Universiy of Cagayan Valley

New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City

College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

MODULE IN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

Course Title: Introduction to Computing
Credit Units: 3 units
Course Description:
This course introduces the essential skills needed for students to pursue
specialized programs leading to technical and professional careers and certifications in
the IT industry. This course also provides an introduction to the industry of information
technology, an overview of the IT profession, and basic computer concepts. It also
introduces to a well-rounded approach to computer literacy that includes operation of the
computer, and program logic formulation.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, students are expected to:

Cognitive
Develop a timeline of the evolution of information and communications technology,
incorporating the different components of the computer.
Create a poster or presentation to show the different careers of IT professionals and in
what particular industries or society they work.
Affective
Convert one number system to another number system, perform mathematical operations
to binary numbers and solve word problems based on the number system.
Psychomotor
Design algorithms to solve programming problems and transform the algorithms into
flowcharts.
Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Define Computer
2. Discuss the Capabilities and Limitations of Computer
3. Discuss the Evolution of Computer
4. Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Computers
5. Discuss the Classification of Computer
6. Discuss the Components of the Computer System
7. Demonstrate the proper Booting and Shutting down a Computer
8. Demonstrate the proper use of Mouse and Keyboard
9. Discuss the Number System
10. Explain how to convert numbers
11. Discuss Mathematical operations on binary numbers
12. Discuss how to manipulate files using DOS Command
13. Differentiate Algorithm and Pseudocode
14. Discuss the steps in problem solving
15. Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Flowcharting
16. Explain the use of each symbols in Flowchart
17. Explain the flow of flowchart

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

LESSON 1. COMPUTER BASIC CONCEPTS

Learning Activities:

Information Technology (IT)

Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage, networking and other
physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store, secure and
exchange all forms of electronic data.
IT Software and Hardware
IT includes several layers of physical equipment (hardware), virtualization and
management or automation tools, operating systems and applications (software) used to
perform essential functions. User devices, peripherals and software, such as laptops,
smartphones or even recording equipment, can be included in the IT domain. IT can also
refer to the architectures, methodologies and regulations governing the use and storage of
data.
Importance of Information Technology
We are living in the information age and are constantly inundated from every area within
our lives with information technology. It is now a part of our everyday lives and has
greatly impacted society. We use information technology to do school work, research for
work, recreation and almost anything else that can be imagined. Family and friends are
able to stay connected through internet applications and smart devices.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Information Technology

Advantages of Information Technology

Information technology is a huge advantage to businesses by allowing organizations to be
more efficient and to maximize productivity. It allows for faster communication,
protection of company records and electronic storage. Every work environment is now
dependent on computers and information technology. Other advantages of information
technology include:
1. Protecting and Storing Information
Electronic storage systems are being created to hold the information that is being shared
over the internet and internal intranets. Secure maintenance of customer and company
files is vital to the integrity of the company. Virtual vaults keep information safe by
limiting access to a select few. Security systems are put in place to protect your electronic
information and keep it from being wiped out or damaged during a system breakdown.
Hackers are also kept at bay with intense securities.
2. Automated Processes
The ability to find ways to complete more work in a shorter amount of time is essential to
the success of a company. Information technology improves a company’s efficiency by
implementing automated processes to make employees more capable of handling a larger
work load. Reports, queries and monitoring financials can be completed by the computer
programs, leaving employees free to complete other tasks.

