Tuesday, September 16, 2025

GCE A/L ICT – Unit 1 (Competency 1.1) Sri Lanka Schools AL ICT Basic Concepts of ICT (ICT Grade 12 Lesson 1 )

📘 GCE A/L ICT – Unit 1 (Competency 1.1)

Topic: Investigates the basic building blocks of information and their characteristics

🔹 1. Data Life Cycle

  • Definition: The sequence of stages that data goes through from creation to deletion.

  • Stages:

    1. Data Creation

      • Collection of raw facts (numbers, text, images, sounds, etc.).

      • Sources: manual entry, sensors, IoT devices, transactions, surveys.

      • Example: Entering marks into a computer, scanning barcodes.

    2. Data Management

      • Organizing, storing, and maintaining data for effective use.

      • Includes: validation, updating, securing, and backup.

      • Ensures data quality (accuracy, consistency, availability).

    3. Removal of Obsolete Data

      • Discarding outdated, redundant, or irrelevant data.

      • Improves storage efficiency and system performance.

      • Ensures compliance with data protection/privacy laws.

🔹 2. Data vs. Information

  • Data

    • Raw, unprocessed facts and figures.

    • Has no meaning on its own.

    • Examples: 45, Apple, 2025-09-16.

  • Information

    • Processed, organized, or structured data with meaning.

    • Helps decision-making.

    • Example: “The student scored 45 marks in ICT on 16th Sept 2025.”

  • Key Difference

    • Data = raw input

    • Information = meaningful output

🔹 3. Definition of Information

  • Information is processed data presented in a meaningful context that reduces uncertainty and supports decision-making.

🔹 4. Characteristics of Valuable Information

  • Timeliness

    • Information should be available when required.

    • Late information loses value.

    • Example: Weather forecast before travel.

  • Accuracy

    • Free from errors, reliable.

    • Incorrect data leads to wrong decisions.

  • Presented within Context

    • Information must relate to the purpose.

    • Example: Marks shown with subject and student name.

  • Enhanced Understandability

    • Easy to interpret and use.

    • Example: Graphs, tables, charts for clarity.

  • Less Uncertainty

    • Should help in making confident decisions.

    • Example: Sales report reducing doubts about performance.

🔹 5. The Need to Handle Large Volumes & Complexities of Data

  • Modern society generates massive amounts of data (emails, social media, business transactions, IoT sensors).

  • Challenges:

    • Storage management

    • Speed of processing

    • Data security & privacy

    • Extracting useful insights

  • Solution: Big Data technologies and analytics (Hadoop, Spark, AI, Cloud computing).

🔹 6. Data, Process, and Information Relationship

  • Data → Process → Information

    • Data: raw input

    • Process: actions applied (sorting, calculating, analyzing)

    • Information: useful output

  • Example:

    • Data: Marks of students

    • Process: Calculating averages

    • Information: “Class average is 72 marks.”

🔹 7. Various Forms of Data & Their Characteristics

  • Types of Data:

    • Text – words, documents.

    • Numeric – numbers, measurements.

    • Audio – sounds, music, voice.

    • Video – moving images.

    • Image/Graphics – pictures, diagrams.

    • Symbols/Codes – barcodes, QR codes, binary.

  • Characteristics of Quality Data

    • Accuracy

    • Completeness

    • Consistency

    • Relevance

    • Reliability

    • Timeliness

🔹 8. Big Data, Its Need & Analysis

  • Big Data: Extremely large datasets that cannot be handled by traditional databases.

  • Characteristics (5Vs):

    • Volume – huge amounts of data.

    • Velocity – speed of data generation.

    • Variety – different formats (structured, unstructured, semi-structured).

    • Veracity – accuracy and reliability.

    • Value – usefulness of data.

  • Need:

    • To identify patterns, trends, predictions.

    • Used in healthcare, business, government, education.

  • Analysis Tools: Data mining, Machine Learning, AI analytics, Cloud platforms.

✅ Summary (Quick Revision Points)

  • Data life cycle → creation, management, removal.

  • Data = raw facts; Information = processed meaningful data.

  • Valuable info → timely, accurate, contextual, understandable, reduces uncertainty.

  • Data, process, information are interconnected.

  • Data forms → text, numbers, images, audio, video.

  • Quality data → accurate, complete, consistent, relevant.

  • Big Data → huge, complex datasets requiring advanced analysis.




📚 Flashcards – GCE A/L ICT Unit 1 (Basic Concepts of ICT)

Life Cycle of Data

Q: What are the stages of the data life cycle?
A: Data creation, data management, and removal of obsolete data.

Data vs Information

Q: Define information.
A: Information is processed, organized data that is meaningful and useful.

Q: What are the characteristics of valuable information?
A: Timeliness, accuracy, context, understandability, and less uncertainty.

Applicability of Information

Q: How is information applied in daily life?
A: For decision making, policymaking, predictions, planning, scheduling, and monitoring.

Drawbacks of Manual Methods

Q: What are the drawbacks of manual methods in data handling?
A: Inconsistency and duplication, errors, lack of sharing, inefficiency in harmful/risky situations.

Emergence of ICT Era

Q: Why did the ICT era emerge?
A: To overcome drawbacks of manual methods using IT.

Q: Where is ICT information used?
A: Education, healthcare, agriculture, business, engineering, tourism, media, journalism, and law enforcement.

Development of Technologies

Q: What are key ICT technologies?
A: Information retrieval and sharing systems, computer networks, Internet & WWW, mobile computing, cloud computing.

Abstract Model of Information Creation

Q: What is the abstract model of information creation?
A: Input → Process → Output.

Q: How does it apply to ICT?
A: Computers use hardware, software, and human operators to perform these stages.

Hardware, Software, Human Operators

Q: How is hardware classified?
A: Input devices, output devices, processing devices, storage devices.

Q: How is software classified?
A: System software and application software.

Q: Why are human operators important in ICT systems?
A: To manage, supervise, and control ICT operations.

Steps in Data Processing

Q: What are the steps in data processing?
A: Data gathering, data validation, data processing, data output, data storage.

Data Gathering

Q: What are methods of data gathering?
A: Manual, semi-automated, and automated.

Q: What are tools for automated data gathering?
A: OMR, OCR, MICR, card/tape readers, magnetic strip readers, bar code readers, sensors, loggers.

Data Validation

Q: What are data validation methods?
A: Data type check, presence check, range check.

Data Input

Q: What are the modes of data input?
A: Direct vs. remote, online vs. offline.

Data Processing Types

Q: What are the two main data processing types?
A: Batch processing and real-time processing.

Output Methods

Q: What are output methods?
A: Direct presentation to the user, or storing for further processing.

Storage Methods

Q: What are types of storage?
A: Local vs. remote (cloud); short-term vs. long-term storage.

Application of ICT in Various Sectors

Q: List some sectors where ICT is applied.
A: Education, healthcare, agriculture, business & finance, engineering, tourism, media/journalism, law enforcement.

Benefits of ICT

Q: What are benefits of ICT?
A: Social benefits (connectivity, communication), economic benefits (growth, jobs, productivity).

Issues of ICT

Q: What issues arise from ICT?
A: Social, economic, environmental, ethical, legal, privacy, and digital divide.

Security Concerns

Q: What are main ICT security concerns?
A: Confidentiality, stealing/phishing, piracy, copyright/IP laws, plagiarism, licensed vs unlicensed software.


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