MICROSOFT ACCESS TABLES

 MS ACCESS Tables

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Summary

• Introduction to Tables and How to Build a New Database
• Creating Tables in Datasheet View and Design View
• Working with Data on Sorting and Filtering

1. Introduction

Creating a New Database

First, open MS Access 2007. To build a new database, choose New Blank Database. By selecting New Blank Database, a panel will show up on the right, which allows us to create a blank database by entering the database name and choosing the location where on the computer we want to create the new database. We can also create a new database from other database template. For this session, we will focus on creating a database from a blank one, so click New Blank Database à Blank Database.

Fig. 1: Creating a New Database

Once you created a blank database and type the database name, you can create the following six objects as shown in Fig. 2, they are briefly described as follows,

·         Tables - a collection of data about a specific topic, such as products or suppliers.

·         Queries - a command for viewing or analyzing data in different ways or a result of the command.

·         Forms - a friendly interface to add a new record

·         Reports - an object that present data in a organized way according to your specification. Examples are telephone bills, sales summary etc.

·         Macros - a set of one or more actions that each performs a particular operation, such as opening a form or printing a report. Macros can help you to automate common tasks. For example, you can run a macro that prints a report when a user clicks a command button.

·         Module - a collection of Visual Basic for Applications declarations and procedures that are stored together as a unit.

Fig. 2 New Database Database1.accdb

2. Creating a Table:

There are three ways to create a table:

• Use Datasheet View, i.e. enter data directly
• Use Design View
• Use a Table Template

2.1 Create a Table in Datasheet View

To create a blank (empty) table in datasheet view, on the Ribbon you can:

·         Click Create®Table in Fig. 3.

You are then given a Datasheet View with column headings ID and Add New Field across the top of the datasheet as shown in Fig. 4. You can enter data directly into it. After entering data and hit the Enter key, the column heading - Add New Field automatically changes to Field1 and the next column’s heading becomes Add New Field. At the same time, an ID number will be assigned to that row. When you save the new datasheet, Microsoft Access will analyze your data and automatically assign the appropriate data type and format for each field. Because the names of each field are not descriptive, you may want to rename the fields.

Fig. 3 Ribbon for Creating New Table

Renaming Fields:

1.     Place the cursor over the column heading you want to rename and double click. The column heading will appear highlighted and the cursor will be blinking (you are now in edit mode)

2.     Type the name you want to use and then press the Enter key.

3.     Repeat the first two steps for the second column, and so on.

Fig. 4: Creating a Table in Datasheet View (Renaming Fields)

As the column corresponds to the field, the row corresponds to the record. Now we are ready to add the information. Say that, if we are doing a database of a company, the first table we may have is Employee. And the fields of Employee may contain SSN, LastName, FirstName, and so on. Please refer to Fig. 5 for the example Employee table.

Fig. 5: Datasheet View (Employee Table)

Summarizing Datasheet View

2.2 Create a Table in Design View

In Design View you can add fields, define how each field appears or handles data, and create a primary key. To create a blank (empty) table in design view, you can:

·         Click Create®Table Design in Fig. 3.

You are then given a Design View as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 Design View

In this view, we can specify detailed properties for each field. This includes the length and type of information used in the field. But if we were to enter data into the table, we must use Datasheet View or Forms. The design view for the example Employee table mentioned before will look like Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 Design View (Employee Table)

There are three columns on the top portion of the window. The Field Name is the name of the fields. For example, SSN, FirstName, LastName are proper field names for the Employee table. The name for a field must follow MS Access object-naming rules[1]. The Data Type is like the domain of an attribute. It provides a list of data types that we can choose from, including Text, Memo, Number, Date, and so on. The Description column allows us to describe the field and it is optional. It is always good practice to be descriptive in your comments. This allows new users to easily understand the specifications and meaning of your fields. Table 2 summarizes all data types available in MS Access.

You can set up properties of fields in the Field Properties window at the bottom half pane. Table 1 describes all properties available for setup.

Before we save the table and quit, we need to specify the primary key. In our Employee table, SSN will be good for primary key. To define SSN as the primary key, click the Field Selector as shown in Fig. 7 for the SSN field. Field Selector is the gray bar on the left side of the Table Design grid by each field. When we click here, the whole row appears highlighted. Then click menu Edit®Primary Key or click the Primary Key button (i.e. the key symbol, shown in Fig. 7) on the toolbar in design view, a key symbol will appear on the Field Selector. Save the table as Employee. Now we have created one table.2

Table 1 Field Properties in Design View

Table 2 Data Types in MS Access

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Summarizing Design View[2]

2.3 Create a Table Based on a Table Template

To create a Contacts, Tasks, Issues, Events or Assets table, you might want to start with the table templates for these subjects that come with Office Access 2007. To choose a template for your table from the above predefined templates you can:

·         Click Create®Table Templates in Fig. 3,

·         Select one of the available templates from the dropdown list.

3. Working with Data

In this section, we will learn how to work with existing data. The sample database file used here is "Northwind 2007.accdb". It is a sample database comes with Microsoft Access. You can find it in by:

• Open MS Access; click Sample under the category listed in the left task pane on the Getting Started with Office Access page; then click on the Northwind 2007 icon, enter the name and location on the right task pane and click the Download button.

or

• Go to directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\1033\Access\ and double click Northwind.accdb.

