REGARD: Mr.

Diba

Contents

Chapter One: Word processing

Concept of word processing
Working with MS Word program and files
Editing and formatting a document
Printing a document
Using MS Word help facility
Chapter Two: Spreadsheet
Concept and terminologies of spreadsheet program
Starting and ending a spreadsheet program
Entering and editing data
Formatting data in a worksheet
Data manipulation
Charts
Printing a worksheet
Help facility
Chapter Three: Computer networks and communication
Concept of computer networking
Network devices and accessories
Computer network topologies
Chapter Four: The Internet
Concept of Internet
Search Engines
Application of Internet
Advantages of using Internet
Negative effects of the Internet

Page 1 of 172 Regard: Mr Diba

 CHAPTER ONE
Word processing
Course Objectives
 Introduction
 Understanding Microsoft Word
 Know how to Open and Close Ms Word
 Understand Different Views
 Navigating through Microsoft Word Screen
 Understanding different Selecting Text technique and document editing
 Understand how to Insert Objects on the Word Document
 Knowing how to format paragraphs and characters
 Knowing how to Work with Tables
 Understanding how to create Mail Merge
 Preparing a Document for printing

Introduction
In the past, documents were processed manually and in hardcopies, either handwritten or by a
typewriter. Nowadays, documents can be created using a computer system through application
programs for word processing. In this chapter, you will learn the document; and using the help
facility. The competencies developed will enable you to prepare documents of good concept of
word processing; working with MS Word program and files; editing and formatting a word
document; printing a word quality.

Concept of word processing

Word processing is an art of creating, editing, formatting, saving and printing of text-based
documents. The documents processed can be letters, memos, reports, manuals, books and
almost all documents required for different uses. Word processing is done through a computer
in which an application program or software known as word processor has been installed.

Word processor
A word processor is an application software for manipulating electronic text-based documents. This
software allows a text to move around and to be manipulated in different ways. For example, a
word processing software allows correction of misspelled words throughout the document by
means of a single command of spelling and automatic grammar check. Such commands alert a
user to correct spelling, punctuation, and syntax errors. The document format, layout, and font type
and sizes can be changed repeatedly until a satisfactory appearance is produced. Since all editing,
ideally, occurs on screen, word processing can result in decreased paper usage, simplified editing,
and neat varieties of the same work in good quality formats. When the final draft is ready, the
document can be printed out in multiple copies if necessary, sent as an attachment through e-mail,
shared on a computer network, or simply stored as an electronic file.

Most word processors have powerful sets of programs, which can produce a combination of
images, graphics and text. Moreover, these word processors offer facilities for document
formatting such as font changes, page layout, and paragraph indentations. There are different
examples of word processors such as WordPerfect, WordStar, Microsoft Word (MS word),
Google Docs, Open Office writer, and Write Pro. Microsoft Word, in particular, has different
versions such as MS word 2003, MS Word 2007, MS Word 2010, MS Word 2013, MS Word 2016
and MS Word 2019. However, at this level, you will learn about MS Word 2016.
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Features of electronic word processors
All electronic word processors have some common features such as:
 Creating and editing features;
 Formatting features;
 Spelling and grammar check features;
 Word wrap;
 Mail merge; and
 What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) features.
Importance of using a word processor
 Word processor enables a user to:
 Easily correct mistakes in a document;
 Store document electronically for future use;
 Create good quality documents since it has many formatting features such as borders, text
layout, bullet styles, line and paragraph spacing, indentation shading, bold underline, etc;
 Automatically check spelling since it is full of useful tools such as a grammar checker
available to improve the quality of user’s work;
 Use a plenty of good quality document templates available online; and
 Import data from a data file and use it to create mail merge.

Working with MS Word program and files

Starting MS Word program
There are different ways of starting MS Word program on a computer. The type of operating
system you are using and how the computer is configured cause these differences. The commonly
used way to start MS Word is clicking the shortcut for MS Word icon on the task bar or start menu
as shown in Figure 1.1, or on a desktop screen.

Figure 1.1: Task bar with options for starting MS Word

KEYS;

1 = Start button
2 = Shortcut for MS Word
If you are using a start menu, the following activity can help you to load the program.

Steps for: Starting MS Word

(i) Click on the Start button on the task bar for Windows 8 or Windows
10: Start pop up menu will appear.
(ii) Scroll down and click on MS Word: Different MS Word templates will
appear. m window will open.
(iii) Choose the Blank document template: MS Word program

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Parts of MS Word window
MS Word window has several parts, including Title bar, Menu Bar, Ruler, Working
area and Status bar. Figure 1.2 shows different parts of MS Word 2016.

Figure 1.2: Parts of MS Word 2016

Title bar
The title bar displays the program name and the name of the current document you are working on,
as it appears in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Title bar

By default, when you open MS Word for the first time, the title bar will display a blank Document
1-Word. Usually, the bar also displays quick access bar commands. The Quick Access commands allow
you to access common commands regardless of the selected tab. The common quick access
commands are Save, Undo, and Redo, but one can customise quick access commands to suit
his/her needs. The steps below will help you to customise the quick access toolbar.

Steps for: Customising the quick access toolbar

(i) Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the quick access bar,
(ii) Click on the command you want from the pop-up menu as shown in
Figure 1.4,
(iii) An icon for the selected command will appear on the quick access bar.

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 Figure 1.4: Quick access pop menu
Menu bar
MS Word menu bar has different tabs including File, Home, Insert, Design,
Layout, References, Mailing, Review, and View, as shown in Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5: Menu bar

Each tab has a ribbon that displays a list of commands in groups. For example, a ribbon for Home
tab contains command groups such as Clipboard and Font as shown in Figure 1.6.

Figure 1.6: Groups of commands in the Home ribbon

Note: This combination of icons and tabs, which is known as the Ribbon interface, also appears in
other programs like MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Outlook, and MS Access.

Exploring different tabs;

Navigate each tab to display a ribbon with different groups of commands.

File tab
File tab appears at the left topmost corner of all tabs. When open, it displays the menu for actions
such as Info, New, Open, Save, Save As, Print, Share, Export, Close, Account, and Options,
as shown in Figure 1.7

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Figure 1.7: File menu

Home tab
Home tab displays a ribbon with different groups of commands such as Clipboard, Font, Paragraph,
Style, and Editing, as shown in Figure 1.8.

Figure 1.8: Home ribbon

Insert tab
Insert tab displays a ribbon with various groups of commands such as Pages, Tables, Illustrations,
Add-ins, Media, Links, Comments, Header & Footer, Text, and Symbols, as shown in Figure 1.9.

Figure 1.9: Insert ribbon

Design tab
Design tab displays a ribbon with Document Formatting and Page Background as shown in
Figure 1.10.

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 Figure 1.10: Design ribbon
Layout tab
Layout tab displays a ribbon with options for page setup, paragraph setup and word arrangement,
as shown in Figure 1.11.

Figure 1.11: Layout ribbon

References tab
Reference tab displays a ribbon with groups of commands such as Table of Contents, Footnotes, and
Citation and Bibliography, Captions, Index, and Table of Authorities, as shown in Figure 1.12.

Figure 1.12: References ribbon

Mailings tab
Mailings tab displays a ribbon with different groups of commands that include Create, Start Mail
Merge, Write & Insert Fields, Preview Results, and Finish as shown in Figure 1.13.

Figure 1.13: Mailings ribbon

Review tab
Review tab displays a ribbon with groups of command that include Proofread, Accessibility,
Language, Comments, Tracking, Changes, Compare and Protect documents as shown in Figure 1.14.

Figure 1.14: Review ribbon

View tab
View tab shows different groups of options for document view such as Show, Zoom, Window,
and Macros, as shown in Figure 1.15.
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 Figure 1.15: View ribbon
Ruler
Ruler displays the left and right margins, tab settings, and indentation, as shown in Figure 1.16.
You may use a ruler to change the default left and right margins, and create indentation and tabulations.

Figure 1.16: Ruler

Working area
Working area looks like a white paper on which a text can be written. The blinking vertical line in the
upper left corner of the sheet area is called Insertion Point. The insertion point indicates the
position where the character typed will appear in the sheet as shown in Figure 1.17. As you type
a character, you will notice the insertion point moving to indicate where the next character you
type will appear.

Figure 1.17: Working area

The working area also contains vertical and horizontal scroll bars. These bars represent the
current relative location of an insertion point in the document. A scroll bar allows you to move
right or left and down or up the window as shown in Figure 1.18.

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Figure Figure 1.18: Vertical and horizontal scroll bars

You can scroll a document window in several ways. For instance, if you need to scroll only a
short vertical distance, click continuously up or down the vertical scroll bar. Likewise, you can
jump to the next page or previous page by clicking the next or previous page arrows. Also, you
can use a mouse to scroll faster up or down by holding and dragging down vertical scroll bars.
Status bar
Status bar appears at the bottom of the screen and provides information such as current page,
current section, total number of pages, total number of words, the language used, current line
number, and current column number. For example, in Figure 1.19, the status bar shows that the
current opened document is on page 11 out of 152 pages and the document contain 24532 words.

Figure 1.19: Status bar

Usually, the status bar contains commands that show how the document can be viewed and
zoomed. In MS Word, you can display your document in one of the following views: Read
Mode, Print Layout, or Web Layout.
Read Mode: Read Mode view formats your screen to make reading your document more
comfortable.
Print Layout: The Print Layout view shows how the document will look like when printed.
Web Layout: Web Layout view enables you to view your document, as it would appear in a
browser such as Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.

