LEARNING MODULE

FOR
IT 221: IT FUNDAMENTALS

_____________________________________________________

COURSE OUTLINE

COURSE CODE : IC1

TITLE : BASIC COMPUTING
TARGET POPULATION : All BS SOCIAL WORK
INSTRUCTOR : MR. TOWIE L. LAWA, MIT

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Content:

 Internet
 Internet Tools and Services

Objectives:

General Objective

 Define what is the internet

 Identifying the major internet tools and services
 Discuss briefly the internet’s history
 Understand basic Internet concepts, terms and technology
 Describe how the internet works.

Instruction to the Learner

Each chapter in this module contains a major lesson involving the basics of Web page coding and HTML editing
tool. The units are characterized by continuity, and are arranged in such a manner that the present unit is related to
the next unit. For this reason, you are advised to read this module. After each unit, there are exercises to be given.
Submission of task given will be every Monday during your scheduled class hour.

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What is the Internet?
- The Internet is a global network of computer networks utilizing a suite of protocols called TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) that supports interconnection of a number of different
computer networks
- The Internet covers large, international Wide Area Networks (WAN’s) as well as smaller Local Area
Networks (LAN’s) and individual computers connected to the Internet worldwide
- The Internet supports communication and sharing of data, and offers vast amount of information through
a variety of services and tools

What are the major Internet tools and services?

 Electronic mail (email)

- The most popular use of the Internet
- Available for free on the Web
 Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Eudoramail
- Valid e-mail address consists of a username and a domain name separated by the @ sign
 ex. juandelacruz@mail.com

 Newsgroups
- Service dedicated to discussions on a particular topic through posted articles
- Accessible through newsreaders
- Names signify to users the topic of discussion
 ex. alt.library.automation

 Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

- Allows real-time text based communication through the Internet
- Organized by topic of interest into “channels”
- Discussion occurs in “chatrooms”
- Some Websites have built-in chatrooms

 Telnet
- Service that allows one computer to access another computer
- Enables the user to exchange data and issue commands on the other computer, the Telnet host
- Mainly used by libraries to allow access to information stored in their computers

 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

- Allows the transfer or copying of files from one computer to another
- Ideal for procuring or sending files to a remote computer
- FTP Programs available freely
- Modern browsers have built in FTP capabilities

 World Wide Web (www)

- Invented in 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee, the web is the fastest-growing Internet service.
- Based on HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) allowing users to access data in multimedia format
- Simplest unit is the Webpage, primarily a document encoded in HTML format that can be accessed
by using a browser
- HTML links contents of a Webpage to each other as well as to other Web pages through a
hyperlink
- Each page has an address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

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Internet History

• The Internet grew from ARPANET the first computer network designed for the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA) of the U.S Department of Defense
• ARPA sponsored research on interconnecting geographically remote computers to allow communication and
sharing of data and resources
• The goal was to create a communications network that could exist even if parts of it was incapacitated
• One of the early developments that proved significant to the success of ARPANET (which later on becomes
the Internet) were “packet switching” and “TCP/IP”
• Packet switching involves digital systems that transmit data in small packets that use the best current path to
their destination
• TCP/IP is the core Internet protocol that allows computers to communicate with each other
• Realizing the value of interconnected computers the academic community started with its own research
network
• The NSFNet, created and named for the National Science Foundation, linked academic networks that
connected universities and research organizations around North America.
• Networks from Europe and other countries were connected to NSFNet making it the backbone of the Internet.
• ARPANET was decommissioned and the management of the Internet was passed on to the NSFNET
• Restriction on commercial use was lifted
• The emergence of World Wide Web, and Mosaic brought an unprecedented growth to the Internet
• NSFNET reverts back to a research project, leaving the Internet in commercial hands and its management to
independent organizations

Summary:
 The Internet started as a military network called ARPANET, which was involved in networking
research
 The Internet later expanded to include universities, businesses and individuals
 Today, the Internet is also referred to as the Net, Information Superhighway, and Cyberspace

How does the Internet work?