Choose Object Type on the Navigation Pane after Northwind 2007.accdb is launched, Open "Orders" under "Tables".

3.1 Sorting

In the Datasheet View, we can sort the records in ascending or descending orders. To sort a single column, click anywhere in the column desired. Simply click either the Sort Ascending button  or Sort Descending button  on the Ribbon. We can also click the arrow on the right of the desired column heading and choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending from the popup window.

If we want to sort multiple columns, we need to do a little more work. The two columns we want to sort by must be adjacent to each other; the one that we want to sort by first must be to the left of the other. Let's work with "Orders" table in Northwind Database. Now we will try sorting by ' Shipped Date' then by 'Order Date', we must first move 'Shipped Date' column to the left of 'Order Date' column. Here are the steps,

1. Highlight the 'Shipped Date' column by clicking the 'Shipped Date' column heading.
2. Let go of the mouse button and then press it again, holding it this time.
3. Now drag the 'Shipped Date' column over the 'Required Date' column. When we get just to the left of the 'Order Date', let go of the mouse button. Then 'Shipped Date' and 'Order Date' should sit side by side now.
4. Click the mouse button on the 'Shipped Date' header, highlighting the column. Holding the mouse button down, drag it over the 'Order Date' column so that both the 'Shipped Date' and 'Order  Date' columns appear highlighted.
5. Click on Sort Ascending. The sorted table is shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8: Northwind Database: Sort Result

3.2 Filters

By using Filter by Selection, you tell Access that you want to see only certain records, based on the value in the field in which the cursor currently resides. For example, say that we want to see those orders shipped via Shipping Company B. To do this,

1.     In the 'Ship Via' column, click a field that has "Shipping Company B" in this field.

2.     Click the right button of mouse and select Equals "Shipping Company B". Or, you may click Selections button in the Ribbon and select Equals "Shipping Company B". Only those records that were shipped via Shipping Company B appear.

3.     Click the right button again and select "Clear filter from Ship Via" button to remove the filter.

With Filter by Selection, you were filtering records based on a field you selected in the datasheet, and then selected another field in the subset to narrow it further. When using Filter by Form, Access takes you to a different screen to specify the criteria you want to filter with. Using Filter by Form, although more complicated, allows you to be more specific and filter your data based on a combination of selected values from multiple fields. To do this,

1.     On the Ribbon click on Advanced Filter Options  à Filter by Form

2.     The datasheet will suddenly look as if you deleted all the records. Refer to Fig. 9 for example. Now you can pick the fields you want to filter and display your information.

3.     Click Ship Via field to see the drop-down list. You can use =, >, <, >=, and <= to specify your criteria.

4.     Finally, on the Ribbon click on Toggle Filter to see the result.

Fig. 9 Filter by Form

In the end, we will see how to use AND and OR criterion in a filter. The AND operator allows you to filter records based on two or more criteria. When you apply a filter using the AND operator, only those records that meet both (or all) criteria appear. To show how to use the AND operator, we will choose all orders shipped before 02/12/2006 AND shipped via Shipping Company B. To do this,

1.     On the Ribbon, click Advanced Filter OptionsàFilter by Form to return to the Filter by Form screen. The screen should be blank.

2.     Click Shipped Date, select 2/12/2006 and add "<" before the date so that it looks like "<#2/12/2006#".

3.     Click Ship Via and select "Shipping Company B" (without quotation mark).

4.     Click the Toggle Filter button on the Ribbon. Now those orders shipped before 02/12/2006 AND shipped via Shipping Company B will appear. The resulting table contains 2 records. Please check your answer.

To show all the orders which is either shipped before 02/12/2006 OR shipped via Shipping Company B, you can .

1.     On the Ribbon, click Advanced Filter OptionsàClear All Filters.

2.     On the Ribbon, click Advanced Filter OptionsàFilter by Form to return to the Filter by Form screen. The screen should be blank.

3.     Click Shipped Date and select "2/16/2006" and add "<" before the date.

4.     Click the Or tab at the bottom of the Filter by Form screen.

5.     Click Ship Via and select "Shipping Company B" (without quotation mark).

6.     Press Toggle Filter on the Ribbon. Now those orders that are either shipped before 02/12/2006 or shipped via Shipping Company B will appear. The resulting table contains 36 records.

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CONGRATULATIONS ! You have learned the basics of creating and manipulating tables of data

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[1] Object-naming rules are a set of specific rules for naming Microsoft Access objects. In Microsoft Access, names can be up to 64 characters long and can include any combination of letters, numbers, spaces, and special characters except a period (.), an exclamation point (!), an accent grave (`), and brackets ([ ]). Note that you also can't use leading spaces or control characters (ASCII values 0 to 31). For information on Visual Basic naming conventions, search the Help index for "naming conventions."

Tips

· Avoid including spaces in object names if you'll frequently refer to the objects in expressions or Visual

Basic code.

· Avoid using extremely long names because they are difficult to remember and refer to.

[2] You can set combination of more than two attributes as a primary key. To do so, first highlight attributes you wish to set as primary key, and click Primary Key button in design view.

