ICT glossary
Back to top
A
-
Address
An information box used in the web browser, where the user types in the desired web address.
-
Address book
Found in the e-mail application. It contains information for contacts and is used to send e-mails without the user needing to remember an e-mail address. The address book can also store website addresses and telephone numbers.
-
Align
'Align' is used to move data to the right, centre or left side of a document.
Back to top
B
-
Blind carbon copy (Bcc:)
In the context of correspondence, blind carbon copy (abbreviated Bcc:) refers to the practice of sending a message to multiple recipients in such a way that it conceals individual email addresses (mentioned in the "to" field of the mail) from the complete list of recipients.
-
Bold
This function is used to create bold text.
-
Bookmarks
The facility used in web browsers to mark a piece of information so that it can be found again very quickly. Also see favorites
-
Browser
A browser is a computer program that displays information held on the internet. When a website address is typed into a browser, the browser retrieves and displays the information on that site, including text and images.
Back to top
C
-
Calendar
Found in the e-mail application. It allows users to book in appointments, meetings and add new tasks to the e-mail application calendar. You can enter a start and finish time for an event as well as set up a timescale of when to be reminded about the event. Recurring events can also be set up in the calendar.
-
Carbon copy (cc:)
Used in e-mail applications to add additional e-mail addresses.
-
Cells
Cells are the constituent pieces of a spreadsheet. They can contain discrete pieces or cross-referenced pieces of data as well as formulae and text.
-
Chart
Found in spreadsheet under the menu options 'edit' and 'insert'. Different types of graphical representations of data can be generated from the data in a spreadsheet: line chart; scatter chart; bubble chart; pie chart; and bar chart.
-
Clear
Part of the edit functions. It is used to clear data from a cell in a spreadsheet and database. It can also be used to clear large chunks of data by highlighting the cells and then selecting 'clear'.
-
Clip art
Small picture icons used in presentations and text documents. Can be inserted using 'insert'.
-
Copy
Used to copy data without removing. To be used with 'paste'.
-
Cut
Used to remove data from a document and can be used with 'paste' or as a delete function.
Back to top
D
-
Delete
Deleting is used to remove something from a document.
-
Desktop
Desktop is the name for the interactive work area of your computer where files and folders are stored.
-
Dissolve
Dissolve is a type of transition or special effect between slides. It can be used to emphasise information within a presentation. This has the appearance of causing text or images to dissolve into tiny pieces until they disappear.
-
Download
This is the term used to describe copying files from a website to your computer.
Back to top
E
-
Edit
Edit is used in all applications except web browser. Facilities in ‘edit’ include ‘cut’, ‘copy and paste’, and ‘find and replace’.
-
E-mail
E-mail allows the user to send and receive messages from one computer to another over any distance often using telephone lines.
-
E-mail address
E-mail addresses are used to send and receive e-mails and can be recognised by the @ symbol which forms part of the address.
Back to top
F
-
Fade
Fade is a name of a particular style of transition between slides. As the presentation moves from one slide to another, the second slide replaces the other one, fading over the screen.
-
Favorites
Also known as bookmarks. This is a Microsoft Windows-specific term given to the facility used in web browsers to mark a web page so that it can be found again very quickly.
-
File
A file on a computer is an electronic document, which might be a letter, a picture, a sound, or a video clip. All files have a file name and are stored in a specific folder or directory on the computer's disk.
-
Fill handle
In spreadsheet the fill handle can be found by highlighting a cell and hovering over the square in the bottom right hand corner. When the cursor changes to a small cross it is available as the ‘fill handle’. By clicking and dragging down the column or across the row you can copy the contents and format on that specific cell into the neighbouring cells.
-
Find
A facility which allows data to be found automatically.
-
Find and replace
A function used to replace one piece of text with another within a document. You can either replace different pieces of text one by one or, if there are multiple corrections to be made, replace several together by selecting ‘replace all’.
-
Folder
A folder or directory is used to store a group of files.
-
Font
Font allows you to change the style of the text. There are a number of different styles of font.
-
Footer
It is used to place data into the bottom of a document, for example, the page number, date or document title. When data has been added to a footer or header it will continue to appear in the document from page to page.