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Changing document view
You can change the document view to suit your needs. For example, you can
change word screen view into read mode by following these steps:
(i) Click View tab,
(ii) The icon next to Read Mode is Print Layout with a box around it,
(iii) Click Read Mode. You are now in Read Mode.
(iv) Press escape key on the keyboard to return to print preview mode.

Closing MS Word program

When you have completed working with MS Word program, you will be required to close the
program. In most cases, you would save your work before closing.
Activity 1.6: Closing MS Word file and program
(i) Click File tab,
(ii) Click Close button,
(iii) If you have entered a text that is not yet saved, you will be prompted
to save changes. If you click “Yes”, you will be prompted to save a
document by giving a file name and specifying the location. If the
changes are in an existing file, click “Save”, and the changes will be
saved.
(iv) If you click “No”, the document will be discarded. If you click
“Cancel”, closing will be cancelled and you will be allowed to work
further on the document.
To close a document without exiting MS Word:
(i) Click the File tab,
(ii) Then click Close button, or
(iii) Press Ctrl+W.

Creating MS Word file

Inserting a text
When entering a text, you must first position the insertion point where you want to insert the
text, either to the left or right of an existing character. Text is inserted into the MS Word document
in various ways such as:
Typing via a keyboard;
Copying/cutting a text from other documents and pasting it into a word- processing document;
Scanning printed documents and using Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
software to convert the scanned documents into text characters;
Using voice recognition software to convert spoken words into text characters and vice versa; or
Importing files such as tables, pictures, and databases from storage media or other sources.
In this chapter, you will mainly use options (a) and (b) in creating a word document. When beginning
a new project in MS Word, you will often want to start with a new blank document. In order to
create a new document, do the following:

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  Click File tab: Backstage view will appear.
 Click New tab: a window which looks like that of Figure 1.20 display different
templates.
 Click Blank Document, the blank document will appear.

Figure 1.20: Creating new document

Activity 1.7: Type the following passage in MS Word

Electronic word processing enables a user to edit and format documents easily.
It makes possible sharing of information quickly and getting feedback. Teachers
may be in a good position of using electronic word processor for preparing lesson
notes, schemes of work, lesson plans and other word documents.
Navigating a document using a keyboard
The easiest way to move the insertion point by short distances is to use the arrow keys. You can
also use additional keys to move the insertion point by longer distances.
Procedures
Press [Ctrl+Home] to move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
Press Down Arrow key [] to move the insertion point down one line.
Press Up Arrow key [] to move the insertion point up one line.
Press Right Arrow key [] to move the insertion point one character to the right.
Press Left Arrow key [] to move the insertion point one character to
the left.
Press [End] to move the insertion point to the end of the current line.
Press [Home] to move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
Press [Ctrl+ ] to move the insertion point to the next word.
Press [Ctrl+ ] to move the insertion point to the previous word.
Press [Page Down] to move the insertion point down one screen.
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Press [Page Up] to move the insertion point up one screen.
Press [Ctrl+Page Down] to move the insertion point to the top of the next page.
Press [Ctrl+Page Up] to move the insertion point to the top of the previous page.
Press [Ctrl+End] to move the insertion point to the end of the document.

Saving MS Word document

Saving MS Word document for the first time
After you have typed your text, you should store it in your computer for future
use.
Steps to save the typed document for the first time include the following:
From File menu tab, Click Save As, a Save As window will appear.
Select the location by clicking Browse and choose the location (for
example, Removable Disk, Documents, or Desktop).
Write the file name (the name should either reflect the content of the document, for example
ICS notes or any other name that can be easily remembered).
Choose file format like Word document (.docx), Plain Text (.txt) or Rich
Text Format (.rtf).
Click Save.
Saving changes while working on an MS Word document
You should continue saving the document when the work is in progress to avoid loss of content
in case of problems like power failure. In this case, you may use a shortcut for Save , or
Click File menu then click Save command, or press Ctrl+S.
Saving MS Word document as PDF
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. The format is used for saving files in
such a way that they cannot be easily modified but still can be shared and printed.

In most MS Word versions, you can convert an MS Word document into a PDF
file type by following these steps:
Open an existing MS Word document or create a new MS Word document,
Click File tab option at the top-left of the MS Word program window,
Click Save As option in the menu,
On Save As window, click Browse to select a location on your computer
where you want to save the file,
In the Save as type drop-down list, select the PDF option as shown in Figure 1.21.

Figure 1.21: Saving MS Word document as PDF

Click Save button to save the MS Word document as PDF.

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Saving MS Word document in external storage
External storage devices such as flash disks can usually store the file created by a word processor.
Follow the steps in Activity 1.8 to save a document in a flash disk.

Activity1.8: Saving an MS Word document in a flash disk or any other external storage
device
Steps:
(i) Open an existing MS word document or create a new MS word
document,
(ii) Insert the flash disk in the computer as shown in Figure 1.22,

Figure 1.22: Inserting Flash Disk

(iii) Click File tab: File menu options will appear,
(iv) Click Save As: The window for Save As will appear as in Figure 1.23,

Figure 1.23: Save As window

(v) Click Browse: Save As dialog box will open as in Figure 1.24.

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 Figure 1.24: Save As dialog box

Type the name of the file, example “ICS Book TWO February 25 2021”
in the File Name (See Figure 1.24),
Scroll on the left-hand side of the menu to find the flash disk or removable disk,
Click on the Flash disk or on Removable Disk: the flash disk or removable disk will open
as in Figure 1.25.
Click Save.
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Opening an existing MS Word document Opening a document stored in a computer
When a document is saved in a computer, it can be opened at any time when it is needed as MS
Word program allows a user to open an existing document. To open an already saved document, do
the following:
i. Click File tab,
ii. Click Open: the open dialog box will appear, giving you the option to
iii. choose the file from the location where it is stored.
iv. Choose the file,
v. Click Open: The file will be opened.
vi. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut for opening (Ctrl + O); this will display the open
dialog box as shown in Figure 1.26. You can also open an existing document by
double clicking the file.
or
NOTE: If the document you want to open is in the Recent Documents list, click its File
name or Thumb nail icon (see Figure 1.26) to open it. The window like what is seen in Figure
1.27 will be opened.

Figure 1.26: Opening a file from a recent document

Figure 1.27: Opened MS Word document

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Opening a file saved in external storage
Sometimes, a word document is saved in external storage devices such as flash disk. To open
the file saved in an external storage, follow these steps:
Click on File tab,
Click on Open,
Click Browse as shown in Figure 1.28. The Open dialog box will appear as shown in Figure 1.29.

Figure 1.28: Window for file browsing

Figure 1.29: Opening a file from a removable disk

Scroll in left column window to find the removable disk option,

Select the file you want to open,
Click on Open button. The file will be opened.

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 Exercise

1. Outline the steps for opening, creating, saving, and closing a word
document.
2. Why should you save your working document before closing it?
3. What is the use of Ruler in MS Word?
4. What is the importance of using a word processing program?

Editing and formatting a document

The word processor offers different facilities for correcting mistakes like spelling and grammar
errors in a document. It also gives a room to decorate a document in a format that you want using
features such as font type, font size, page layout, and paragraph indentation. This section
describes how you can edit and format a word document.
Editing an MS Word document
Editing is the process of correcting mistakes and errors or removing unwanted content. After a
document is created, it may contain mistakes, errors, unrequired content or missing some content.
This creates the need of editing the text. Editing may involve adding or removing a text, or moving
a text from one place to another. This section covers some basic tasks done during editing such as
selecting, deleting, copying, moving a text, undoing and redoing changes.

Selecting a text
Before making any change or editing a text, you must first select the text that you want to edit. You
can use the mouse or the keyboard to select the text. The selected text appears highlighted on the
screen, as it is shown in Figure 1.30.

Figure 1.30: Selected text

To select a text, do the following:

To select a word, double-click anywhere in the word.
To select a sentence, hold the Ctrl key and click anywhere in the sentence.
To select a paragraph, triple-click anywhere in the paragraph.
To select the entire document, press Ctrl+A.
To select adjacent words, lines, or paragraphs, drag the mouse pointer over the text; or click at the
beginning of the text, and then hold the Shift key and click at the end of the text.
To select non-adjacent words, lines, or paragraphs, make the first selection, and then hold
down the Ctrl key and make the second selection.
NOTE: To deselect the text, click anywhere in the document.

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Deleting a text in MS Word document
If you wrongly insert a text or an object in a word processor, you can remove the text or the
object that has been mistakenly written. This is done by the use of backspace key and the delete
key on the keyboard. To delete a character at a time, position the insertion point in front of the
character then press the backspace key; or place the insertion point at the beginning of the
character, then press the delete key. The delete key removes characters to the right of the
insertion point, while the backspace key removes characters to the left of the insertion point. To
delete a word, sentence, paragraph or block of text, select it then press the delete key.
Copying and moving a text
When editing a document, you may want to duplicate a text in another location, or you may want
to remove a text from its original location and place it in a new location. Copy is a command
used to create a duplicate of a text, while Cut is a command for moving a text. The shortcuts for
the two commands appear in the Clipboard group of the Home ribbon as in Figure 1.31.

Figure 1.31: Commands for copying and cutting a text

Copying a text
To copy a text, you must first select the text, then click on the icon or command Copy.
Alternatively, you can copy a text by pressing the Control key (Ctrl) and C key on the keyboard.
Copying can also be done through the following procedure: select the text, hold the Ctrl key and
place the cursor over the selected text, press and hold the left mouse button, drag to the desired
location and lastly, release the mouse button to paste.
Cutting a text
Cut is one of the useful commands in a word processor. When editing a document, you may realise
that some text needs to move from the present location to a new location. The word processor
provides a solution to that through Cut command. To cut a text, do the following:

Select the text you want to move,

Right click on the selected text,
From the popup menu, click the Cut shortcut ,
Move the insertion point to the place where you want the text to appear,
Right click and click Paste shortcut from the popup menu.
Alternatively, you can move the text by dragging and dropping the selected text by following
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these steps:
Select the text you want to move,
Click and hold the mouse then drag the text to a location where you
want it to appear. The cursor will have a rectangular shape under it to indicate that you are
moving the text,
Release the mouse button, and the text will appear.