 Protocols
– standardized rules that define how computers communicate and exchange data
 IP address
– Unique number used to identify computers on the Internet
 Domain name
– structured naming system to locate computers on the Internet
 URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
– Uniform naming scheme that specifies unique addresses of Internet resources
 Client and server
– computing architecture used by most Internet services
 The Internet is a packet-switching network that uses TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
as its core protocol
 TCP/IP is a suite of protocols that govern network addresses and the organization and packaging of the
information to be sent over the Internet
o TCP – flow control and recovery of packets
o IP – addressing and forwarding of individual packets

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Internet Protocols
 HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Protocol) - for accessing and transmitting World Wide Web documents
 FTP (File Transfer Protocol Protocol) - for transferring files from one computer to another
 Gopher Protocol - for accessing documents via Gopher menus (no longer widely used)
 Telnet Protocol - allows users to logon to a remote computer
 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) - for sending and managing electronic mails (e-mail)

IP Address
 IP address is a unique address assigned to each computer connected to the Internet
 It is used by TCP/IP to route packets of information from a sender to a location on the Internet
 IP address consist of four sets of numbers ranging from 0 to 255 Ex. 249.7.13.53
 249.7.13.53
o The first two number sets designate the network
o The third number set identifies the local network
o The fourth number set identifies the particular machine
Domain Name
 Domain names are the alias or English language equivalent of a computer’s IP addresses
 Domain Name System (DNS) allows the use of easier to remember domain names instead of IP addresses to
locate computers on the Internet
 Domain Name Resolvers scattered across the Internet translate domain names into IP addresses
 Domain names have two parts:
o First part names the host computer
o Second part identifies the top level domain
 Top level domains(TLD) – identifies the type of host
o Generic top level domains
o Country Code Top Level Domains
 Domain names are used in URLs and e-mail addresses

Top Level Domains

 .com – Commercial/company site
 .edu/ac - educational/academic
 .gov – government site
 .org – non-profit organization
 .mil – military sites
 .int – international organizations
 .net – network providers
 .aero - restricted use by the air transportation industry
 .biz - general use by businesses
 .coop - restricted use by cooperatives
 .info - general use by both commercial and non-commercial sites
 .museum - restricted use by museums
 .name - general use by individuals
 .pro - restricted use by certified professionals and professional entities

Country Code Top Level Domains

 .au – Australia
 .ph – Philippines
 .cn – China
 .sg – Singapore
 .fj – Fiji
 .uk – United Kingdom
 .id – Indonesia
 .us – United States
 .jp – Japan
 .tw - Taiwan
 .mn – Mongolia
 .vn - Vietnam

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Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
 Each Internet document or file has a unique address called a URL
 The URL comprises of three parts:
o Protocol – lets the computer know how to process the information it receives
o Domain name – Internet address of the computer hosting the site and storing the documents
o Path – lets the computer which directory and file to access

Address of Internet server that uses the hypertext transfer protocol

The top level domain

signifying a commercial
The secondary domain name site File type

http://www.amazon.com/books/children.html

Signifies that the site is

part of the World Wide Actual page
Web
Signifies folder where
webpage is located

- "http“
o transfer protocol
- "www"
o server name
- “amazon"
o second-level domain name
- “com"
o top-level domain name
- "books"
o directory name
- “children"
o file name
- "html"
o file type

Client Server
- The client server model is the distributed computing architecture used by most Internet services, generally
classifying hosts on the Internet as clients and servers
- Client programs are used to access Internet services provided by host computers running server programs
that provide the information or service needed. For example web browsers are client programs used to access
information hosted by web servers

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Ways to find Information on the Internet

 Net surfing –involves scanning pages and clicking on links randomly

 Using an URL – quickest way to find information on the Internet but you must know where it is located
 Use search tools and services – can assist you in locating the information you need among the vast amount
of information available on the Net
Internet search tools and services
 Search engines
o Websites that uses “bots” or “spiders” that periodically search the World Wide Web and
automatically index and store the information in their database
 Examples
 Google - http://www.google.com
 Alltheweb - http://www.alltheweb.com
 Altavista - http://www.altavista.com
 Subject directories
o Listings and directories of web page files that have been assembled manually, selected and
evaluated by humans
 Examples
 Yahoo - http://www.yahoo.com
 Librarian’s Index – http://www.lii.org
 LookSmart - http://www.looksmart.com
 Invisible Web
o Web pages that cannot be ordinarily reached through search engines or subject directories
 Examples
 Langenberg – http://www.langenberg.com
 Complete Planet - http://www.completeplanet.com
 Direct Search - http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/direct.htm
 Meta-search engines
o Send your search query to several search engines simultaneously and give you a consolidated
report of their findings
 Examples
 Metacrawler – http://www.metacrawler.com
 Dogpile – http://www.dogpile.com
 ProFusion – http://www.profusion.com
 Specialized search engines
o Search engines dedicated to indexing web pages on specific topics
 Examples (Locate mailing lists and newsgroups)
 The Lizt – http://www.liszt.com
 Mailbase – http://www.mailbase.ac.uk
 Dejanews – http://www.dejanews.com
 Google groups - http://groups.google.com/

How to use the Internet tools and services?

