cell colour, bold, underline, italic,
shading
Format numeric data appropriately including to display the number of decimal
places, different currency symbols, percentages
Use conditional formatting to change the display format depending on the
contents of a cell
Set the orientation to portrait or landscape
Control the page layout to print including specified number of pages, print area,
display or hide gridlines, display or hide row and column headings
21 Website authoring
Topic You should know and understand R A G Comments
21.1 Web development Content layer is used to enter the content and create the structure of a web
layers page
Presentation layer is used to display and format elements within a web page
Behaviour layer is for a scripting language to control elements within a web page
21.2 Create a web page Create the content layer of a web page
Use appropriate table attributes to meet the needs of the audience including to
adjust cells to span more than one row or column, to set table and cell sizes in
terms of pixels or % values, to apply styles to tables
Insert appropriate objects into a web page including text, images, sound clips,
video (display controls, remove controls, autoplay), to adjust image or video
size, aspect ratio and apply alternate text
Use the <div> tag including to apply styles and classes
Apply tags to text within a web page to display predefined styles including h1,
h2, h3, p, li
Apply classes to elements within a web page
Apply styles to elements within a web page including to a list (ordered list,
unordered list)
Create a bookmark within a web page using an id attribute
The reason tables are used to structure elements within a web page
Relative file path and absolute file path including the reason absolute file paths
must not be used for hyperlinks to locally saved web pages/objects
21.3 Use stylesheets Create the presentation layer of a web page
Specify the font properties including font family, size, colour, alignment, bold,
italic
Attach comments to an external stylesheet