NOTE: The cut or copied text is stored on the Clipboard. The Clipboard is a temporary
storage area. Figure 1.32 shows a Home tab and Clipboard group. Every time a new text or any
other object is copied or cut, the clipboard content is replaced with the new one.

Figure 1.32: Clipboard

Pasting a text
Paste command helps you to shift the text you have copied or cut to another place. To paste a
text, locate a place where you want to insert the text, then click the paste icon or use a keyboard
shortcut Ctrl + V.
Undo and Redo command
Sometimes, you may make mistakes when entering a text in the word processor. Whenever you
make a mistake, you can easily reverse it with the Undo command. After you have undone one or
more actions, the Redo command becomes active and allows you to restore the undone actions.
Table 1.1 shows the procedures to
Undo and Redo actions.
Table 1.1: Undo and Redo actions

To undo an action: To redo an action:

On the Quick Access toolbar,
On the Quick Access toolbar, click the
click the Redo button , or press
Undo button , or press Ctrl+Z.
Ctrl+Y.

Spelling and grammar check

You can check the spelling and grammar in the file all at once, or you can let the spelling and
grammar checkers suggest corrections automatically while you work. The word processor offers a
dictionary of standard grammar and spellings, but they are not comprehensive. To customise
these features, do the following:

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  Choose the language for which you want to check the spelling and grammar,
 Use custom dictionaries to add words to the spelling checker,
 Use exclusion dictionaries to specify a preferred spelling for a word,
 Check spelling and grammar in a different language.
 Checking all spellings and grammar in a file at the same time is useful when you want to
proofread a text. You can check for possible mistakes and then confirm each suggested
correction. You can resolve each error that the program finds in different ways: Select
the word in the suggestions list, and then click Change or Select the word in Dictionary
check box, Edit the word, Click Change

If you want MS Word to recognise the word and not treat it as a misspelling, click Add or Add to
Dictionary. If you want to ignore a misspelled word and move on to the next misspelled word,
Click Ignore Once. If you want to ignore all instances of a misspelled word and move on to the
next misspelled word, Click Ignore All.
Alternatively:
Open MS Word document,
Click on proofing error icon on the status bar: the grammar check window will open as
shown in Figure 1.33.

Select the correct word in the Search Box,

Click Change.

Figure 1.33: Error and grammar check window

Synonyms and thesaurus
The word processor has features that help the user to get alternative words. The user can see
words with similar meaning by right clicking the mouse button on the word he/she wants to look
for alternatives. Figure 1.34 displays the window which gives an option to choose the synonyms
of that word or find the thesaurus.

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 Figure 1.34: Synonyms and thesaurus

Changing the word using Synonyms and Thesaurus

Steps
(i) On the working area, type the word “desired”,
(ii) Right click the word “desired”,
(iii) On the drop down menu, choose the preferred word,
(iv) Click Insert.
Or
(i) Type any word on the working area,
(ii) On the Review tab, click Thesaurus,
(iii) See alternative words in thesaurus,
(iv) Type the word in your text.

Using drag-and-drop action

Drag-and-drop editing allows you to use a mouse to copy and move a text by dragging a text to
the desired location. The results are the same as cutting or copying and pasting, except that the cut or
copied items are not saved to the Clipboard. This feature is most useful when the text you want to
cut or copy and the destination location are both visible in the document area.
CUT
Select the text you want to move,
Point to the selected text and drag it to the desired location.
COPY
Select the text you want to copy.
Hold control key (Ctrl), point to the selected text, and drag it to the desired location.
Find and replace
Find and replace gives a chance to find a word and replace it with a new one. This editing feature
can help you to correct a wrong word that might have appeared several times in your document.
Steps:
On the Editing group of the Home ribbon, click Replace: the window for find and replace will
appear as shown in Figure 1.35,

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 Figure 1.3 find and replace

Write the word you want to find,

Write the replacing word,
Click Replace if you want to find and replace one occurrence of a word: Click Replace all if you
want to replace all occurrences of the found word.

Formatting MS Word document

Formatting helps you to change the appearance of a document so that it can look neater and of
good quality. Text formatting includes font type, font size, font colour, font style, page setup,
etc. The font group on the Home ribbon contains the commonly used text formatting commands.
You can also format a text using the font dialog box, which is opened by clicking the dialog box
launcher in the Font group as shown in Figure 1.36.

Figure 1.36: Formatting commands

Changing font type and font size

A font is the style of text lettering, and it defines the overall appearance of a text. Examples of
font types are such as Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri Light, and Calibri extra. The default
font in MS Word 2016 documents is Calibri (bold).
Changing font style
Changing the font of a text can be done through the following steps:
Select the text that you want to format,
On the Home ribbon, in the Font group, click the Font style arrow and choose the desired font
from the list (see Figure 1.37).
Changing font size
Click on the Font Size arrow and select the desired font size from the list on the Home ribbon in
the Font group (see figure 1.37). If a font size of your choice is not listed in the Font Size list,
click in the Font Size box , type the desired number, and then press the Enter key.

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Figure 1.37 (a): Font type and size

NOTE: The Font size can also be changed by clicking on the Increase Font Size button to
increase or Decrease Font Size button to decrease the font (see Figure 1.37(b)).

Figure 1.37(b): Buttons to increase and decrease font size

Applying font attributes

Formatting attributes such as bold, italic, or underline call the attention of readers to particular
parts of your text. Figure 1.38 shows different formatting attributes in a font group.

Figure 1.38: Formatting attributes

Additionally, you can assign a superscript or subscript notation to any text that makes it appear
above or below the standard text. Subscript is the character such as a number or a letter that is
slightly below the normal line (baseline). For example, in H O, 2 is a subscript. Superscript is a
character such as a number or a letter that is set slightly above the baseline. For example, in x3, 3
is a superscript.
2 These attributes and others are found on the Home ribbon. In order to apply the
attributes on a specific text, do the following:
Select the text where the attributes will be applied,
Point and click on the attribute you want to apply, for example, Bold as shown in Figure
1.39.
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Figure 1.39: Bolded text
Changing font colour and highlighting text
Font colour is used to emphasise some text in the document. If the document has a text that needs
to get special attention from the reader, its colour can be changed or highlighted.
Changing font colour
To change the font colour, follow the following steps:
Select the text you want to change,
Click the down arrow next to the colour icon . It is usually displayed as letter A underlined
with some colour as shown in Figure 1.4

Figure 1.40: Font colour

After clicking on the down arrow for the colour, select the colour you want for your text.
Highlighting a text
To highlight a text, the following steps are used:
Click the Home tab,
In the Font group, click the text highlight button arrow to select the colour,
Drag the mouse over the text you want to highlight. The text becomes highlighted just like using
a highlighter on a regular paper, but far neater as shown in Figure 1.41.

Figure 1.41: Highlighting text with colour

41
Click the text highlight button to return the mouse to normal operation.
Text alignment
MS Word program has a feature that allows the user to either align a text to the left, right, centre, or
justify. By default, MS Word aligns a text to the left margin of the document. However, there may
be times when you want to adjust text alignment to the centre, right, or justify. To align a text, do
the following:
Select the text you want to align,
On the Home ribbon, select one of the four alignment options from the Paragraph group. Figure
1.42 shows the alignment options in Paragraph group.

Figure 1.42: Text alignment

NOTE: Alignment is, therefore, the act of arranging your text in different positions based on choice
or the purpose of the text. There are four kinds of text alignment namely left, right, centre and
justify.
Left alignment
Left alignment means that each line will start from the left margin. Left alignment is
commonly used for body text and make the document easier to read.
Right alignment
Right alignment means that each line will finish on the right hand margin. The starting position
of each line will be different based on the length of the line. Right alignment is used for small
sections of content, such as text in header and footer.
Centre alignment
Centre alignment means that each line will be displayed with equal spacing on either side. This
setting is mostly used to print title, header and quotes of any text.
Justify alignment
Justify alignment means that each line will start on the left side and finish exactly on the
right margin. The extra space will be adjusted among the words. Justified text looks neat as
words are evenly distributed to both sides of the page.
NOTE: If you want to change the alignment of a paragraph, select the text and then place the
cursor on the alignment style you want, then click on it.
Changing text case
There is a time when text cases need to be changed. The Change Case command helps to
change case, instead of deleting and retyping a text. To change the text case, follow these steps:
Select the text you want to modify,
On the Home ribbon, in the Font group, click the Change Case command arrow. A drop-down
menu will appear as in Figure 1.43.

42
Figure 1.43: Text case
Click the desired case option from the menu, like “Capitalise Each Word”, as shown in
Figure 1.44.

Figure 1.44: Capitalisation of each word

Formatting a text
(i) Type the names of the subjects you learnt in primary school.
(ii) The title of text should be “PRIMARY SCHOOL SUBJECTS”.
(iii) Bold the title.
(iv) Increase the size of the title to 24 points.
(v) Change the colour of the first subject to blue.
(vi) Change one of the subject names to Italic style.
(vii) Change the remaining subject names to bold and italic style.
(viii) Save the file as “my primary school subjects”.
Line spacing
The space between each line of a paragraph is called line spacing. It is set to 1 by default in MS
Word. It can also be set to 1.5, 2, or to other values. Spacing enables easy reading of the text. Use
the paragraph spacing button on the Home ribbon to change the line spacing.
Click on line spacing drop-down arrow as shown in Figure 1.45,

Figure 1.45: Line spacing options

Move your cursor over each of the built-in spacing options, and notice how the line spacing
43
changes. Figure 1.45 indicates the drop-down menu of the line spacing command.
Click the option you want.
Bulleting and numbering
In MS Word, bulleted lists and numbered lists can be applied to a text whenever listing of items
is needed. Numbered lists can be created using commands in Paragraph group of the Home
ribbon, as shown in Figure 1.46.