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

3. Communication
Communication in every aspect of human interaction is essential. In the business world,
communication is imperative to the success of the company. Emailing, video
conferencing and chat rooms allow for easier communicating between employees and
supervisors as well as employees and clients.
4. Remote Access or Telecommuting
When a company has implemented an information technology system, many times
employees can then access the company’s network electronically. This enables
employees to work from home or while on the road. This gives the employees more
flexibility and they are more productive because they can still work when not in the
office.
Disadvantages of Information Technology
Information technology has changed the world around us. Communication is done much
faster and global trade is becoming a simplified process. Although the benefits of
information technology make it seem ideal, there are also some disadvantages of
information tech that are listed below.
1. Expense of Implementation and Maintenance
Setup costs for implementing an information technology system within a home or
business can be very costly. Software training can also take another big bite out of the
budget. Information technology systems, just like any other equipment, need to be
maintained and repaired from time to time. But there are also updating and upgrading
costs associated with IT systems.
2. Elimination of Jobs
By implementing IT systems into a company, tasks take less time and therefore,
employees have more time throughout the day. Paperwork is processed and filed
immediately, reports are generated with the touch of a button and financial statements are
generated automatically. Companies are finding that they can combine jobs and need a
smaller staff to operate fully.
3. Breaches in Security
When information is stored electronically, there are more chances of having security
breaches. Hackers are evolving along with technology and they are never up to any good.
Security systems that were state of-the-art last year are now out-of-date and in desperate
need of upgrading. To protect company data, a security specialist should be kept on staff.
While information technology is quickly becoming something that we cannot live
without, there are many aspects that keep us on our toes. Trying to stay current on the
changes and be able to afford the upgrades can make a person feel helpless and confused.
But when we understand the different aspects of information technology, then we can
accomplish so much more than without it.

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

Evolution of Information and Communication Technology

Communication has improved and evolved to facilitate our daily activities. In the 21st
century, everything related to communication utilizes technology to ‘send out’ or
disseminate information to a wider audience. Information can be ‘sent out’ in many ways.
The inventions of cellular phones, television and other electronic devices are important in
enhancing communication.

What is Information and Communication Technology (ICT)?

ICT is the technology required for information processing, in particular, the use of
electronic computers, communication devices and software applications to convert, store,
protect, process, transmit and retrieve information from anywhere, anytime.

Information
Information refers to the knowledge obtained from reading, investigation, study or
research. The tools to transmit information are the telephone, television and radio.
We need information to make decisions and to predict the future. For example, scientists
can detect the formation of a tsunami using the latest technology and warn the public to
avoid disasters in the affected areas. Information is knowledge and helps us to fulfill our
daily tasks. For example, forecasting the stock exchange market.
Communication
Communication is an act of transmitting messages. It is a process whereby information is
exchanged between individuals using symbols, signs or verbal interactions. Previously,
people communicated through sign or symbols, performing drama and poetry. With the
advent of technology, these ‘older’ forms of communication are less utilized as compared
to the use of the Internet, e-mail or video conferencing.
Communication is important in order to gain knowledge. With knowledge, we are more
confident in expressing our thoughts and ideas.
Technology
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge, experience and resources to create
processes and products that fulfill human needs. Technology is vital in communication.
Aiding Communication
Telephone and fax machines are the devices used in extending communication.
Spreading Information
To broadcast information such as news or weather reports effectively. Radio, television,
satellites and the World Wide Web (www) are powerful tools that can be used.

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

What is a Computer?
Computer is an electronic device that can manipulate data so that useful information can
be generated.
A computer can accept data, process data into useful information and store it for later use.
The word Computer derived from compute that means to calculate. Computer can be
used as a calculating machine to produce results at a very high speed. It can also be used
for other purposes. People use computer to solve different problems quickly and easily.
Capabilities of Computer
1. Computer has the ability to perform mathematical and logical operation.
2. It can process data at a very fast speed with almost perfect accuracy.
3. It can store a great amount and variety of operations.
4. It can handle volumes of repetitive task accurately over long period of time.
5. It can communicate with its operators and other machines.
Limitations
1. It can only carry out those operations that a person has programmed or instructed
to perform.
2. It can detect, but generally cannot correct a wrong input or instructions.
3. It is subject to occasional breakdown or malfunction.
4. They have no imagination.
Characteristics of Computer
1. It is a machine
2. It is electronic
3. It is automatic
4. It can manipulate data
5. It has memory
6. It is accurate
7. It is reliable
8. It is diligent
9. It is versatile
10. It has power of remembering
11. It has no IQ (Intelligence Quotient)

HISTORY OF COMPUTER
Computer was invented because “Necessity is the mother of invention”. Man always
searched for a fast calculating device. It took a long time to invent the digital computer.
As human mind and technology improved with time more computing device were
developed.
Computing Periods
Four basic periods, each characterized by a principal technology used to solve the input,
processing, output and communication problems of the time:

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

A. Premechanical
B. Mechanical
C. Electromechanical
D. Electronic

A. The Premechanical Age: 3000 B.C. - 1450 A.D.

1. Writing and Alphabets. The first humans communicated only through speaking and
picture drawings. In 3000 B.C., the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (what is today southern
Iraq) devised a writing system. The system, called "cuneiform" used signs
corresponding to spoken sounds, instead of pictures, to express words. From this first
information system — writing — came civilization as we know it today. The Phoenicians
around 2000 B.C. further simplified writing by creating symbols that expressed single
syllables and consonants (the first true alphabet). The Greeks later adopted the
Phoenician alphabet and added vowels; the Romans gave the letters Latin names to create
the alphabet we use today.
2. Paper and Pens. For the Sumerians, input technology consisted of a penlike device
called a stylus that could scratch marks in wet clay. About 2600 B.C., the Egyptians
discovered that they could write on the papyrus plant, using hollow reeds or rushes to
hold the first "ink" - pulverized carbon or ash mixed with lamp oil and gelatin from
boiled donkey skin. Other societies wrote on bark, leaves, or leather. The Chinese
developed techniques for making paper from rags, on which modern-day papermaking is
based, around 100 A.D.
3. Books and Libraries: Permanent Storage Devices. Religious leaders in
Mesopotamia kept the earliest "books" a collection of rectangular clay tablets, inscribed
with cuneiform and packaged in labeled containers — in their personal "libraries." The
Egyptians kept scrolls - sheets of papyrus wrapped around a shaft of wood. Around 600
B.C., the Greeks began to fold sheets of papyrus vertically into leaves and bind them
together. The dictionary and encyclopedia made their appearance about the same time.
The Greeks are also credited with developing the first truly public libraries around 500
B.C.
4. The First Numbering Systems. The Egyptians struggled with a system that depicted
the numbers 1-9 as vertical lines, the number 10 as a U or circle, the number 100 as a
coiled rope, and the number 1,000 as a lotus blossom. The first numbering systems
similar to those in use today were invented between 100 and 200 A.D. by Hindus in India
who created a nine digit numbering system. Around 875 A.D., the concept of zero was
developed. It was through the Arab traders that today's numbering system — 9 digits plus
a 0 — made its way to Europe sometime in the 12th century.
5. The First Calculators. The existence of a counting tool called the abacus, one of the
very first information processors, permitted people to "store" numbers temporarily and to
perform calculations using beads strung on wires. It continued to be an important tool
throughout the Middle Ages.
B. The Mechanical Age: 1450 – 1840
1. The First Information Explosion. Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, invented
the movable metal-type printing process in 1450 and sped up the process of composing
pages from weeks to a few minutes. The printing press made written information much
more accessible to the general public by reducing the time and cost that it took to

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

reproduce written material. The development of book indexes (alphabetically sorted lists
of topics and names) and the widespread use of page numbers also made information
retrieval a much easier task. These new techniques of organizing information would
become valuable later in the development of files and databases.
2. Math by Machine. The first general purpose "computers" were actually people who
held the job title "computer: one who works with numbers." Difficulties in human errors
were slowing scientists and mathematicians in their pursuit of greater knowledge.
3. Slide Rules, the Pascaline and Leibniz's Machine.
a. Slide Rule. In the early 1600s, William Oughtred, an English clergyman, invented the
slide rule, a device that allowed the user to multiply and divide by sliding two pieces of
precisely machines and scribed wood against each other. The slide rule is an early
example of an analog computer — an instrument that measures instead of counts.
b. Pascaline. Blaise Pascal, later to become a famous French mathematician, built one of
the first mechanical computing machines as a teenager, around 1642. It was called a
Pascaline, and it used a series of wheels and cogs to add and subtract numbers.
c. Leibniz's Machine. Gottfried von Leibniz, an important German mathematician and
philosopher (he independently invented calculus at the same time as Newton) was able to
improve on Pascal's machine in the 1670s by adding additional components that made
multiplication and division easier.
4. Babbage's Engines
a. The Difference Engine. An eccentric English mathematician named Charles Babbage,
frustrated by mistakes, set his mind to creating a machine that could both calculate
numbers and print the results. In the 1820s, he was able to produce a working model of
his first attempt, which he called the Difference Engine (the name was based on a method
of solving mathematical equations called the "method of differences"). Made of toothed
wheels and shafts turned by a hand crank, the machine could do computations and create
charts showing the squares and cubes of numbers. He had plans for a more complex
Difference Engine but was never able to actually build it because of difficulties in
obtaining funds, but he did create and leave behind detailed plans.
b. The Analytical Engine. Designed during the 1830s by Babbage, the Analytical
Engine had parts remarkably similar to modern-day computers. For instance, the
Analytical Engine was to have a part called the "store," which would hold the numbers
that had been inputted and the quantities that resulted after they had been manipulated. It
was also to have a part called the "mill" - an area in which the numbers were actually
manipulated. Babbage also planned to use punch cards to direct the operations performed
by the machine — an idea he picked up from seeing the results that a French weaver
named Joseph Jacquard had achieved using punched cards to automatically control the
patterns that would be woven into cloth by a loom.
c. Augusta Ada Byron. She helped Babbage design the instructions that would be given
to the machine on punch cards (for which she has been called the "first programmer")
and to describe, analyze, and publicize his ideas. Babbage eventually was forced to
abandon his hopes of building the Analytical Engine, once again because of a failure to
find funding.
C. The Electromechanical Age: 1840 - 1940

