CAMS Level I
Fundamentals of ICT Skills flashcards
Read the question, say the answer to yourself, then turn the card to check. The first 10 of 48 cards are free; the rest come with the subject.
Card 1 of 48
Jump to a card
Complete Flashcard Reference
Review every card in this deck. Open any card to reveal its answer. The first 10 are free; the other 38 come with the subject.
What is the difference between data and information?
Data is unprocessed facts on their own, such as a stock count of 340 units. Information is data arranged, summarised or interpreted for a specific reader: the same count becomes information once it is compared against a reorder level and flagged as low.
What are the five elements of a computer system?
Hardware, software, data, procedures and people. None does anything useful on its own: take any one away and the rest cannot produce output.
What are the four jobs a piece of hardware can do?
Input: bringing data in (keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, webcam). Processing: working on it (the CPU). Storage: holding onto it (RAM, ROM, hard disk, flash drive). Output: handing a result back out (monitor, printer, speakers, projector).
How do RAM and ROM differ?
RAM holds whatever is currently running and forgets it the instant power is cut, so it is volatile. ROM keeps the start-up instructions the machine needs even before anything else has loaded, and retains them with no power.
How do system software, application software and a utility program differ?
System software runs the machine and gives other programs a platform: the operating system and device drivers. Application software does a job for the user: a spreadsheet, a word processor, an accounting package. A utility program keeps the machine healthy: disk cleanup, scheduled backup, file compression.
What are the functions of an operating system?
Process management: sharing CPU time between running programs. Memory management: allocating RAM and reclaiming it when a program closes. File management: organising files and folders. Device management: coordinating devices through their drivers. Security: authenticating users and controlling access. Providing the user interface.
In a spreadsheet, what is the difference between a relative and an absolute reference?
A relative reference such as B2 shifts as the formula is copied, so a formula copied down a column works on each row in turn. An absolute reference such as $B$1 stays fixed, for when every row must use one value held in a single cell.
How do a hub, a switch and a router differ?
Hub: repeats whatever arrives on one port out of every other port, wasting capacity and offering no security. Switch: learns each device's MAC address and sends data only to that device's port. Router: joins two separate networks, such as an office LAN to the internet, using IP addresses.
How long does a 240 MB file take to send over a 20 Mbps connection?
Size in megabits = 240 x 8 = 1,920 Mb. Time = 1,920 / 20 = 96 seconds. Speeds are quoted in bits and file sizes in bytes; skipping the x 8 gives an answer eight times too small.
What is the difference between a full, an incremental and a differential backup?
Full: every file, every time. Incremental: only what has changed since the last backup; a restore needs the last full backup plus every incremental since. Differential: everything changed since the last full backup; a restore needs the last full backup plus the latest differential.
What are a bit and a byte, and how does the storage scale climb?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
An archive takes up 10,240 MB. How large is it in gigabytes?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How do hardware, software and a program differ?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What core technology defines each of the five computer generations?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How are computers classified by size?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are analog, digital and hybrid computers?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is the difference between a general purpose and a special purpose computer?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What do the two parts of the CPU do?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How should a touchscreen, a hard disk, a scanner and a projector be classified?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What does each mouse action do?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How do inkjet, laser and dot matrix printers differ?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is the difference between low-level and high-level programming languages?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How do proprietary, open-source, shareware and freeware licences differ?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How does a graphical user interface compare with a command line?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How are operating systems distinguished by the users and tasks they serve?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
Can a deleted file be recovered?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What do copy, cut and paste do to a file, and what are their shortcuts?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What habits keep an office's files easy to find?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
Which word processing features save most time in an office, and what does each do?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What do SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN and DATE return?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
The tolerance in B1 is 10%. A fuel budget of 80,000 has actual spending of 92,000. Does the overspend need investigating?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What makes slides work well, and how is a slide show run?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are the main features of accounting software?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
Which controls make accounting software trustworthy?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of networking computers?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are PAN, LAN, MAN and WAN, from smallest to largest?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How do star, bus and ring topologies differ?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is good practice for network user accounts?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
Why do wireless networks need particular care, and what does that care involve?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are a DDoS attack and a man in the middle attack?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is social engineering, and which control most directly addresses it?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How do malware, spyware and an advanced persistent threat differ?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How does an intrusion prevention system differ from intrusion detection?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What are a honeypot, backtracing and computer forensics?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is the real defence against ransomware?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What is the rule of thumb for keeping backups?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
What makes a password strong against an attacker?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
Which Kenyan statute supports legal responses to cybercrime, and what does it criminalise?
This answer comes with Fundamentals of ICT Skills. Buy the subject
How to revise with these cards
- Answer out loud or on paper before you turn the card: recalling is what fixes it.
- Go through the deck in short sessions of ten to fifteen minutes, every day.
- Shuffle once you know the order, so you are not answering from memory of the sequence.
- When a card catches you out, read the chapter it links to, then try the topic in a past paper.