HOW TO FLASH SMART PHONES WITH MEDIATEK PROGRAM

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Things needed before the flashing:

- USB data cable

- MediaTek USB VCOM drivers

- SP Flash Tool (v3.1206.01 or higher for MT6575 / v3.1222.00 or higher for MT6577)

- The Right ROM File from your phone vendor

The tutorial:

-First installSP_Drivers_vx.xxxx.rar for Android

- After, make sure that you have MediaTek DA USB VCOM drivers installed.

- Then in order to flash when you plug in your phone to PC in power off state….you

see a message on your PC, Looking for Drivers “MediaTek MT65xx Preloader”

- Just go to device manager when you see that message….say install drivers manually

and give path tousb2ser_Win7.inf (or other OS)  to install the driver.

Flashing the whole ROM

First of all open

SP Flash Tool, then clickScatter-loadingbutton to load the correct scatter

file (MT6575_Android_scatter_emmc.txtorMT6577_Android_scatter_emmc.txt, depending on

which phone you have) for your device and ignore any message that may appear.

Turn off your phone, remove the battery and replace it after some seconds (and don't turn onthe phone).

No need for any Fastboot mode, just plug in your phone to PC with USB cable inpowered off state for next step

Press F9 (or hitDownloadbutton) and connect your phone into the computer via USB datacable. The process will start and a red progress bar will appear.

(You might actually see “Looking for MediaTek MT65xx Preloader”drivers at this step as well…just follow the same step asbefore to install the VCOM drivers and the flashing process will start)

After the red progress bar is complete, there will appear a purple progress bar.

Right after the purple progress bar is complete, a message will appear underneath it: “

Pleaseinsert USB cable in x seconds”and then the download will start right away (you will see the yellowprogress bar filling up).

When the yellow bar is complete, you'll get a popup with a green circle and

DownloadOKmessage, which means that the process has been successfully terminated.

You can now safely disconnect your phone and turn it on. The process ends here.

Flashing only part with Recovery.img

·         In case you want to flash just one part of the ROM, that is also possible. In the shown example, only recovery image will be flashed. Deselect all parts except the one(s) you want to flash and then press F9 (or hit Download button

·         The tool will immediately show a warning because not all parts are selected, but you should continue anyway. Safely press Yes to continue.

The download of the chosen partition image will start and after the yellow bar is complete, the popup with the green circle should appear.

Note that, even though it isn't mandatory to select it on the list of images to flash, preloader file must be present in the same folder as the other partition(s) that you want to flash, or else phone will not be able to enter into download mode.

COMPUTER APPRECIATION (PROJECT)

CHAPTER 1

1.1            INTRODUCTION

 Mankind has come a long way since the first discovery of fire a few hundred thousand years ago. Fire used to be a necessity then, now the computer is a necessity for us as we use it in our daily lives. A computer is a device that can receive, process and store data. They are used as tools in every part of society together with the Internet. Computers nowadays are complex; there are a lot of different components inside them, and they all serve different purposes. They all need to work together for the computer to work, knowing how a computer works makes it easier to use a computer by being able to understand how a computer will respond.

A computer is a programmable machine designed to automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the

19th century the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations

In the beginning, computers were as big as a large room. It is only later that they have become smaller and smaller, accessible to anyone. This has given way to

personal computers. Later developers created new applications to help users perform many things from word processing to image editing. Now computers have noticeable impact on social relations. They have enabled entirely new forms of social interaction, activities, and organizing.

With the Internet, working with computers has become part of our daily lives thanks to its basic features such as widespread usability and access. In addition to face to face communication that characterized humans for centuries, a new form of virtual communication has become more predominant.

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Computer objectives is to make a person’s life easier to work, to promote scientific and educational activities towards the advancement of the theory and practice of

Computer Science, to bring together Researcher, Scientists, Engineers, Scholars and Students in the areas of Engineering and Technology, and provides a forum for the dissemination of original research results, new ideas,

Research and development, practical experiments, which concentrate on both theory and practices, for the benefit of common man, to promote interchange of information, in the above disciplines and sub-disciplines, among the specialists and between specialists and the public, to Encourage and assist the

Professionals

Engaged in the above fields to maintain the integrity and competence of the profession and

Foster a sense of partnership among the professionals, engaged in these fields, to foster and conduct collaborative interdisciplinary research in state- of-the-art methodologies and technologies within its areas of expertise, to improve the common man’s life by developing new innovative engineering ideas, Technical tools or models or products of their need. This new ideas and knowledge may be disseminate to common man by organizing conferences, workshop, seminars and/or awareness programs and by publishing high quality academic international Books, or Journals, or Magazines or Tracts/Pamphlets on any subjects/ topics, which is related to the overall growth/ improvement/uplift of all sections of the society, to encourage regional and international communication and collaboration; promote professional interaction and lifelong learning; recognize outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations; encourage scholar researchers to pursue studies and careers in circuit branches and its application.  To promote research that highlight successful modern applications of computer, electronics and electrical, such as agriculture, biomedicine, bioinformatics, business, chemical, environment, education, e-learning, geography, mathematics and physics.  To hold and conduct Diploma /Certificate / Degree Courses and Classes and organize Lectures, Conferences, Seminars, and

Competitions for the betterment of society and to equip one person to face this world in much better/ skilled way; to give Scholarships for the needy/ under-privileged section of the students for their education, research and developmental activity; also to hold awards to promote education, research and developmental activity in the area of the interest.  To set up, establish, maintain and manage centers of excellence for the study of /on related subjects and discipline and also to run self supporting projects for the benefit of needy persons, irrespective of their caste, creed or religion.