-
Format
Format is a term used to describe how information appears within a program. For example, setting cells within a spreadsheet to display currency signs or numbers to two decimal places, or adding stylistic effects to a word processing document.
-
Formulae
A formula or function is a calculation. In a spreadsheet, a calculation is made up of mathematical symbols such as +,-,*,/ together with references to the cells they are to be applied to. There are also more complicated types of formula such as sum and average which also use cell references.
-
Forwarding
The forward facility enables the user to send an e-mail message they have received to another person or persons.
Back to top
H
-
Header
Similar to a footer but used to place data at the top of a document.
-
Highlight
Highlighting refers to the action of selecting an object or piece of text by using the mouse to click, drag and release it, to mark it. Subsequent actions then apply to the object or text marked.
-
History
The history facility in web browsers allows you to revisit websites you visited on previous occasions but forgot to bookmark. Usually the addresses of these locations are stored for a set period of time before they are removed from the browser.
-
Hyperlink
Hyperlinks are links within text which connect to other text, pictures or multimedia objects. They are usually found within websites and connect different web pages.
Back to top
I
-
ICT
The acronym for information and communication technology.
-
Image
See picture
-
Insert
The options available in insert differ for each application. In text editor, it is used to insert a picture file, the current date, page number, symbol and a page break. In spreadsheet, it is used to insert columns, rows, functions, charts and worksheets. In database, it is used to insert a new field or record. In presentation, it is used to insert a text box, an image, a new slide, clip art and a next or previous slide button.
Back to top
M
-
Modify styles
Found in text editor, this is used to change styles such as heading 1 and heading 2. Amendments that you can make to the styles include font style, font size and colour. When a style is modified all text set to that style will be modified.
Back to top
P
-
Page setup
Page setup uses the same settings as the print options box. It is used to change the quality and orientation of the paper.
-
Paste
Paste is used with 'cut' to copy text from one area to another. It can be used to copy text from document to document.
-
Picture
Paste is used with 'cut' to copy text from one area to another. It can be used to copy text from document to document.
-
Portrait
The standard orientation for paper; this is the default setting for printing documents. See also landscape.
-
Presentation
This software is made up of slides which are essentially a platform to present ideas. It is designed to display text, graphics and other multimedia forms.
-
Print
It is used to print multiple copies of documents.
Back to top
S
-
Save
Save is a function that is used in all software programs. It ensures that all changes to a file are stored. Some programs automatically save information as it is entered.
-
Save as
Using 'save as' will enable the user to save a current document with a revised name or save a new document with a new name.
-
Slide
A slide is a page in a sequence of pages that make up a presentation file or slideshow.
-
Sort
Sorting is a function by which a range of data can be arranged in either numerical or alphabetical order depending on the type of data. The order can be either ascending or descending (reverse).
-
Spreadsheet
A software application, in which textual and numerical data can be entered, stored and displayed. It can perform sophisticated calculations and can be used to draw graphs of the data.
-
Style
Style is the term used to describe a combination of display attributes that can be applied to a piece of text. For example, a style may consist of a particular font in a particular size, colour and type such as italic. When a style is added to a piece of text all of these attributes are applied to the text at the same time.
Back to top
T
-
Task pane
This is the term given to the on-screen instruction ‘window’ visible at the right hand side of the screen during completion of the QTS ICT skills test.
-
Text editor
A software application allowing the user to enter, edit, manipulate, store and print pages of text using a computer. Modern text editors have desktop publishing capability.
-
Timer
The timer is a function in presentation software that allows the progression from one slide to another after a defined period of time.
-
Tools
The tools function is used in text editor only. This function allows the user to word count, spell check and page count a document.
-
Transition
Transition is the name for a special effect that can be added to a presentation. These visual effects can be viewed when moving from one slide to another. The most common types of transition are dissolve, fade and wipe.
Back to top
W
-
Web address
Every website has an address that can be used to locate it. Addresses can usually be identified by their distinctive format. For example, education institutions contain '.ac' within them, companies contain .co within them and organisations contain '.org' within them.
-
Wipe
Wipe is the name of a particular style of transition between slides. As the presentation moves from one slide to another, the second slide replaces the other one in a wipe from left to right over the screen.
Did you find this page useful?
Yes / No
Thank you very much for your feedback.
Thank you. We will use your feedback to try and improve this page.