How do websites work? How do emails reach your computer? How does the use of computer applications affect your daily life? This unit provides an introduction to the modern online world. Starting with your own experiences, you will extend your knowledge of online services and investigate the technology and software that supports them. You will learn more about a range of services including email, online data storage, collaborative software, search engines and blogging.

This unit will help you understand the main technologies and processes behind the internet and investigate how they come together to let you view websites and send information across the world.

The internet and web of tomorrow will be even more powerful, more connected, more intuitive and a more important part of our lives. This will result in an internet of services, objects and infrastructure (ubiquitous computing) which will radically change our lives. For example, smart appliances will be able to talk to each other, clothes will monitor our health and retailers will access social media to gain insight into shoppers’ preferences.

 

You will explore a range of digital devices, such as smart phones and digital music players and consider the technology that enables these devices to share and exchange information. This technology has created new concerns regarding security and privacy. You will investigate these concerns and consider how users should behave online to safeguard themselves and respect others.

 

This unit is essential if you are considering a career in the IT sector. Online systems and technology have become part of everyday work, so being able to understand and work with this technology is relevant in many roles in the industry.