Figure 1.46: Bullet and number

Listing items using bullets
As mentioned earlier, bullets can be added to a text whenever listing of items is needed. To add
a bullet to a text, do the following:
Select bullet
On the Home ribbon, in the Paragraph group, click the Bullets button arrow : the window
like that in Figure 1.47 will appear,
Click the bullet type of your choice.

Figure 1.47: Bullets types

Listing items using numbers

44
As mentioned earlier, numbers can be added to the text whenever listing of items is needed. To
add a number to a text, do the following:
Select the text you want to be numbered,
On the Home ribbon, in the Paragraph group, click the Numbering
button arrow ,
Click the numbering type you want from the list as shown in Figure 1.48.

Figure 1.48: Numbering type

Copying formats
A format of a specific text can be copied and applied to other text in the MS Word document. This
feature helps a user to save time and effort when more than one format has been applied to a text
and you want to format an additional text with existing formats.
To copy a format, follow these steps:
Select the text that has the format you want to copy.
On the Home ribbon, in the Clipboard group, click the Format Painter button as shown in
Figure 1.49.

Figure 1.49: Format painter

The mouse pointer changes to a paint brush with an I-beam .

36
Select the text to which you want to apply the copied format.
NOTE: If the copied format needs to be applied to more than one area, double- click the Format
Painter button. This keeps the Format Painter active until you press the Esc key or click the
format printer once again.

Drop cap
There are two types of drop cap, dropped and in-Margin. To apply the Drop cap, follow the steps
in

Activity 1.11: Applying drop cap

Type the text
“Education is an endless
process, that someone get in
and never lives unless he/she
dies”
Make the first letter as In-margin drop cap by following these steps:
(i) Select the first letter,
(ii) Click on Insert tab,
(iii) In the Text group of the Insert ribbon, click Drop Cap, and then
select In margin drop cap style.

Results

E
ducation is an endless process, that someone get in and never lives unless he/she dies.

Use the same steps to apply dropped drop cap style to a text.

Page break
Page break enables you to separate sections of a document so that they can appear as separate pages
at the time of printing.

Inserting page break

Steps:
(i) Click where you want to insert a page break,
(ii) Click Insert tab,
(iii) In the Pages group of the Insert ribbon, Click Page Break.

Page numbering
MS Word allows you to insert page numbers in your document. There are different options you can
use to insert page numbers. By default, numbering starts from 1 onwards. But you may use other

37
numbering formats instead of the default one, or use different numbering styles in one document.
Inserting page numbers Steps:
Click on the page you want to insert a number,
Click Insert tab,
In Header and Footer group, click the Page Number arrow ,
Select the position you want your numbers to appear (top or bottom) as shown in Figure 1.50.
Choose alignment (left, centre or right) and number style.

Figure 1.50: Inserting page number

Inserting different numbering formats in the same document

Before you insert different numbering formats in the same document, insert section break in the
pages you want to put different numbering formats.
Inserting section break
Steps:
Position a cursor to the bottom of the page you want to separate,
Click on Layout tab,
In the Page Setup group of the Layout ribbon, Click Breaks: the window like that in Figure 1.51
will appear,
On Section Breaks, click Next Page.

38
Figure1.51: Inserting section break

Inserting new style of numbers

Steps:
In the Header & Footer group of the Insert ribbon, click the Page Number arrow,
Click Format Page Numbers,
On the Page Number Format pane, set the number format and specify where and how you want
the numbering to start, as shown in Figure 1.52.

Figure 1.52: Page number format panel

37
Click OK,
Go back to the Page Number menu,
Select the position of a page number,
Click.
Header and footer
Headers and footers identify a text in printed documents. Usually, headers and footers include
text or graphics such as page numbers, company logo, document title, file name, or author’s
name. A header appears at the top margin, while a footer appears at the bottom margin. MS
Word gives an option of using the same header or footer throughout the document, or using
different headers and footers at different parts of a document. You can also use different headers
and footers on odd and even pages or certain parts of the document.
Footer insertion
To insert the footer, follow these steps:
Click Insert tab,
In Header and Footer group of the Insert ribbon, click Footer arrow to insert footer (see Figure
1.53),
Select the position (Left, Centre or Right) and style of the footer,
Click,
Type the text for the footer,
Click the Close button.

Figure 1.53: Footer insertion

Header insertion
To insert the header, follow these steps:
Click Insert tab,
On Header and Footer group of the Insert ribbon, click Header arrow to insert header,
Select the position (Left, Centre or Right) and the style of header as
shown in Figure 1.54,

Click,
Type the text for the header.

40
Figure 1.54: Header insertion
NOTE: After inserting the header and/or footer, click on Close Header and Footer button,
as shown in Figure 1.55, to close the header and footer window.

Figure 1.55: Closing the header and footer window

Column
MS Word provides tools that
can help you to type your
document or set it into columns.
There are different styles of text
columns. For example, you can
have a one-column text,
two-column text, and three-
column text, which can either be
aligned to the left or to the
right as shown in Figure 1.56.
The command also gives an
option to insert a line between
the divided text. Figure 1.56: Column window
To insert a column, follow these steps:
Select the text you want to divide into columns,
Click Layout tab,
In the Page Setup group of Layout ribbon, Click the Columns arrow,
Click the style of the column one, two, or three columns.
40
Table creation
MS Word gives powerful tools to organise text in a table. A table is made of rows and columns. You can cr
table by inserting it using the Table command on the Insert ribbon.
Inserting a table
To insert a table, follow these steps:
Click on Insert tab,
Choose a Table command: the window similar to Figure 1.57 will appear.
Select the number of rows and columns.

Figure 1.57: Inserting a table by selecting the number of rows and columns
Or
Select the Insert Table option as shown in Figure 1.58(a), and
Specify the number of rows and columns, like 2 and 5 respectively, as shown
in figure 1.58(b).

Inserting table (b) Specifying column and row

Figure 1.58: Inserting a table by specifying the number of rows and columns

42
Click OK: the table will be created as shown in Figure 1.59.

Figure 1.59: New table displayed after pressing OK button

Editing and formatting of tables

Editing and formatting tables involve different attributes like introducing borders, merging cells,
inserting rows or columns, deleting rows or columns, aligning text within cells, repeating heading
rows, shading, and changing text direction.
Introducing borders
Select the cells to which you want to introduce borders,
On the Design ribbon, as shown in Figure 1.60, click the Borders command arrow,

Figure 1.60: Borders insertion menu

Choose the type of border you want to apply to your table. In this case, All Borders, as shown in
Figure 1.61, has been selected.

42
Figure 1.61: Inserting borders
Merging cells
Select the cells you want to merge like what is shown in Figure 1.62,

Figure 1.62: Cell selection

Select the Layout tab under Table tools,

Choose merge cells as illustrated in Figure 1.63(a) and Figure 1.63(b).

Figure 1.63(a): Merging table cells

43
 Figure 1.63(b): Merged table cells
Inserting rows

44
Select the row above which you want to insert a row, as shown in Figure 1.64(a),
Click Layout tab under Table tools,
Click either Insert Above or Insert Below. The new row is inserted as shown in Figures 1.64(b).

Figure 1.64(a): Inserting a row above the selected row

Figure 1.64(b): View of inserted row

Inserting column
Select the column after (or before) which you want to insert a column,
Click Layout tab under Table Tools,
Click either Insert Left or Insert Right as shown in Figure 1.65,

Figure 1.65: Inserting a column left or right

The number of columns is increased by one as shown in Figure 1.66.

45
Figure 1.66: View of table column insertion

Aligning text within the cells

Steps:
Create the table,
Insert a text in the cell,
Select the text, as shown in Figure 1.67,
Click Layout tab from Table Tools,
Choose your desired text alignment as shown in Figure 1.68.

Figure 1.67: Text selection in table cells

Figure 1.68: Text alignment in table cells
Changing text direction
Steps for changing text direction:
Select the cells containing the text which direction you want to change,
Click Layout tab under Table Tools,
Click the text direction option of your choice as shown in Figure 1.69.

Figure 1.69: Text direction

Repeating heading rows
Steps:
Select the Heading row,
Click Layout tab under Table Tools,
Click Properties command under Table group to display table properties options as shown in Figure 1.70,
Choose Repeat as header row at the top of each page,
Click OK.
 Figure 1.70: Repeating the heading row
Text shading
Select the row containing the text you want to shade as shown in Figure 1.71,

Figure 1.71: Row text selection

48
On the Design ribbon, in Table Tools, select the shading option (see Figure 1.72),

Figure 1.72: Shading selection

Shade the text with the colour of your choice as in Figure 1.73.

Figure 1.73: Colour shading selection

Deleting rows
Steps:
Select the rows you want to delete,
Click the Layout tab under Table Tools,
Click Delete to access various options,
Click Delete Rows from the drop down menu, as seen in Figure

49
1.74(a). A row will be deleted, reducing the number of rows, as seen in table 1.74(b).

(v)

Figure 1.74(a): Before row deletion

Figure 1.74(b): After row deletion

Deleting a column
Steps:
Select the column you want to be deleted, as seen in Figure 1.75(a),
Click the Layout tab under Table Tools,
Click Delete to access various options,
Select Delete Columns from the drop-down menu. A column will be deleted, reducing the number of co
seen in Figure 1.75(b).