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

The discovery of ways to harness electricity was the key advance made during this period.
Knowledge and information could now be converted into electrical impulses.
1. The Beginnings of Telecommunication. Technologies that form the basis for
modern-day telecommunication systems include:
a. Voltaic Battery. The discovery of a reliable method of creating and storing electricity
(with a voltaic battery) at the end of the 18th century made possible a whole new method
of communicating information. Invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800.
b. Telegraph. The telegraph, the first major invention to use electricity for
communication purposes, made it possible to transmit information over great distances
with great speed. Invented by Andre-Marie Ampere and David Alter.
c. Morse Code. The usefulness of the telegraph was further enhanced by the
development of Morse Code in 1835 by Samuel Morse, an American from Poughkeepsie,
New York. Morse devised a system that broke down information (in this case, the
alphabet) into bits (dots and dashes) that could then be transformed into electrical
impulses and transmitted over a wire (just as today's digital technologies breakdown
information into zeros and ones).
d. Telephone and Radio. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. This
was followed by the discovery that electrical waves travel through space and can produce
an effect far from the point at which they originated. These two events led to the
invention of the radio by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894.
2. Electromechanical Computing
a. Herman Hollerith and IBM. By 1890, Herman Hollerith, a young man with a degree
in mining engineering who worked in the Census Office in Washington, D.C., had
perfected a machine that could automatically sort census cards into a number of
categories using electrical sensing devices to "read" the punched holes in each card and
thus count the millions of census cards and categorize the population into relevant groups.
The company that he founded to manufacture and sell it eventually developed into the
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
b. Mark 1. Howard Aiken, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University, decided to try to
combine Hollerith's punched card technology with Babbage's dreams of a general-
purpose, "programmable" computing machine. With funding from IBM, he built a
machine known as the Mark I, which used paper tape to supply instructions(programs) to
the machine tor manipulating data (input on paper punch cards), counters to store
numbers, and electromechanical relays to help register results.
D. The Electronic Age: 1940 - Present
1. First Tries. In the early 1940s, scientists around the world began to realize that
electronic vacuum tubes, like the type used to create early radios, could be used to
replace electromechanical parts.
2. Eckert and Mauchly.
a. The First High-Speed, General-Purpose Computer Using Vacuum Tubes, the
ENIAC. John Mauchly, a physicist, and J. Prosper Eckert, an electrical engineer, at the
Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, funded by the
U.S. Army, developed the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

