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| Data | The raw facts, including numbers, words, images, and sounds, given to a computer during the input operation, that is processed to produce information. |
| Icon | In a graphical user interface, on screen pictures that represent an application software program where data is stored. |
| Application Software | Programs that tell a computer how to produce information, and reside permanently in storage, such as a disk. |
| Input Devices | Hardware used to enter data into a computer, such as a keyboard and a mouse. |
| Multimedia Format | Format for presentation of information; combines text and graphics, and can include video and sound. |
| Hard Disk Drive | Secondary storage device containing nonremovable disks. |
| Control Unit | Part of the CPU that repeatedly executes the fetching, decoding, executing, and storing operations, called the machine cycle. |
| Modem | Communications device that converts digital signals of a computer to analog signals, and converts analog signals back into digital signals that can be used by a computer; used to connect computers over telephone lines. |
| Input | The process of entering data, programs, commands, and user responses into the memory of a computer. Input can also refer to the media that contain input data. |
| Computer Program | The detailed set of instructions that tells a computer what to do. |
| Internet | Worldwide group of connected networks that allows the public access to information on thousands of subjects, gives users the ability to send messages, and obtain products and services. |
| CD-Rom Drive | A storage device that uses low-powered laser light to read data from a removable optical disk, called a CD-ROM. |
| Motherboard | A circuit board that contains most of the electronic components of the system unit; also called the system board. |
| Information Literacy | Knowing how to find, analyze, and use information. |
| Communications Devices | Devices that enable a computer to connect to other computers; includes modems, and network interface cards. |
| Graphical User Interface (GUI) | A user interface that provides visual clues, such as symbols called icons, to help the user when entering data or running programs. |
| Hardware | Equipment that inputs, processes, outputs, and stores data, consisting of input devices, a system unit, output devices, storage devices, and communications devices. |
| Floppy Disk | Small, removable disk storage consisting of a circular piece of thin mylar plastic coated with an oxide material that is recorded on. The plastic disk is enclosed in a rigid plastic shell for protection from debris |
| Information | Data that has been processed by computer into a form that has meaning and is useful. |
| Information Processing Cycle | Input, process, output, and storage operations. Collectively, these operations describe the procedures that a computer performs to process data into information and store it for future use. |