50
Figure 1.75(a): Before column deletion

Figure 1.75(b): After column deletion

51
Exercise 1.2
By using Microsoft Word, draw the following table:
TANZANIA INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

Curriculum Topics Time Remarks

ICS Word processing 10 hrs

ICS BOOK
TWO
Book Spreadsheet 10 hrs
Two Network 3 hrs
Contents Internet 6 hrs
Align the text direction in the column “Curriculum” to point downward
Change the style of the border
Merge the cells under the “Remarks” column
Type “Learning the use of technology” in the Remarks column
Save your work as ICS timetable

Use MS Word to create the following table:

Type the following text, separate it into two columns, have a line in between, and apply justify
alignment.“Editing and Formatting of tables involve different attributes like introducing borders,
merging cells, inserting rows or column, deleting rows or columns, aligning text within the cells,
repeating heading rows, shading and changing text direction.”

52
Printing a document Page setup
MS Word automatically helps you to set the way you want your document to appear
when printed. It involves setting orientation and margins. There are two types of orientation namely portra
landscape.
Setting orientation Steps:
Click Layout tab,
In the Page Setup group of the Layout ribbon, click the Orientation command arrow,
Choose the orientation you want as shown in Figure 1.76(a).

Figure 1.76(a): Orientation options

Setting margins Steps:
Click Layout tab,
In the Page Setup group of the Layout ribbon, click the Margins
command,
Click on the margin of your choice as shown in Figure 1.76(b).

Figure 1.76(b): Setting page margin

Previewing a document
Before printing the document, you can preview it to see how it will look like when printed.
You can view one or more pages at a time, increase or reduce the size of the page on the screen,
and check page breaks.To preview a document before printing, follow these steps:
Click on File tab,
Click the Print Command on the Backstage view. Figure 1.77 shows how a previewed page
looks like.

53
 Figure 1.77: A previewed document
Printing a document
To print a document, a computer needs to be connected to a printer. To print a word document, follow th
Click File tab,
Click Print command on the Backstage view,
Choose the printer connected to your computer,
Under settings, choose how you prefer your printed document to appear,
Select the number of copies you want to print,
If you are satisfied with the appearance of your previewed document, click the Print command to prin
document as shown in Figure 1.78.

Figure 1.78: Printing a document

54
Using MS Word help facility
MS Word Help is a collection of tools and files which help to answer questions, offer tips, and
provide help on all MS Word features. MS Office Help tools assist you when you need more
information about a particular task or feature.
Accessing the help facility in MS Word can be performed using the following steps:
Open a blank MS Word document,
Press F1 key on the keyboard: A help window will open as shown in Figure 1.79.

Figure 1.79: Word help panel (Offline)

MS Word individual project

Imagine that you are a shop owner offering a range of products and services
including stationeries, mobile money such as M-pesa, TigoPesa, Airtel money, T-pesa,
Halopesa, Easy Pesa, and banking such as CRDB, NMB and NBC agents. Write
a 2-page MS Word report required by the trading office in your area on quarterly
basis by doing the following:
(i) Write two paragraphs briefing your business history and operations.
(ii) Using a roman numbered list, list all items sold in the shop.
(iii) Bold the items which are most preferred by customers.
(iv) Add a table showing sales records for three months.
(v) Add borders to your table.
(vi) Add a drop-cap style in the first paragraph.
(vii) Add page numbers, header and footer in the report.
(viii) Write a concluding paragraph of the report.
(ix) Save the file on the Desktop as Myshop.
Exercise 1.3

Review Questions
Multiple choice questions
1.Choose the letter of the most correct answer and write it in the provided box
The defines the appearance and shape of letters, numbers, and special
characters.
A. font type
B. font size
C. insertion point
D. paragraph formatting
2.The scroll box on the vertical scroll bar indicates the .
A. position of the insertion point from the top of the page
B. distance of the insertion point from the left margin
C. current relative location of a document portion displayed in the window
D. distance of the insertion point from the right margin

3. is the process of changing the way letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols
appear on the screen and in print.
A. printing document
B. editing character
C. formatting a document
D. shading text
4.To save an existing document with a different file name, click .
A. the Save button on the Standard toolbar
B. Save on the File menu
C. the Save As button on the Standard toolbar
D. Save As on the File menu
5.To erase a character to the right of the insertion point, press the key.
A. cancel
B. backspace
C. delete
D. enter
B: Filling in the blanks
Write a correct word or statement to complete each of the following sentences
………………………is one of the software used for word processing.
The spelling checker can find and flag some ………………………
spelling errors.
A style of text that makes a letter or word darker and thicker to stand out in a document is called
………………….
.……………………………. text is very important as it identifies
which text in a document you want to modify.
The type of alignment for ensuring the text starts on the left margin and ends exactly on the
right margin is called ………………………
C: Short answer questions Answer the following questions
Briefly explain the applications of word processing in your school and community.
57
Explain how the use of word processors has reduced the use of typewriters.
Explain the advantages of MS Word as a word processing application.
Describe in details the functions of the Vertical and Horizontal Scrollbars.
Baraka has finished typing the letter. Print Preview shows that it is more than one-page long.
State two ways in which the letter could be made to fit on one page.
(a) A form two student is asked to write an essay about his/her school. Unfortunately, the word
“school” has been typed several times as “schol” in the document. It is possible to change the
misspelled word throughout the document in one operation. Name the feature which would enable
this to be done.
The first word in the following sentence has been typed as “their” instead of “there”. “There
will be coffee served on entrance”. This has been shown as an error on the document. Which
feature of the word processing package detects this kind of error?
Explain two different types of section breaks and how they are used.

How do page setup margins control the text flow in a document?

Explain the difference between spelling errors and grammatical errors, as they appear in the
Spelling and Grammar checker.
Explain the difference between:
Save and Save As
Copy and Paste
Copy and Cut
Explain why you need to preview a document before printing.

What is the function of the following combination of keys?

Ctrl + A
Ctrl + Page Up
Ctrl + Home
Ctrl + B
Ctrl + E
Ctrl + Z
Ctrl + F
Ctrl + V
Ctrl + X
Ctrl + SHIFT + HOME
Explain the use of the following features in MS Word:
Find and Replace
Undo and Redo
Thesaurus
AutoCorrect
Differentiate between selecting and highlighting a text.
List the steps you would follow to correct wrongly spelled words in a document.
Explain the meaning of the following terms as used in word processing:
Word wrap
Italicising a text
Page Break
Header
Footer
Indenting
Alignment
Bullets
(a) What is document formatting?
List any five document formatting features.
Differentiate between ‘Superscript’ and ‘Subscript’ in a word processor.
State one function of Drop Cap in a document.
(a) Explain the importance of page numbers in a document.
Explain how you can give different page numbering styles to different pages in a multi-page document.
Give four uses of the Horizontal ruler in MS Word.

59
 Chapter Two
Spreadsheet

Introduction
Spreadsheet can be used to manipulate data in businesses, schools, hospitals, and even at
home to produce the required results.
In this chapter, you will learn about the concept and terminologies of spreadsheet, starting
and ending a spreadsheet program, entering and editing data in a worksheet, formatting
data in a worksheet, and manipulation of data in a worksheet. You will also learn how to
create charts, print a worksheet, and use the help facility. The competencies developed in this
chapter will enable you to process data in different contexts.

Concept and terminologies of spreadsheet program

Concept of spreadsheet
Spreadsheet is a file that is used to record and manipulate data in columns and rows. There are
two types of spreadsheets, manual spreadsheet and electronic spreadsheet. A manual spreadsheet
is a piece of paper created on a ledger paper, while an electronic spreadsheet is a computer
application that displays series of columns and rows. Examples of spreadsheet are ledger books
in accounting and bookkeeping, as well as attendance registers in schools.

There are different spreadsheet programs that exist in the market to date. Example are MS
Excel (Microsoft Office), Apache OpenOffice Calc (Apache OpenOffice), Apple iWork (iWork
Suite), Quattro Pro (WordPerfect Office) and Google sheets (Google Suite). In this chapter, you
will use MS Excel

The working area of a spreadsheet contains grids of columns and rows that form a
worksheet. Columns are labelled with letters, while rows are labelled with numbers. Usually,
several worksheets form a workbook, which is kept as a file. MS Excel 2016 worksheet
possesses 16384 columns and 1048576 rows. The intersection of a column and a row is called
a cell. The cell name is identifi by coordinates starting with column letter followed by row
number, like B5 and D12. Activity 2.1 will help you to go to the last cell in the fi column
(A1048576) and the last cell in the row (XFD1) as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Spreadsheet last row and last column

63
 Scrolling the worksheet to the last column or the last row
(i) Select cell A1,
(ii) Press Ctrl + Down arrow key: cell A1048576 will be selected; the
command takes the insertion point to the last cell in column A.
(iii) Press Ctrl + Right arrow key: cell XFD1048576 will be selected;
The command takes the insertion point to the last cell in the last
row.
(iv) Press Ctrl + Up arrow key: cell XFD1 will be selected; the
command takes the insertion point to the last cell in the first row
(XFD1).
(v) Press Ctrl + Left arrow key: cell A1 will be selected; the command
takes the insertion point to the first cell in the first row.

The following are some of the advantages of a spreadsheet program:

 It provides features that can be used to automatically update a document when
numerical file in the cells are altered.
 It always produce correct results, provided that correct formulae are used.
 It produces neat work in a variety of good quality formats.
 It contains tools that provide additional support such as spell checking and punctuations.
 It can easily convert data into other forms of visualization such as graphs and charts.
 It offers powerful features to organise, manipulate, manage, verify
and transfer data, such as uploading a file into a database system.