- Most if not all of the Internet tools and services can be used through the World Wide Web. To be able to use
the search tools on the Web to find information resources on the Net one must first know how to use a
browser. Features and functions of available search tools and services vary accordingly, one must be familiar
with at least two or more search tools to become effective in finding information

Browsers
- Programs used to access the World Wide Web
- Allows a user to access resources on a server
- Displays the contents of the web in multimedia format
o Examples
 Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, America Online, Opera, Firefox, google Chrome, etc.

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Using a Browser
- You need to be familiar with the features of your web browser and know how to use it
o enter a URL in the location or address bar to visit a particular web site
o open, resize, close a browser window
o locate and use the navigation tools on your browser ie., back, reload/refresh, home, print
o identify and use hyperlinks to get around the web
o download documents and files
o use plug-ins like Adobe Acrobat or Macromedia Shockwave

What are the ethical, legal and other issues involved in Internet use?
 Netiquettes - ethics governing Internet - acceptable behavior on the Net, mostly related to use of e-mail
and relay chat
o For Example:
 Be brief, keep paragraphs short
 Try to use mixed upper and lowercase
 Use CAPITALS & special characters for emphasis only
 Do not SPAM or send junk e-mail
 Refrain from flaming (sending hate messages)
 Follow acceptable standards of politeness as used in all kinds of communication
 Be wary of virus hoaxes, urban legends and chain letters
 Intellectual Property Rights
o Plagiarism – using somebody else’s work and claiming it as your own
o Copyright Law – protection of the author’s original work
o Fair Use – reproduction of materials for educational and research purpose
o Software piracy – theft and illegal reproduction of software
o File swapping – exchange of digital materials like audio and video over the Net without the owner’s
permission
 Civil liberties – issues regarding the rights of an individual
o Freedom of speech – ability to express oneself on the Internet
o Personal privacy and records confidentiality– handling of personal information, e-mail and other
electronic correspondence
 in the USA the FBI uses a software named “Carnivore” to spy on e-mail passing through ISPs
 collection of user’s data i.e. personal information and browsing habits by some software
(spyware), and using it directly or selling it for a profit
o Censorship – regulation or control of content
 for example: use of blocking or filtering software
 Cybercrimes (Computer facilitated crimes)
o Hacking / Cracking – breaking-in to computer systems with or without malicious intent
o Dissemination of Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, and other similar destructive software
o Denial of service and other attacks
o Internet Fraud – false advertisement and malpractices of individuals and companies
o Spamming – sending unsolicited e-mail
o Flaming – sending of hate messages
o Pornography – proliferation of obscene and indecent materials
o Social and economic issues
o Provisions for the handicapped and marginalized
 Accessibility issues with regards to the physically handicapped
 The widening “digital divide” between the information rich and information poor
o Multilingualism
o Charging for information – fee based information resources and services
 Technological limitations
o Slow download due to small bandwidth and increasing number of users
o Lack of standards with regards to software and interface design
 Other limitations
o Not all the information you may need is available on the Internet
o Information on the Internet is not permanent; it may be revised, edited, deleted, moved to a new
directory, or filename changed
o Commercialization and high cost of information services

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Internet Trends
 Continuous expansion of the Internet
 Increase in bandwidth connections
o Internet 2
o Next Generation Internet
 More business transactions on the Internet: E-commerce, B2B
 Increase in computational power of next generation computer systems – quantum and molecular computers
 Active role of Internet in education and research – e-learning, virtual libraries etc.
 Unprecedented increase of storage space
 Ubiquitous connections, wireless handheld and wearable devices, Internet appliance etc.
 Proliferation of dynamic and multimedia services
 Enhanced human interface: voice activation and sensory capabilities
 Virtual environments, communities and services
 Increasing proportion of web pages in languages other than English (though absolute dominance of English
likely to continue)

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