 To acquire or purchase, taking on lease or hire any movable and immovable property for the purpose of the Society. To receive and accept offerings, donations, grants, loans, from interested persons, welfare organizations, banks, other charitable societies, trusts, etc. and from State and Central governments and other national and international institutions/ bodies, subject to the rules and regulations of the government and other authorities.  To recruit and train suitable persons for rendering service to needy people groups. To offer technical and financial co-operation and help benevolent schemes which directly help the needy section of the society of any societies and trust of our objectives as well as the same privileges of all the Income Tax Act (that operate and function for betterment of education, research and development).

To function and co-operate with other likeminded national and

International organizations and use their good offices for furthering the objects of the society and serve the community at large.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

As mankind has come a long way since the first discovery of fire a few hundred thousand years ago. Fire used to be a necessity then, now the computer is a necessity for us as we use it in our daily lives.

One way computers help us is in our lives. We use the computer to communicate with people such as web conferencing with friends who are overseas, to look up on information about a particular topic, socialize on social networks such as Facebook or even to do something as simple as sending an email or digital cards to friends and loved ones.

The computer has also managed to change us from reading hard copies of books, magazines and newspapers, to reading online digital documents such as online newspaper articles and e-books.

In education, lecturers are now using PowerPoint to make their lecture slides which are used during their lectures and students are now able to download the lecture slides into their computers and store it as reading documents.

In the working place, paperwork is now slowly converting from manual printing and keeping documents to storing documents in the computer. The problem with paperwork is that it takes up a lot of space and an office has limited space. Moreover, going digital will help the environment as there will be less demand for paper which results in lesser trees being cut down to be made into paper.

However, there have been some issues raised about digital documents. A digital document can be created and edited by anyone, thus this leads to the owner verification problem. It is dangerous in the working environment, because anyone can edit a contract or agreement after it has been signed and used it against the other party. Another problem would be if one accidentally deletes the document, it will be hard to trace the perpetrator and also very hard to retrace the document.

1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Computer has done this and that. Actually this is not the computer which has done this but the user. Despite its various features, a computer does have the following limitations:

 NO SELF INTELLIGENCE

Today, a computer is able to do a work which is impossible for man. Computers are used to do risky and dangerous work and where sharp actually is needed, But it does not have any intelligence of its own. It works according to the instruction only.

 NO DECISION-MAKING POWER

Computer cannot take any decision of its own. It does only those tasks which are already instructed to it.

 NO LEARNING POWER

Computer has no learning power. Once you give instructions to a computer how to perform a task, the very task is cannot perform if you do not give it any instructions for the next time. For example, when you are taught how to solve a problem and it same type of problem is given to you to solve, then you can do it because you have learned how to solve the problem.

PROGRAMMED BY HUMAN

Though computer is programmed to work efficiently, fast and accurately but it is programmed by human beings to do so. Without a program, computer is nothing. A program is a set of instructions. Computer only follows these instructions. If the instructions are not accurate the working of computer will not accurate.

THINKING

The computer cannot think itself. The concept of artificial intelligence shows that the computer can think. But still this concept is dependent on set of instructions provided by the human beings.

SELF CARE

A Computer cannot care itself like a human. A computer is dependent still to human beings for this purpose.

RETRIEVAL OF MEMORY

A computer can retrieve data very fast but this technique is linear. A human being's mind does not follow this rule. A human mind can think randomly which a computer machine cannot.

FEELINGS

One of the main limits in the computer is of feeling. A computer can not feel about some like a human. A computer cannot meet human in respect of relations. Human can feel, think and caring but a computer machine itself cannot. A computer cannot take place of human because computer is always dependent of human.

The limitations of computers can be better explained in terms of artificial intelligence which considers computers as machines which lack analytical skills possessed by the humans. Computer is still a machine and is programmed by the programmers. It lacks the ability to take cognitive and analytical decisions by its own. Scientists are investing lots of money and efforts to develop intelligent devices which can perform cognitive tasks as smart as humans do. However computers have the edge over the other devices in simultaneous processing of tasks. One of the limitations also includes machine failure in the case of some hardware or software problem. The computer sometimes malfunctions and results in loss of data if some virus attacks or in the case of power failure. They are also costly to purchase and have higher maintenance costs which can also serve as major limitation.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

One of the earliest machines designed to assist people in calculations was the abacus which is still being used some 5000 years after its invention. In 1642 Blaise Pascal (a famous French mathematician) invented an adding machine based on mechanical gears in which numbers were represented by the cogs on the wheels. Englishman, Charles Babbage, invented in the 1830's a "Difference Engine" made out of brass and pewter rods and gears, and also designed a further device which he called an "Analytical Engine". His design contained the five key characteristics of modern computers:-

1. An input device

2. Storage for numbers waiting to be processed

3. A processor or number calculator

4. A unit to control the task and the sequence of its calculations

5. An output device

Augusta Ada Byron (later Countess of Lovelace) was an associate of Babbage who has become known as the first computer programmer. An American, Herman Hollerith, developed (around 1890) the first electrically driven device. It utilized punched cards and metal rods which passed through the holes to close an electrical circuit and thus cause a counter to advance. This machine was able to complete the calculation of the 1890 U.S. census in 6 weeks compared with 7^1/2 years for the 1880 census which was manually counted. In 1936 Howard Aiken of Harvard University convinced Thomas Watson of IBM to invest $1million in the development of an electromechanical version of Babbage's analytical engine. The Harvard Mark 1 was completed in 1944 and was 8 feet high and 55 feet long. At about the same time (the late 1930's) John Atanasoff of Iowa State University and his assistant Clifford Berry built the first digital computer that worked electronically, the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer). This machine was basically a small calculator.

