Fundamentals of Internet and WWW MODULE 6 – LIVING A DIGITAL LIFE STYLE 6.1|FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB The modern digital experience involves the transition from traditional devices to multipurpose digital devices. For example, earlier traditional wired phones were used to communicate with people. With the introduction of digital technology, mobile phones—small wireless phones—came into the market. These phones were not only used for communicating with people, but also for storing telephone numbers and sending messages to other mobile phone users. Today, some of the latest mobile phones (popularly called smart phones) help you do all this and also connect to the Internet or take pictures by using a built-in camera. Digital technology has changed the way you manage your work, communicate with others, and entertain yourself. For example, with the use of digital technology, you can download music from the Internet to your computer, copy music on a recordable CD, and listen to music by using a CD player. To be able to live a digital lifestyle, an understanding of Internet and World Wide Web (www) is compulsory. 6.2|THE INTERNET: It makes great sense to approach the study of Internet from computer network background. 6.3|COMPUTER NETWORK: Computer network is the connectivity between two or more computers for the purpose of sharing resources such as printers, hard disk etc. Therefore, computer network is formed when two or more computers are connected together. 6.4|TYPES OF COMPUTER NETWORK LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN): This is the connectivity among computers in a common geographical region such as schools, churches, mosque etc. WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN): This is the connectivity among computers across geographical region. Example of WAN is Internet (International Network). 6.5|UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNET (defined as network of networks) Imagine that you have many friends, and you want to send them birthday greetings. If you use the postal service (old method of communication) to send your greetings, your friends may not always receive the greetings on their birthday. Instead, if you use the Internet, your friends will receive your greetings in a few seconds. The Internet also provides you the advantage of sending music and pictures along with your greetings and also provides chatting capabilities such as Facebook, WhatsApp etc. 6.6|USES OF INTERNET Imagine a scenario where you want to exchange information between a computer on your network and a computer on another network. For this exchange, you can use the Internet to connect both networks. The Internet is a collection of networks that are connected together to exchange information. Today, the Internet is being used worldwide. Using the Internet, you can:  Perform banking transactions such as viewing details of your bank account and transferring money from one account to another (Mobile Banking). www.commathtech.com|info@commathtech.com|+2348053000256 Page 1 Fundamentals of Internet and WWW  Communicate with people all around the world instantaneously. The messages you sent over the Internet can reach any part of the world in just a few seconds. For example Facebook, Twitters and WhatsApp.  Obtain the latest information on events occurring around the globe. Many leading news channels use the Internet as a medium to provide updated news.  Search for information on any topic (e.g. how to design website) using search engines such as Google, Microsoft Bing etc.  Study any course of your choice and also take exams online.  Entertain yourself by listening to music, playing games, watching movies, and sharing pictures.  Buy and sell products, such as books and electronic goods, by specifying your credit or debit card details. 6.7|COMMUNICATION SYSTEM: Communication is the act of passing messages and information. It can also be seen as an act of message, passing by a transmitter to a receiver. Some people can see communication as how we share information using a particular channel such as letter writing, E-mail, voice talk etc. 6.8|ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION:  Encoder-This is the transmitter of the message. He is the source of the message. Therefore, he conceives the idea and sends to the receiver using a particular channel.  Message-This is the idea that struck the mind of the sender. Therefore, the message is the content of any form of communication such as email content.  Channel-This is the path through which the message can get to the receiver. The path we will discuss is called Electronic Mail (E-mail). When an idea is conceived, the encoder has to think of a particular channel which could be letter writing (old method), Electronic mail (new method) so that the message can get to the decoder or receiver.  Decoder- This is the person whom a message is sent. It is the receiver who interprets the message and sends feedback.  Feedback- This is an important element because through this, the sender becomes satisfied. For instance, when you send an e-mail or do WhatsApp message; you anticipate a response from the receiver so that the communication can become complete. In fact, communication is incomplete without feedback. 6.9|COMMUNICATION PROCESS ENCODER/S SENDER CHANNEL FEEDBACK RECEIVER/ DECODER NB: Message source and Composer E.g. via Electronic mail (e-mail) to an email address www.commathtech.com|info@commathtech.com|+2348053000256 Receives the mail, read and reply the mail (feedback) Page 2 Fundamentals of Internet and WWW NB: It is important to understand that communication is a continuous process. When a message is sent via email or even Short Message Service (SMS), the receiver receives the message and replies (feedback) making him/her to become the sender. In fact communication is a dual process. 6.10|CREATING AN EMAIL ACCOUNT (MICROSOFT) In this demonstration, we are going create two email addresses using Microsoft email service (live.com). The email addresses are:  Mr. Sender-Encoder  Mr. Receiver-Decoder Mr. Sender will conceive the message, compose the message and send to Mr. Receiver who will read the message and send feedback. The process continues making communication a continuous process. I assume that your computer is connected to the Internet. NB: to connect your computer to the internet, you need a MODEM (Modulator Demodulator). In Nigeria, you can buy MTN fastlink MODEM, glo MODEM, etisalat MODEM, airtel MODEM, Visafone MODEM, HSDPA universal MODEM etc. Step 1: Launch the browser (double-click on Internet Explorer or other browser) as demonstrated below. NB: The RUN program (WinKey or Window logo key+ R) can also be used to launch a web address such as http://www.google.com when typed on the RUN dialog box. Address Bar Browser showing a blank page Step2: Type live.com or www.live.com on the address bar of the browser and press Enter key. The Sign in page that also contains Sign up now link will appear as shown below www.commathtech.com|info@commathtech.com|+2348053000256 Page 3 Fundamentals of Internet and WWW Microsoft Outlook Home page NB:To Sign in, you must have account. That is, email address such as mrsender@live.com and a password. If the Sign up now link is not visible scroll down to reveal. www.commathtech.com|info@commathtech.com|+2348053000256 Page 4