Uses of a spreadsheet program

Spreadsheet program is a tool that helps to manipulate data. It is widely applied in industries and
commerce to predict performance, compute tax, prepare payroll, generate charts, and compute
revenue in businesses. In schools, the spreadsheet program can help in lessons preparation and
performing administrative work such as preparing school budget, calendar, attendance
register, and analyzing examination results.

Exploring the uses of a spreadsheet

Using the internet and other learning resources, study how spreadsheets are
used for:
(i) Statistical analysis
(ii) Accounting
(iii) Scientific data analysis
(iv) Forecasting
(v) Performance analysis

64
Spreadsheet terminologies
Electronic spreadsheet is a computer application software that displays a series of columns and
rows, and is used to manipulate data, especially numerical data.
Cell is the intersection of a column and a row forming a box into which a user can enter data.
Active cell is the selected cell.
Worksheet is the data fi created in a spreadsheet program. It is the working area
in a spreadsheet.
Workbook is a data fi that contains one or more worksheets created together in a
Spreadsheet program.

Features of electronic spreadsheets

All electronic spreadsheet programs have some common features, including the following:
 Ability to perform automatic re-calculation of values when changes of value occur in
related cells.
 Ability to allow a user to work on multiple worksheets simultaneously.
 A large working area which enables a user to continue working without having to
add new pages.
 Availability of formatting and editing features which make the worksheet look
neat.
 Availability of different functions which simplify calculation tasks.
 Availability of some features which are also available in other applications such
as Word Processor, PowerPoint and Database Management System (DBMS).
 Ability to utilize computer storage space, enabling a user to store his/her work in a
storage media for future access or use.

Exercise
1. What is the difference between a spreadsheet program and a word
processor?
2. Explain the importance of using a spreadsheet program.
3. What activities can be done using a spreadsheet program in the following
areas: home, school, hospital, kiosk, and supermarket?

Starting and ending a spreadsheet program

Starting MS Excel
There are various ways to start and close MS Excel program. These ways depend on the
settings of your computer programs, operating system, and the version of MS Excel program.
You can use a computer with any operating system, such as Windows 8 or Windows10. The
steps shown in Activity 2.3 enable you to start MS Excel program using a computer with
Windows 10 and MS Excel 2016.

65
Activity 2.3: Starting MS Excel 2016 in Windows 10
Steps:
(i) Click the Start button (arrow number 1 in Figure 2.2(a)) on the task
bar for Windows 10: the Start menu will appear.
(ii) Scroll down and click on MS Excel 2016 (arrow 2 in Figure 2.2(a)):
different MS Excel templates will appear.
(iii) Choose the Blank document template: MS Excel 2016 window will
open.

Figure 2.2 (a): Starting MS Excel from the start pop up menu

Alternatively, you can open MS Excel 2016 by typing the word excel in the search box
as shown by arrow number 1 in Figure 2.2 (b). Then, MS Excel 2016 will appear as shown by
arrow number 2 in Figure 2.2(b).

64
Figure 2.2 (b): Starting MS Excel by searching
From the displayed program menu, click MS Excel 2016: MS Excel program will open a
page with various templates, including Blank workbook. Other templates include invoices,
calendar, charts, budgets and business. Since you are opening MS Excel for the fi time,
select the Blank workbook by clicking it, as shown by arrow number 1 in Figure 2.2 (c).

Figure 2.2(c): Blank workbook template

MS Excel window will open as shown in Figure 2.2 (d).

65
Figure 2.2(d): Blank MS Excel window

Closing MS Excel window

The steps in Activity 2.4 will help you to close the opened workbook.

Activity 2.4: Closing Excel 2016 workbook

(i) Click on File tab,
(ii) Click Close: the workbook will close but MS Excel program will
still be active as shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Closing MS Excel workbook

66
 Creating a workbook

When MS Excel program is started, a blank workbook is created. The default title of the workbook is Book
workbook is a file that consists of worksheets. Usually, the default name of the first worksheet in a
workbook is Sheet1. A user can insert additional worksheets as desired. The actual outlook is shown in
2.2(d).
Parts of a spreadsheet program
In order to easily use the spreadsheet, it is important to understand the parts of a spreadsheet program win
shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: Parts of MS Excel 2016 window

Table 2.1 describes some parts of spreadsheet program.
Table 2.1: Descriptions of parts of a spreadsheet program

Part Description
Active cell The cell you are currently working on. A dark
border outlining the cell identifies an active cell.
Column headings The letters which appear along the top of a worksheet
window. Columns are listed alphabetically from A
to XFD with a total of 16384 columns in MS Excel
2016.
Formula bar The bar that displays the contents of an active cell. It
is located immediately below the Menu ribbon. As
you type or edit data in an active cell, the changes
appear in the formula bar.

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 Part Description
Name box The box that displays the address of an active cell.
Row headings The numbers which appear along the left side
of a worksheet window. Rows are numbered
consecutively from 1 to 1048576.
Select all button A button that you click to select all contents of a
spreadsheet. It is located at the intersection of
column and row headings.
Sheet tabs Tabs which display the names of sheets. They are
located at the bottom of a workbook. To move
between worksheets, click the appropriate sheet tab.
Task pane The pane that provides access to frequently used
tasks. When you start MS Excel, the Getting
Started task pane appears. The Task pane disappears
once you open a workbook. There are several task
specific panes available in MS Excel.
Tab scrolling buttons Series of buttons that you can click to move be-
tween worksheets in the workbook. They are locat-
ed to the left of the sheet tabs.

The MS Excel 2016 worksheet has a menu bar with several tabs which display ribbons that
contain different commands. The following are description of different menu tabs:
Insert tab
Insert tab displays a ribbon that contains commands to allow a user to insert Tables, Illustrations,
Add-ins, Charts, Sparklines, Filters, Links, Text, and Symbols, as shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Insert ribbon

Page Layout tab
Page Layout tab provides a ribbon with tools for formatting a page. These tools include Themes,
Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options, and Arrange as shown in Figure 2.6.

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 Figure 2.6: Page layout ribbon
Review tab
Review tab contains a ribbon with tools for Proofing, Language, Comments, and
Changes, as shown in Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: Review ribbon

Formula tab
Formula tab provides a ribbon with various formats of formula such as Function Library, Defined
Names, Formula Auditing, and Calculation, as shown in Figure 2.8.

Figure 2.8: Formula ribbon

Data tab
Data tab contains a ribbon with tools such as Get External Data, Connections, Sort and Filter,
Data Tools, Forecast, and Outline, as shown in Figure 2.9.

Figure 2.9: Data ribbon

Working area
The spreadsheet working area consists of grids of columns and rows. The point of intersection
between a column and a row is called a cell. A cell can be identified using a cell name, which
consists of column letter and row number. Technically, a cell name is called a cell address.
Examples of cell names are B4, D25, H67, etc.
Selecting cell, column and row
Use a mouse pointer to click cell B4, as illustrated in Figure 2.10. B4 appears on

69
the name box as shown in Figure 2.10. This means the cell is selected. By clicking on another cell,
the name box will change.

Figure 2.10: Cell selection

NOTE: “B” refers to the column of the selected cell, and “4” refers to the row of the selected
cell.
Click on 7: row 7 is selected as shown in Figure 2.11.

Figure 2.11: Row selection

Click on C: Column C is selected as in Figure 2.12.

Figure 2.12: Column selection

Adding or removing rows

When working on a spreadsheet, you may need to add or remove rows in the worksheet.
Adding a row
The steps in Activity 2.5 will help you to add a row in a data table and in a worksheet.

70
 Adding a row in a data table and in a worksheet To add a row
in a data table, follow these steps:
(i) Select the range of cells to which you want to insert a row,
(ii) Right click, then click Insert,
(iii) Select Shift cells down as shown in Figure 2.13,
(iv) Click OK.
To add a row in a worksheet, follow these steps:
(i) Select the number of rows you want to insert,
(ii) Right click, then Click Insert.

Figure 2.13: Inserting a row in a data table

Removing a row
The following steps will help you to remove a row in a worksheet:
Select a row you want to remove,
Right click, then click Delete.

The following steps will help you to remove a row in a data table:
Select the number of rows you want to remove,
Right click,
Click Delete,
Choose Delete option,
Click OK.
Ending a spreadsheet program
After working with a file, you may need to close it and do other activities. To close the
workbook or a file, click on the Close button which is at the upper rightmost corner of
the MS Excel window as shown in Figure 2.14.

Figure 2.14: Ending spreadsheet program

Entering and editing data

Entering data in a worksheet
Before performing any task using a worksheet, you need to have data that will be manipulated to
fit your requirement. A worksheet accepts different types of data such as text, numbers, date,
currency, fraction, accounts, scientific, time, formula, and symbols.
Entering numerical data
There are different ways of entering data into a worksheet. You can enter data either
columnwise or rowwise as shown in Figure 2.15.

72
 Figure 2.15: Data organised in rows and columns
Steps:
Type the headings as shown in Figure 2.16,
Enter the data and use the cursor or tab key to move to the next cell.

Figure 2.16: Column headings

Entering numbers with leading zeros

A leading zero is the one that precedes other digits, e.g., 0000805. MS Excel 2016 ignores leading
zeros in worksheets. You can type a number that contains a leading zero by performing the steps in
Activity 2.6.