In 1943, as part of the British war effort, a series of vacuum tube based computers (named Colossus) were developed to crack German secret codes. The Colossus Mark 2 series (pictured) consisted of 2400 vacuum tubes.

John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania developed these ideas further by proposing a huge machine consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes. ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was born in 1946. It was a huge machine with a huge power requirement and two major disadvantages. Maintenance was extremely difficult as the tubes broke down regularly and had to be replaced, and also there was a big problem with overheating. The most important limitation, however, was that every time a new task needed to be performed the machine need to be rewired. In other words programming was carried out with a soldering iron.

In the late 1940's John von Neumann (at the time a special consultant to the ENIAC team) developed the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) which pioneered the "stored program concept". This allowed programs to be read into the computer and so gave birth to the age of general-purpose computers.

THE GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS

 It used to be quite popular to refer to computers as belonging to one of several "generations" of computer. These generations are:-

THE FIRST GENERATION (1946-1954)

 This generation is often described as starting with the delivery of the first commercial computer to a business client. This happened in 1951 with the delivery of the UNIVAC to the US Bureau of the Census. This generation lasted until about the end of the 1950's (although some stayed in operation much longer than that). The main defining feature of the first generation of computers was that vacuum tubes were used as internal computer components Vacuum tubes are generally about 5-10 centimeters in length and the large numbers of them required in computers resulted in huge and extremely expensive machines that often broke down (as tubes failed). The

SECOND GENERATION (1955-1964)

 In the mid-1950's Bell Labs developed the transistor. Transistors were capable of performing many of the same tasks as vacuum tubes but were only a fraction of the size. The first transistor-based computer was produced in 1959. Transistors were not only smaller, enabling computer size to be reduced, but they were faster, more reliable and consumed less electricity. The other main improvement of this period was the development of computer languages. Assembler languages or symbolic languages allowed programmers to specify instructions in words (albeit very cryptic words) which were then translated into a form that the machines could understand (typically series of 0's and 1's: Binary code). Higher level languages also came into being during this period. Whereas assembler languages had a one-to-one correspondence between their symbols and actual machine functions, higher level language commands often represent complex sequences of machine codes.

Two higher-level languages developed during this period (FORTRAN and COBOL) are still in use today though in a much more developed form.

THE THIRD GENERATION (1964-1971)

 In 1965 the first integrated circuit (IC) was developed in which a complete circuit of hundreds of components was able to be placed on a single silicon chip 2 or 3 mm square. Computers using these IC's soon replaced transistor based machines. Again, one of the major advantages was size, with computers becoming more powerful and at the same time much smaller and cheaper. Computers thus became accessible to a much larger audience. An added advantage of smaller size is that electrical signals have much shorter distances to travel and so the speed of computers increased. Another feature of this period is that computer software became much more powerful and flexible and for the first time more than one program could share the computer's resources at the same time (multi-tasking). The majority of programming languages used today are often referred to as 3GL's (3rd generation languages) even though some of them originated during the 2nd generation.

THE FOURTH GENERATION (1971-EARLY 1990)

 The boundary between the third and fourth generations is not very clear-cut at all. Most of the developments since the mid 1960's can be seen as part of a continuum of gradual miniaturization. In 1970 large-scale integration was achieved where the equivalent of thousands of integrated circuits were crammed onto a single silicon chip. This development again increased computer performance (especially reliability and speed) whilst reducing computer size and cost.

Around this time the first complete general-purpose microprocessor became available on a single chip. In 1975 Very Large Scale Integration

(VLSI) took the process one step further.

Complete computer central processors could now be built into one chip. The microcomputer was born. Such chips are far more powerful than

ENIAC and are only about 1cm square whilst

ENIAC filled a large building.

During this period Fourth Generation Languages

(4GL's) have come into existence. Such languages are a step further removed from the computer hardware in that they use language much like natural language. Many database languages can be described as 4GL's. They are generally much easier to learn than are 3GL's.

THE FIFTH GENERATION (PRESENT)

 The "fifth generation" of computers was defined by the Japanese government in 1980 when they unveiled an optimistic ten-year plan to produce the next generation of computers. This was an interesting plan for two reasons. Firstly, it is not at all really clear what the fourth generation is, or even whether the third generation had finished yet.

Secondly, it was an attempt to define a generation of computers before they had come into existence. The main requirement of the 5G machines was that they incorporate the features of Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems, and Natural Language. The goal was to produce machines that are capable of performing tasks in similar ways to humans, are capable of learning, and are capable of interacting with humans in natural language and preferably using both speech input (speech recognition) and speech output (speech synthesis). Such goals are obviously of interest to linguists and speech scientists as natural language and speech processing are key components of the definition. As you may have guessed, this goal has not yet been fully realized, although significant progress has been made towards various aspects of these goals.

