Definitions

The world of educational technologies can present a bewildering array of new words and concepts. This section offers both brief and detailed explanations of many of the terms that are widely used by people who work with these technologies. If you are still unsure of a word's meaning (or would like to learn even more about computer technology) we have also supplied links to Web sites that offer extended definitions of technological terminology. Finally, don't forget about this section as you explore the rest of this Website—you can always come back here if you encounter any technological jargon whose meaning is unclear to you.

Please select any of these links for more information.

1. Definitions of Most Common Terms
   
2. More In-depth Definitions
   
3. Sources for More Definitions
   

More In-depth definitions

Short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/b/browser.html

An electronic system that can store and process information under program control.
http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/245glosf.htm#Computer1

A programmable machine. The two principal characteristics of a computer are:

• It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.
  
• It can execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program).
  

• memory : Enables a computer to store, at least temporarily, data and programs.
  
• mass storage device : Allows a computer to permanently retain large amounts of data. Common mass storage devices include disk drives and tape drives.
  
• input device : Usually a keyboard and mouse, the input device is the conduit through which data and instructions enter a computer.
  
• output device : A display screen, printer, or other device that lets you see what the computer has accomplished.
  
• central processing unit (CPU): The heart of the computer, this is the component that actually executes instructions.
  

In addition to these components, many others make it possible for the basic components to work together efficiently. For example, every computer requires a bus that transmits data from one part of the computer to another. Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though there is considerable overlap:

• personal computer : A small, single-user computer based on a microprocessor. In addition to the microprocessor, a personal computer has a keyboard for entering data, a monitor for displaying information, and a storage device for saving data.
  
• workstation : A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor.
  
• minicomputer : A multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of users simultaneously.
  
• mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously.
  
• supercomputer : An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of instructions per second.
  

Database

Often abbreviated DB. A collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. You can think of a database as an electronic filing system.

Traditional databases are organized by fields, records, and files. A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and a file is a collection of records. For example, a telephone book is analogous to a file. It contains a list of records, each of which consists of three fields: name, address, and telephone number.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/d/database.html

Messages automatically passed from one computer user to another, often through computer networks and/or via modems over telephone lines.
http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=email&action=Search

The initial or preliminary Web page of a Web site, providing access to the other pages.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/home-page

A home page is a web page. In most familiar terms, it is a personal page for an individual. It can also be the basic main page for a more complex Web site for individuals, organizations, or web communities. On complex Web sites, it is the page which a server will show when no HTML filename is listed, usually with the name index.html, home.html, or default.html or the same names with the shorter extension .htm.
http://www.walthowe.com/glossary/h.html#home_page

Instant messaging (sometimes called IM or IMing) is the ability to easily see whether a chosen friend or co-worker is connected to the Internet and, if they are, to exchange messages with them. Instant messaging differs from ordinary e-mail in the immediacy of the message exchange and also makes a continued exchange simpler than sending e-mail back and forth. Most exchanges are text-only. However, some services, such as AOL, allow voice messaging and file sharing.

In order for IMing to work, both users (who must subscribe to the service) must be online at the same time, and the intended recipient must be willing to accept instant messages. (It is possible to set your software to reject messages.) An attempt to send an IM to someone who is not online, or who is not willing to accept IMs, will result in notification that the transmission cannot be completed. If the online software is set to accept IMs, it alerts the recipient with a distinctive sound, a window that indicates that an IM has arrived and allowing the recipient to accept or reject it, or a window containing the incoming message.

A type of communications service that enables you to create a private chat room with another individual. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online. You can then initiate a chat session with that particular individual.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/i/instant_messaging.html

The Internet (or "Net") is a network of linked computer networks that enables data communication services such as World Wide Web, file transfer, electronic mail, and newsgroups.
http://right-track.com/dictionary.htm#I

A global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions.

Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, the Internet is decentralized by design. Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to use and which local services to make available to the global Internet community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well.

There are a variety of ways to access the Internet. Most online services, such as America Online, offer access to some Internet services. It is also possible to gain access through a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP).
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/Internet.html

Device that moves the onscreen pointer by spinning a rubber trackball. Invented by Douglas Engelbart at SRI.
http://right-track.com/dictionary.htm#M

A mouse is a small device that a computer user pushes across a desk surface in order to point to a place on a display screen and to select one or more actions to take from that position. The mouse first became a widely-used computer tool when Apple Computer made it a standard part of the Apple Macintosh. Today, the mouse is an integral part of the graphical user interface (GUI) of any personal computer. The mouse apparently got its name by being about the same size and color as a toy mouse.

A mouse consists of a metal or plastic housing or casing, a ball that sticks out of the bottom of the casing and is rolled on a flat surface, one or more buttons on the top of the casing, and a cable that connects the mouse to the computer. As the ball is moved over the surface in any direction, a sensor sends impulses to the computer that causes a mouse-responsive program to reposition a visible indicator (called a cursor) on the display screen. The positioning is relative to some variable starting place. Viewing the cursor's present position, the user readjusts the position by moving the mouse.

The most conventional kind of mouse has two buttons on top: the left one is used most frequently. In the Windows operating systems, it lets the user click once to send a "Select" indication that provides the user with feedback that a particular position has been selected for further action. The next click on a selected position or two quick clicks on it causes a particular action to take place on the selected object. For example, in Windows operating systems, it causes a program associated with that object to be started. The second button, on the right, usually provides some less-frequently needed capability. For example, when viewing a Web page, you can click on an image to get a popup menu that, among other things, lets you save the image on your hard disk. Some mouses have a third button for additional capabilities. Some mouse manufacturers also provide a version for left-handed people.
http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci212596,00.html

Online is the condition of being connected to a network of computers or other devices. The term is frequently used to describe someone who is currently connected to the Internet.

Turned on and connected. For example, printers are online when they are ready to receive data from the computer. You can also turn a printer offline. While the printer is offline, you can perform certain tasks such as advancing the paper, but you cannot send data to it. Most printers have an online button you can press to turn the machine on- or offline. Users are considered online when they are connected to a computer service through a modem. That is, they are actually on the line.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/o/online.html

On the Internet, a search engine is a coordinated set of programs that includes:

1. A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to every page or representative pages on every Web site that wants to be searchable and reads it, using hypertext links on each page to discover and read a site's other pages
   
2. A program that creates a huge index (sometimes called a "catalog") from the pages that have been read
   
3. A program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index, and returns results to you

A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Alta Vista and Excite that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups.

Typically, a search engine works by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible. Another program, called an indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the words contained in each document. Each search engine uses a proprietary algorithm to create its indices such that, ideally, only meaningful results are returned for each query.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/search_engine.html

Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. The first part of the address indicates what protocol to use, and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/U/URL.html

A technical definition of the World Wide Web is: all the resources and users on the Internet that are using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

A broader definition comes from the organization that Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee helped found, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C):
"The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge."
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci213391,00.html

A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a script called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.

There are several applications called Web browsers that make it easy to access the World Wide Web; Two of the most popular being Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. World Wide Web is not synonymous with the Internet.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/World_Wide_Web.html

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