Computer Literacy

 

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Years ago, people used to use dial-up connections through a phone line to access the internet, but now broadband provides internet access at much higher speeds, meaning pictures, audio, and text information are much more easily accessed.

An ISP is simply your provider for broadband. For a list of ISPs in your area, check out: www.broadbandnow.com

Wireless Access and Browsers

Once you have an internet broadband connection set up, you need to have the hardware that allows a connection to the internet, and a modem is that hardware. Your ISP connects to the modem through a cable of some sort, usually a phone cable or coaxial cable, just like for TV cable. The router acts as a kind of ‘gatekeeper’ to the internet access provided by the Internet Service Provider. A modem is needed to connect to the internet, because it is actually a middleman between the cable/phone line that delivers internet and the router. A router is another piece of hardware, and really the last ‘gatekeeper’ between the internet and the devices accessing it. The nice thing about a router is it lets more than one device access the internet at the same time. Nowadays, most devices connect to the internet through wireless routers, but routers some still connect to devices through a cable. Browsers are the icons you click on to access the internet. Some common ones include Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome.

Memory (RAM): 

RAM is a type of memory that computers use to store information temporarily. You still must save information you want to keep on a disk, on the computer's hard-drive, in the cloud or on a USB. RAM is used to access information that can later be dispensed, and it can be accessed more quickly. The more RAM a computer has, the more quickly it would be able to load a regularly visited web page or transmit information (like an email) to a doctor.

The Cloud

Usually, people use a computer to create and store files on a its hard drive. Cloud computing uses the internet to store files and to access them. One example is using web-based programs to create documents such as Google Docs or Slides which is similar to Microsoft's Power-point. Cloud computing can also be used to store items as in a subscription based service, such as Amazon Cloud Drive, which gives you X amount of storage to put any files on instead of or in addition to your computer hard drive.

You could use the cloud to access your medical information anywhere you are, no matter what device you use. You can track your blood sugar readings by using a cloud based spreadsheet on Google Drive from your computer at home, and access it at your doctor’s office from your smartphone. You can also not only save your medical information on your hard drive at home, but back it up on the cloud drive. If your house burns down and your physical computer is lost, you can still access years of information on the cloud drive.