CHAPTER 3

3.1 AREAS OF APPLICATION

Computers are used in so many fields in our daily life. from engineers to doctors, students, teachers, government organization they all use computers to perform specific tasks, for entertainment or just to finish office work. Computers have made our life easier. With greater precision and accuracy and less time taking computers can do a lot in short time while that task can take a lot of time while doing manually. Computers have taken industries and businesses to a whole new level. They are used at home for work and entertainment purposes, at office, in hospitals, in government organizations. Here we are going to discuss some of the uses of computers in various fields.

USES OF COMPUTER AT HOME

    Computer can be used at home in the following ways.

HOME BUDGET

Computer can be used to manage Home Budget. You can easily calculate your expenses and income. You can list all expenses in one column and income in another column. Then you can apply any calculation on these columns to plan your home budget. There are also specialize software that can manage your income and expenses and generate some cool reports.

COMPUTER GAMES

An important use of computers at home is playing games. Different types of games are available. These games are a source of entertainment and recreation. Many games are available that are specially developed to improve your mental capability and thinking power.

WORKING FROM HOME

People can manage the office work at home.

The owner of a company can check the work of the employees from home. He can control his office while sitting at home.

ENTERTAINMENT

People can find entertainment on the internet. They can watch movies, listen to songs, and watch videos download different stuff. They can also watch live matches on the internet.

INFORMATION

People can find any type of information on the internet. Educational and informative websites are available to download books, tutorials etc. to improve their knowledge and learn new things.

CHATTING & SOCIAL MEDIA

People can chat with friends and family on the internet using different software like Skype etc. One can interact with friends over social media websites like Facebook, Twitter & Google Plus. They can also share photos and videos with friends.

USES OF COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION

CBT are different programs that are supplied on CD-ROM. These programs include text, graphics and sound. Audio and Video lectures are recorded on the CDs. CBT is a low cost solution for educating people. You can train a large number of people easily.

BENEFITS OF CBT

Some benefits of CBT are as follows:

1. The students can learn new skills at their own pace. They can easily acquire knowledge in any available time of their own choice.

2. Training time can be reduced.

3. Training materials are interactive and easy to learn. It encourages students to learn the topic.

4. Planning and timing problems are reduced or eliminated.

5. The skills can be taught at any time and at any place.

6. It is very cost effective way to train a large number of students.

7. Training videos and audios are available at affordable prices.

COMPUTER AIDED LEARNING (CAL)

Computer aided learning is the process of using information technology to help teaching and enhance the learning process. The use of computer can reduce the time that is spent on preparing teaching material. It can also reduce the administrative load of teaching and research. The use of multimedia projector and PowerPoint presentations has improved the quality of teaching. It has also helped the learning process.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Distance learning is a new learning methodology. Computer plays the key role in this kind of learning. Many institutes are providing distance learning programs. The student does not need to come to the institute. The institute provides the reading material and the student attends virtual classroom. In virtual classroom, the teacher delivers lecture at his own workplace. The student can attend the lecture at home by connecting to a network. The student can also ask questions to the teacher.

ONLINE EXAMINATION

The trend of online examination is becoming popular. Different examination like GRE, GMAT and SAT are conducted online all over the world. The questions are marked by computer. It minimizes the chance of mistakes. It also enables to announce the result in time.

USES OF COMPUTERS IN BUSINESS

The use of computer technology in business provides many facilities. Businessmen are using computers to interact with their customers anywhere in the world. Many business tasks are performed more quickly and efficiently. Computers also help them to reduce the overall cost of their business.

Computer can be used in business in the following ways.

MARKETING

An organization can use computers for marketing their products. Marketing applications provide information about the products to customers. Computer is also used to manage distribution system, advertising and selling activities. It can also be used in deciding pricing strategies. Companies can know more about their customers and their needs and requirements etc.

STOCK EXCHANGE

Stock Exchange is the most important place for businessmen. Many stock exchanges use computers to conduct bids. The stockbrokers perform all trading activities electronically. They connect with the computer where brokers match the buyers with sellers. It reduces cost as no paper or special building is required to conduct these activities.

USES OF COMPUTERS IN MEDICAL

Field Hospital Management System: Specialized hospital management software is used to automate the day to day procedures and operations at hospitals.

These tasks may be online appointments, payroll admittance and discharge records etc.

PATIENT HISTORY

Hospital management systems can store data about patients. Computers are used to store data about patients, their diseases & symptoms, the medicines that are prescribed.

PATIENTS MONITORING

Monitoring systems are installed in medical wards and Intensive care units to monitoring patients continuously. These systems can monitor pulse, blood pressure and body temperature and can alert medical staff about any serious situations.

LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Specialized devices are used to help impaired patients like hearing aids.

DIAGNOSIS PURPOSE

A variety of software is used to investigate symptoms and prescribed medication accordingly. Sophisticated systems are used for tests like CT scan, ECG, and other medical tests.

BUILDINGS

Architects use computer animated graphics to experiment with possible exteriors and to give clients a visual walk-through of their proposed buildings. The computers provide architects a numerous amount of facilities to create different buildings with greater accuracy, better designing and editing tools, and work done at the fastest speed possible. Finally, a new kind of artist has emerged, one who uses computers to express his or her creativity.