73
Entering numbers with leading zeros
Steps:
(i) Select the cells into which you want to enter numbers containing
leading zeros e.g., 00055,
(ii) Right click the selected cells: a drop-down menu will appear.
(iii) Click on Format cells to open the format cell window,
(iv) Click Number tab,
(v) Select Text category, as illustrated in Figure 2.17,
(vi) Click OK.
(vii) Type the numbers with leading zeros in the cells as in Figure 2.18.
The numbers are stored like text.

Figure 2.17: Formatting a cell to accept textual data

74
Figure 2.18: Typing numbers with leading zeros
Alternatively, you can type a number with a leading zero in MS Excel 2016 by typing the
apostrophe sign (’) in a cell prior to typing the number: the numbers will be changed to text.
Text overlapping
(i) Type UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA in cell B5: the text extends
to other cells as shown in Figure 2.19.

Figure 2.19: Text overlapping

Position the cursor in the border, between columns B and C: the mouse pointer changes to a
double-pointer arrow as shown in Figure 2.20.

Double-pointer arrow

Figure 2.20: Column resizing

Hold and drag mouse pointer to the right to alter the width of column B. As the pointer moves, the
width measurement of the cell is extended to fit the text as shown in Figure 2.21.

Figure 2.21: Resized column

Activity 2.7: Entering data in the worksheet

Steps:
(i) Create the sheet using MS Excel 2016,
(ii) Enter the data as in Figure 2.22,
(iii) Adjust the cell width for “COMPUTER SCIENCE” to fit the text,
(iv) Save the file as Examination results.

Figure 2.22: Data in a worksheet

 Data validation

MS Excel 2016 allows you to define the range of data to be entered into a cell. It also allows you to preve
invalid data into a cell. In addition, you can create messages that will tell users about the type of data tha
entered into a specific cell by providing instructions for correct input. You can restrict the range of num
permitted in a cell. For example, if you have a column
for students’ marks, you can restrict it to the range of numbers from 0 to 100 to prevent entry of out of ra

Activity 2.8: Applying data validation

Apply the validation criteria to restrict marks of student in the range of 0 to
100.
Steps:
(i) Select cells B4:B8,
(ii) On the Data tab, click Data Validation as shown in Figure 2.23.
(iii) From the drop-down menu, choose Data validation.

Figure 2.23: Data validation options

If there are blank cells in the column, remove the check mark from “ignore blank”. Otherwise, unintende
will be allowed.
In the Data Validation box, choose Whole number to allow the function to check the value being entered.
On the Data option, choose between as shown in Figure 2.24.
Enter 0 on the Minimum text box and 100 on the Maximum text box, then press OK.
Figure 2.24: Data validation options
To insert an error message, click on Error Alert; on Style option choose “Stop”. On the Title text
box, write “Out of Range”, and on the error message text box, write an alert message, then click
OK as shown in figure 2.25.

Figure 2.25: Error alert options

Test some marks entries, e.g., 76, 85, 100, and 102.
NOTE: Since the range is restricted to 0 to 100, entering 102 will display an error message as
shown in Figure 2.26.

Figure 2.26: Error alert message

Exercise 2.2
 Saving a workbook

If you want to save a workbook for the first time, use Save As command. Use the following steps
to Save the workbook:
Click the File tab, as in Figure 2.27: this will display the backstage menu as shown in Figure 2.28.

Figure 2.27: File tab

Figure 2.28: MS Excel File menu

Click Save As or Save,
Select Browse as shown in Figure 2.29: Save As dialogue box will appear as in Figure 2.30.

Figure 2.29: Save As and browse option

Figure 2.30: File name and saving options

Type the file name you want in a File name text box as shown in
Figure 2.30,
Click Save.
Opening an existing workbook
After saving a workbook, you may need to open it again. There are two ways you can access a
workbook. If the workbook is recent and you want to open it, click on File tab: you will see it in
the list of workbooks. Double click the workbook to open it. Nevertheless, if the file is not in the
recent list, follow this procedure:
Click on File tab,
Click Open in the backstage menu,
Click Browse,
Click on the folder containg the file,
In the dialog box, write the name of the file,
Click Open in the dialog box as shown in Figure 2.31,
Select the worksheet you want to work on.

Figure 2.31: Opening an existing workbook

Editing data in a worksheet
The worksheet and its content can be edited; you can change the label, date, formula or function. A
label refers to a text written in a worksheet. To edit the label, you simply select the cell containing
the label and make the changes you want. This can also be done for date, formula, and function.
Mostly, these actions take place in a formula bar. A worksheet also allows you to apply editing
commands for deleting, copying, moving, and pasting, as well as adding new sheets to a
workbook file or deleting worksheets you no longer need. You should select the desired cells before
Making selection in a worksheet
Before any editing, selection is vital. In a worksheet, several selection actions are done depending
on the activity you want to perform. You can select a cell, a row, a column, and even a range of
cells.
Selecting a cell
The cell reference at which the data is to be edited must be active. To select a cell, put a cursor on a
cell and click it.
Selecting a column
To select a column, put a cursor on top of the column to be selected, and click.
Selecting a row
To select a row, put a cursor on a row number, and click.
Selecting a range of cells
To select a range of cells, click and move your cursor to cover the cells of interest and then release
your mouse.
Deleting data in a worksheet
Working with data in a workbook may result into unwanted data or worksheets. To remove them,
use the delete command.
Deleting data in cells or worksheet
Select the cell or the data you want to delete,
Press Delete button on a keyboard.
Deleting a worksheet
To delete a worksheet:
Right click on the name of the worksheet you want to delete,
Click Delete on the menu as shown in Figure 2.32.

Figure 2.32: Deleting a worksheet

Deleting and inserting a row or a column
If you want to delete a column or a row, select it, right click, then click Delete. To insert a
column or a row, select where you want to insert it then right click and choose Insert.
Copying and pasting data
The procedure for duplicating data in a worksheet involves actions called copy and paste. Copy
transfers the data and Paste inserts the data to the new destination. The actions follow these
steps:
Select the data in the cells you want to copy,
From the Home ribbon, click the Copy command,
Select a new cell where you want to insert your data,
Click Paste.

Cutting and pasting data

Sometimes, you may want to shift the data to another destination. Cut removes the data you
want to move and Paste inserts the data to a new destination. The actions follow these steps:
Select the data you want to move,
On the Home ribbon, Click Cut,
Move the cursor to a cell into which you want to insert the data,
Click Paste.
Paste special command
Data in a worksheet can be formulas, values, comments, or validation. When copying the data that has
generated by a formula, the worksheet provides an option to either transfer only the data value, a formula
data value and formula. Paste special command offers these actions and beyond. The following steps may
to perform paste special:
Select the range of cells which contain the data you want to move,
Right click on the selected range,
Click Copy,
Select the destination cell,
Right click,
Choose Paste special: the menu shown in Figure 2.33 will appear,
Choose the appropriate option in the menu. For example, if you choose values, only the data Values will be
transferred without other properties like a formula.

Figure 2.33: Paste special menu

Replacing data
Editing also enables you to change the contents of a cell: this involves editing a number or a text.
In this case, you can change or remove a single character, or remove the whole text, or remove
a character between, before, or at the end of other characters. To perform these actions, do the
following:

i. Select the cell containing the data you want to edit,

ii. Go to Formula bar,
iii. Insert the cursor where you want to introduce changes,
iv. Do the editing accordingly. Or
v. Double click the cell and rewrite the data.
vi. Or
vii. Select the cell and press function F2,
viii. Do the editing accordingly.
Adding new sheets
When a workbook is opened for the first time, by default it shows one sheet. To
add a new sheet, click an icon for adding a new sheet as in Figure 2.34.

Figure 2.34: Adding new sheet

Renaming the worksheet

Steps:
Right click on the tab of the worksheet you want to rename.
Click Rename in the menu list to highlight the current working sheet similar to Figure 2.35,
Type a new name for the worksheet,
Press the Enter key to rename the worksheet.

Figure2.35: Renaming worksheet

 Exercise 2.3
1. Create a worksheet using MS Excel and enter data as shown in the
following table:
LIST OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACT EMPLOYEES BY JAN. 2021
No Full name Sex Date of birth Region Employer Position Monthly
salary
(Tshs.)
01 Kode Kiruna M 05-Dec-1980 Kigoma TIE Coordinator 410,200
02 Bettina Kondo F 06-Jul-1985 Mtwala NACTE Tutor 521,300
03 Nilote Pesambili M 08-Jan-1987 Dodoma TEA Accountant 431,900
04 Kole Kivumbi F 07-Jul-1988 Katavi UDSM Engineer 6,211,200
05 Shamela Lubirge F 18-Sep-1989 Kagera NECTA Lawyer 721,900
06 Patano Vuvuzela M 28-Dec-1991 Mwanza IAE Teacher 431,300
07 Tausi Silinelo F 17-Oct-1996 Kusini SUZA Lecturer 651,500
Unguja
08 Awadhi Jendasi M 17-Jun-2000 Tanga OUT Lecturer 211,700
09 Omi Ndomile F 12-Sep-1999 Arusha NM-IST Nurse 821,900

2. Save the file as “EMPLOYEES ON CONTRACT JAN 2021” .

3. Close the file.
4. Open the file “EMPLOYEES ON CONTRACT JAN 2021”.
5. Delete the row of an employee from Kagera Region.
6. Save a new file as “EMPLOYEES ON CONTRACT FEB. 2021”.