in 1946. It could add, subtract, multiply and divide in milliseconds and calculate the
trajectory of an artillery round in about 20 seconds.
b. The First Stored-Program Computer. A problem with the ENIAC was that the
machine had no means of storing program instructions in its memory - to change the
instructions, the machine would literally have to be rewired. Mauchly and Eckert began
to design the EDVAC - the Electronic Discreet Variable Computer -to address this
problem. John von Neumann joined the team as a consultant and produced an influential
report in June 1945 synthesizing and expanding on Eckert and Mauchly's ideas, which
resulted in von Neumann being credited as the originator of the stored program concept.
Maurice Wilkes, a British scientist at Cambridge University, completed the EDSAC
(Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) two years before EDVAC was
finished, thereby taking the claim of the first stored program computer.
c. The First General-Purpose Computer for Commercial Use. Eckert and Mauchly
began the development of a computer called UNIVAC (Universal Automatic
Computer), which they hoped would be the world's first general-purpose computer for
commercial use, but they ran out of money and sold their company to Remington Rand.
A machine called LEO (Lyons Electronic Office) went into action a few months before
UNIVAC and became the world's first commercial computer.
3. The Generations of Digital Computing. Information technology has traditionally
been broken down into four or five distinct stages or computer generations, each marked
by the technology used to create the main logic element (the electronic component used
to store and process information) used in computers during the period.

Brief History of Computer

Abacus
- The history of computer begins with the birth of abacus which is believed to
be the first computer and was invented by Chinese around 4,000 years ago.
- It was a wooden rack which has metal rods with beads mounted on them.
- The beads were moved by the abacus operator according to some rules to
perform arithmetic calculations.
- Abacus is still used in some countries like China, Russia and Japan.

Napier’s Bones
- It was a manually-operated calculating device which was invented by John
Napier (1550-1617) of Merchiston.
- In this calculating tool, he used 9 different ivory strips or bones marked with
numbers to multiply and divide. So, the tool became known as “Napier’s
Bones”.
- It was also the first machine to use the decimal point.

Pascaline
- Pascaline is also known as Arithmetic Machine or Adding Machine.
- It was invented between 1642 and 1644 by a French mathematician-philosopher
Blaise Pascal.
- It is believed that it was the first mechanical and automatic calculator.

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

- Pascal invented this machine to help his father, a tax accountant.

- It could only perform addition and subtraction.
- It was a wooden box with a series of gears and wheels. When a wheel is rotated
one revolution, it rotates the neighboring wheel.
- A series of windows is given on the top of the wheels to read the totals.

Stepped Reckoner or Leibniz Wheel

- It was developed by a German mathematician-philosopher Gotfried Wilhelm
Leibnitz in 1673
- He improved Pascal’s invention to develop this machine.
- It was a digital mechanical calculator which was called the steppedreckoner as
instead of gears it was made of fluted drums.

Difference Engine
- In the early 1820’s, it was designed by Charles Babbage who is known as
“Father of Modern Computer”.
- It was a mechanical computer which could perform simple calculations.
- It was a steam driven calculating machine designed to solve tables of numbers
like logarithm tables.

Analytical Engine
- This calculating machine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830
- It was a mechanical computer that used punch-cards as input.
- It was capable of solving any mathematical problem and storing information
as a permanent memory.
-
Tabulating Machine
- It was invented in 1890, by Herman Hollerith, an American statistician.
- It was a mechanical tabulator based on punch cards.
- It could tabulate statistics and record or sort data or information.
- This machine was used in the 1890 U.S. Census.
- Tabulating Machine Company which later became International Business
Machine (IBM) in 1924.

Differential Analyzer
- It was the first electronic computer introduced in the United States in 1930.
- It was an analog device invented by Vannevar Bush.
- The machine has vacuum tubes to switch electrical signals to perform
calculations.
- It could do 25 calculations in few minutes.

Mark I
- The next major changes in the history of computer began in 1937 when
Howard Aiken planned to develop a machine that could perform calculations
involving large numbers.

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 Universiy of Cagayan Valley
New Site Campus, Balzain, Tuguegarao City
College of Information Technology
First Semester, S.Y.2024-2025

- In 1944, Mark I computer was built as a partnership between IBM and

Harvard.
- It was the first programmable digital computer.
- It is also known as Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.

ENIAC
- ENIAC stands foe Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. It was
invented by J.P. Eckert and John Mauchly in 1946. It was very heavy and
large in size. It consumes 140 KW of power. It could perform 5000 additions
per seconds.

EDVAC
- ECVAC stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Calculator. It was developed
by Dr. John Von Neumann.

UNIVAC
- UNIVAC stands for Universal Automatic Computer. Eckert and Mauchly
formed Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1947 to manufacture
computer commercially. They manufactured the first successful computer for
commercial use.

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