ENERGY

Energy companies use computers to locate oil, coal, natural gas and uranium. With the use of these technological machines, these companies can figure out the site of a natural resource, its concentration and other related figures.

Electric companies use computers to monitor vast power networks. In addition, meter readers use hand held computers to record how much energy is used each month in homes and offices.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Recent innovation in computerized law enforcement include national fingerprint files, a national file on the mode of operation of serial killers, and computer modeling of DNA, which can be used to match traces from an alleged criminal's body, such as blood at a crime scene. In addition, computers also contain a complete database of all the names, pictures and information of such people who choose to break the law.

TRANSPORTATION

Computers are used in cars to monitor fluid levels, temperatures and electrical systems. Computers are also used to help run rapid transit systems, load containerships and track railroads cars across the country. An important part is the air control traffic systems, where computers are used to control the flow of traffic between airplanes which needs a lot of precision and accuracy to be dealt with.

MONEY

Computers speed up record keeping and allow banks to offer same-day services and even do-it yourself banking over the phone and internet. Computers have helped fuel the cashless economy, enabling the widespread use of credit cards, debit cards and instantaneous credit checks by banks and retailers. There is also a level of greater security when computers are involved in money transactions as there is a better chance of detecting forged cheques and using credit/debit cards illegally etc.

AGRICULTURE

Farmers use small computers to help with billing, crop information, and cost per acre, feed combinations, and market price checks. Cattle ranchers can also use computers for information about livestock breeding and performance.

GOVERNMENT

Among other tasks, the federal government uses computers to forecast the weather, to manage parks and historical sites, to process immigrants, to produce social security checks and to collect taxes. The most important use of the computer system in this field is perhaps the Army, the Air Force and the Navy. The computers have to be very powerful and in order to be run they have to be very accurate and precise.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Computers have made their way towards jobs that were unpleasant or too dangerous for humans to do, such as working hundreds of feet below the earth or opening a package that might contain an explosive device. In other industries, computers are used to control the production of resources very precisely. All robots and machinery are now controlled by various computers, making the production process faster and cheaper. All the stages of manufacturing, from designing to production, can be done with the use of computer technology with greater diversity.

THE HUMAN CONNECTION

The computers have evolved in such prosperity that it is now able to assist or aid with humans who are disabled both physically and mentally. The handicapped are now able to express their missing sense with the aid of computer technology. For example, a deaf and dumb person is able to communicate extensively with other people by using a specially designed computer system. This gives the disabled a chance to live out life and gradually catch up with the other fortunate people living on earth.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

This is very important for mankind and with the development of computers; scientific research has propelled towards the better a great deal. Because of high-speed characteristics of computer systems, systems, researchers can simulate environments, emulate physical characteristics and allow scientists to proof of their theories in a cost-effective manner. Also many test lab animals are spared since computers have taken over their roles in extensive research.

3.2 SOURCE OF DATA

The word 'computer' comes from the word compute which means 'to calculate'. Computers were developed from calculators as the need arose for more complex and scientific calculations. Charles Babbage is known as the father of computers because of his immense contribution to the world of programming. His idea was soon developed into a programmable computer that could calculate and print logarithmic tables with huge precision. But there were many practical problems and the progress was slow. During the World War, the U.S military had a demand for fast computers that could perform extremely complex calculations and weather predictions in minutes. This was when the ENIAC was built, by a partnership between University of Pennsylvania and the U.S government. After the landmark "Von Neumann Architecture" was introduced it considerably increased the speed of the computer since it used only one memory. The EDVAC and UNIVAC were built based on this architecture using vacuum tubes. All the computers built from 1941-1956 are called 'first generation computers.

The transistor was invented in 1947 by William Shockley and Walter Brattain in the Bell Laboratories of U.S.A. The 'second generation' of computers utilized transistors, stored memory concept and magnetic-core memory making them smaller, faster, more reliable and more energy efficient than their predecessors. Throughout the 1960's there were a number of computers used commercially for large businesses and in universities like Honeywell and IBM.

The transistors were found to damage the more sensitive parts of a computer since they generated a lot of heat. In 1958, the IC (Integrated Circuit) was invented by Jack Kilby. This revolutionized computing since all the electronic components were on a single semiconductor chip made of silicon, drastically reducing the size of the computer. Also, new operating systems were developed, which allowed the running of many applications simultaneously. These computers developed from 1964-1971 were the 'third generation' machines. The microprocessor ushered in the 'fourth generation' of computers. Thousands of integrated circuits were fit into a single miniscule chip using VLSI and ULSI technology. This made the computers smaller, more portable and much faster than before. In 1981, IBM introduced a computer especially designed for use at home. Apple followed with its 'Macintosh'. These small computers were very powerful and permitted linking of several machines that eventually led to networking and the internet.

The 'fifth generation' computers include the present day computers and the ones that are being developed. These devices are based on the concept of 'Artificial Intelligence'. They utilize various new technologies like 'Quantum computing' and ‘superconductors’. One of the applications is in 'Voice recognition' which is software that is used to recognize the user's voice and respond to it. Parallel processing is a relatively new concept that is still in the nascent stage but has immense potential.

3.3 POPULATION OF THE STUDY

Computer nowadays are special items that the world could not survive a day without. It is considered as a necessity and many sectors in the society could just not live a day without the help of this electronic appliance. Since its first introduction in the 1946, computers today whether in a form of a laptop or desktop have become more functional and powerful and versatile tool that have helped transform our world today and how we live our lives. More and more households around the world now have PCs, thanks to the fast spread of technology and affordable prices of hardware and software, the advantageous function of this electronic appliance has been widely spread. Computers are also important components of IT or Information Technology and play a vital role in the economics around the world. The worth and capabilities of this electronic equipment can be deeply enhance by having connections to the internet or the online world and even to smaller networks local area networks that links local computers together or in one database. This greatly helps people to perform well on their jobs, collaborating on a task even when they are from different locations, and share documents and information easily. With the help of this technology now anyone can balance their lives and multi task everyday, one can check his or her checkbook, keep track of finance investments, pay taxes, know local and international news, be entertained and preserve important documents like family documents for easy access.

Computers are also good for recreational activity, anyone can watch his or her favorite movies and videos, watch sports shows, play games and be entertained all at once just by clicking the mouse. More and more models of this household and personal appliance have been introduced in the market for the past decades, and until today manufacturers still continue to produce more powerful and more sophisticated version of it as the demand for the new more productive models rise.

CHAPTER 4

4.1 FINDINGS

My research goes to Litein secondary school, Bureti in Kenya.

 I discovered many challenges facing implementation of computer education in Kenya. They are:

·        Lack of qualified teachers to teach ICT in schools

·        Lack of computers

·        Lack of electricity

·        Computers are still expensive in Kenya

·        Broken down computers

·        Burglary

·        Fear by the administration

·        Fear by the teacher

·        Lack of internet or slow connectivity

·        Lack of initiative by the community leaders

·        Obsolete computers

4.2 CONCLUSIONS

The reasons for these challenges according to my findings are;

·        Lack of qualified teachers to teach ICT in schools; the demand for ICT learning has been tremendous and the number of teachers who are trained to teach ICT cannot meet the demand. There are more students willing to be taught computing skills than there are teaches to transfer the skills.

·        Lack of computers; Computers are still very expensive and despite spirited efforts by the government agencies, NGO, corporate organizations and individuals to donate computers to as many schools as possible, there still remains a big percentage of the schools unable to purchase computers for use by their pupils.

·        Lack of electricity; Many schools are still not yet connected to electricity; Kenya being a developing country, the government has not been able to connect all parts of the country to the national electricity grid. Consequently those schools that fall under such areas are left handicapped and may not be able to offer computer studies.

·        Computers are still expensive in Kenya, in a country with a GDP of $1600, majority of the individuals and schools cannot afford to buy a computer and consider it as a luxury item, more expensive than a TV. While 2nd hand computers cost as little as $150 and branded new computers being sold at $500 or higher.

·        Broken down computers; while a good number of schools have benefited from donated used computers, they have not been adequately equipped with the same on maintenance and repair, hence its very common to see a schools computer lab full of broken down computers, some repairable and some not. This has actually been a major problem, and the government has now put strict measures on any person, NGO or corporate bodies willing to donate 2nd hand computers. (It is seen as a dumping ground) waste management.

·        Burglary; the fact that computers are still very expensive in Kenya, makes them a target for thieves who usually have ready markets to another party at a much less figure. This has made many schools to incur extra expenses trying to burglar proof the computer rooms. This extra expense makes some schools shy away from purchasing computers for their students.

·        Fear by the administration; there is still a strong perception especially by the older generation that computers require highly skilled personnel to operate them, while this may not be the case, some school administrators also fear that their students will be exposed to adult sites and other undesired sites, through the use of the internet. Some also fear the infection of viruses to their computers leading to data loss, while this may be true to some extent, proper education on the safe use of computers and help alleviate some of these fears.

·        Fear by the teacher, the teacher may fear being rendered irrelevant by the introduction of computers in his/her class. The ‘feel’ that the teacher still remains an authority and a ‘know it all’ in class is something that most teachers cherish, and anything that makes them otherwise is deemed an enemy of the classroom.

·        Lack of internet or slow connectivity; most schools are not able to connect to the World Wide Web, due to the high costs involved in the connectivity. On average, it may cost approximately $120 per month to connect to about 15 computers on a bandwidth of 128/64kbps. This is considered as very expensive for a very slow speed.

·        Lack of initiative by the community leaders; the community leaders who are charged with looking at the interests of a given community do not see the need to purchase and subsequent installations of computers to their schools as a priority. They consider health care, provision of water and other amenities as more important than buying computers for their schools.

·        Obsolete computers lower the morale of both the teacher and the student; it is very common to find some schools using very old computers running on window98 or window 95.

4.3 RECOMMENDATION

My recommendation is that government will encourage the use of ICT in schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions in the country so as to improve the quality of teaching and learning.” ICT can play a significant role in equalizing opportunities for marginalized groups and communities. But the paradox is that for those groups that are unable to cross the technology divide, ICT is yet another means to further marginalize them. Education has a major role to play in resolving this problem. Thus, unless ICT becomes part of both the delivery and content of education, the disadvantage will deepen and development will suffer.

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