7. Validate the monthly salary column so that it only accepts values from
Tshs. 300,000 and Tshs 700,000.
8. Change the salary of Nurse to Tshs. 900,000.
Formatting data in a worksheet
To format is to change the appearance of data in a cell. MS Excel formatting options enable
you to change the layout and appearance of the cells in a worksheet. There are several formatting
features in MS Excel program such as data wrap, cells merge, changing position of contents,
and adding cell borders.
Using formatting features
Formatting can change the style, size, colour, alignment, border style, and cell patterns.
Changing font style and font size
A font determines the appearance of the text in a document. Examples of font types are Arial,
Arial black, Times new Roman, etc. In MS Excel 2016, the default font type and size are
Calibri and 11 respectively. To change the font size, do the following:
Open a file,
Select the cells you want to format,
Click Home tab,
Click the down arrow on a command for font size options, as shown in Figure 2.36,
Choose the font size, and observe the changes in your cells.

Figure 2.36: Changing font size

Changing font colour and fill colour
MS Excel 2016 allows you to change the colour of the content in the cells or the background
colour of cells.
Changing font colour
Select the cell that you want to format,
Click on the Home tab,
In the Font group, click the Font Colour button to apply the most recently used colour, or
Click the Font Colour arrow and select a different colour from the colour palette as shown in Figure
2.37(a)

Figure 2.37 (a): Changing font colour

Fill colour
Select the cell that you want to format,
On the Home tab, click the Fill Colour button in the Font group to apply the most recently
used colour, or Click the Fill Colour arrow and select a different colour from the co- lour palette
as shown in Figure 2.37(b).
NOTE: To remove the fill colour from a selected cell, click the Fill Colour
arrow, and then, on the palette, click No Fill.

Figure 2.37(b): Applying fill colour

Applying formatting attributes
Applying formatting attributes such as bold, italic, or underline calls attention to particular
parts of your text. These attributes can easily be accessed from the ribbon of Home tab.
Bolding or italicizing data
Select the cell that you want to format.
On the Home ribbon, in the Font group, click the Bold button or
Italic button .
Underlining data
Select the cell that you want to format,
On the Home ribbon, in the Font group, do one of the following,
To apply a single underline, click the Underline button as shown in Figure 2.38(a).
To apply a double underline, click the Underline down arrow, and choose Double Underline on
the menu as shown in Figure 2.38(b).

(a) (b)
Figure 2.38: Formatting attributes
Adding cell borders
As stated previously, spreadsheet programs are made of grids of columns and rows. If you
present the data in a tabular form, these grids will not appear in the printout. In order to ensure
they appear and make the cells visible in the printout, borders should be added.
Adding cell borders Steps:
Select the cell to which you want to add borders,
On the Home ribbon, click the Borders button in the Font group to apply the most recently
used border, or

Click the borders arrow as indicated by arrow number 1 in Figure 2.39,

Select a border type from the menu, in this case All Borders as indicated by arrow number 2 in
Figure 2.39.
Figure 2.39: Adding cell borders
NOTE: All borders can be removed from a selected cell by clicking the Borders
arrow, and then clicking No Border on the menu.
Changing cell orientation
The alignment of cell contents can be changed by indentation, orientation, wrap within a cell,
and merge cells. The Alignment group on the ribbon of Home tab contains the most commonly
used commands for positioning cell contents as shown in Figure 2.40.

Figure 2.40: Commands for alignment of cell contents

Also, the position of cell contents can be changed by using the Alignment tab of the Format Cells
dialog box, which is opened by clicking the dialog box launcher in the Alignment group.
Figure 2.41 shows Format Cells window with option tabs for number, alignment, font,
border, fill, and protection. Click on Alignment tab for text alignment in a cell.
Figure 2.41: Format Cells window
By default, MS Excel 2016 aligns numbers to the right and text to the left. The Alignment group
on the Home ribbon includes six alignment buttons (see Figure 2.42) that can be used to change
the horizontal and vertical alignment of cell contents.
The Align Left button aligns the cell contents to the left edge of the cell.
The Centre button centres the cell contents horizontally within the cell.
The Align Right button aligns the cell contents to the right edge of the cell.
The Top Align button aligns the cell contents to the top edge of the cell.
The Middle Align button centres the cell contents vertically within the cell.
The Bottom Align button aligns the cell contents to the bottom edge of the cell.

Figure 2.42: Data alignment attributes

Aligning data in a cell

Select the cell that contains the data you want to align,
On the Home ribbon, click the desired alignment from the Alignment group.
Rotating data
Data in a cell can be rotated in different directions including clockwise, anticlockwise,
diagonally, or vertically within a cell. This is often used to label narrow columns or to add visual
impact to a worksheet. To rotate data:
Select the cell that contains the data you want to rotate,
On the Home ribbon, in the Alignment group, click the Orientation button and click the
desired option from the menu (see Figure 2.43). The row height automatically adjusts to fit the
rotated data (see Figure 2.44).

Figure 2.43: Orientation menu Figure 2.44: Rotated data

Wrapping a text
When working with MS Excel 2016, you may enter data that does not fit in a cell, making
them
to display by overlapping the cell boundaries. To ensure data fits in the cell without altering the
width of the cell, the wrap feature is used. Wrapping displays data on multiple lines within a
cell.
The number of wrapped lines depends on the width of the column and the length of the data.
To wrap data, do the following:
Select the cell that contains the data you want to wrap,
On the Home ribbon, click the Wrap Text button in the Alignment group,
The row height automatically adjusts to fit the wrapped data (see Figure
2.45).

Figure 2.45: Unwrapped and wrapped cell content

NOTE: You can restore the data to its original format by selecting wraped text, and then
clicking
the Wrap Text button again.
Merging cells
When working with MS Excel 2016, sometimes, labels that span across a number of columns or
rows
are needed. Merging combines two or more adjacent cells into one new larger cell. Merging
cells
helps to create labels that span several columns or rows.
NOTE: If the cells you intend to merge have data in more than one cell, only the data in the
upper-left cell remains after you have merged the cells.
To merge cells:
Select the cells that you want to merge.
On the Home ribbon, click the Merge & Centre command in the Alignment group to merge
the selected cells into one cell and centre the data, or click the Merge & Centre arrow and
select one of the options as shown in Figure 2.46.

Figure 2.46: Merge and centre menu

NOTE: Merge Across merges each row of the selected cells into a larger cell, while Merge Cells
merges the selected cells into one cell. Also, you can split a merged cell by clicking the Merge &
Centre arrow, and then clicking Unmerge Cells on the menu.
Formatting numbers
You can apply number formats to cells containing numbers, to reflect the type of data they
represent. For example, you can display a numeric value as a percentage, currency, date, time, etc.
The Number group on the Home ribbon contains the commonly used commands for
formatting numbers. You can also format numbers using the Number tab of the Format Cells
dialog box, which is opened by clicking the dialog box launcher in the Number group as shown in
Figure 2.47.

Number group launcher

Figure 2.47: Number group launcher

To format numbers:
Select the cell that you want to format,
In the Number group on the Home ribbon, do one of the following:
Click the drop-down arrow on Number group (see Figure 2.48).
Click the Accounting format button to display the number with a dollar sign, comma
separators, and two decimal places.
Click the Percentage button to convert the number to a percentage and display it with a
percent sign and no decimal places.
Click the Comma Style button to display the number with comma separators and two
decimal places.

Figure 2.48: Number format

NOTE: Additional number formats can be accessed by clicking the Number format arrow
and selecting the desired option from the menu. Also, different currency symbols can be
accessed by clicking the Accounting Number format arrow and selecting the desired symbol
from the menu.
Changing numbers to decimal places
Select the cell you want to format,
On the Home ribbon, do one of the following:
Click the Increase decimal button to increase the number of decimal places.
Click the Decrease decimal button to decrease the number of decimal places.
Copying cell format
The format of a specific cell can be applied to other cells in the worksheet. The use of other
cells’ format on another cell saves time and effort when multiple formats need to be applied
on additional cells. To copy cell formatting, follow these steps:
Select the cell that has the format you want to copy,
On the Home ribbon, in the Clipboard group, click the Format Painter
button : the mouse pointer changes to a plus sign with a paintbrush

Select the cell on which you want to apply the copied format.
NOTE: If you want to apply the copied format on more than one area, double click the Format
painter button instead of a single click. This keeps the Format painter active until you press the
Esc key.

Exercise 2.4
1. Open the previous created file called EMPLOYEES ON
CONTRACT FEB 2021.
2. Merge the cells of the title.
3. Wrap up the title cells for date of birth and monthly salary.
4. Change the text direction to 450 for the cells titled Sex, Employer,
and Position.

Data manipulation
Mathematical operators
Mathematical operators are symbols or signs that are used to represent arithmetic operations in
MS Excel. Operators specify the type of manipulation that you want to perform on the
elements of a formula.
Common mathematical operators
The common mathematical operators are shown in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Common mathematical operators

Operator name Symbol Function

Parentheses () Group computation instructions
Caret ^ Exponent
Asterisk * Multiplication
Forward slash / Division
Plus sign + Addition
Minus sign - Subtraction
Ampersand & Combine/join data values
Colon : Cells separation

Order of operations
MS Excel 2016 enables you to create formulas that contain multiple mathematical operators.
These mathematical operators are evaluated in a specific order. When you use a combination
of operators, the order of evaluation can affect the result of the formula. MS Excel 2016
evaluates mathematical operators in the following order:
Computations enclosed in parentheses, wherever they appear in the formula.
Computations involving exponents.
Computations involving multiplication and division. Because they are equal with regard to
the order in which MS Excel performs them, the operations are evaluated in the order in
which MS Excel encounters them, which is from the left to the right.
Computations involving addition and subtraction are performed in the order they are
encountered.
Figure 2.49 shows the summary of the order of operation in a mathematical computation.

Figure 2.49: Mathematical computation precedence

Comparison operators
In addition to mathematical operators, logical operators are used in MS Excel to perform
calculations which need comparisons. Two values can be compared using the operators listed
in Table 2.3. When two values are compared by using these operators, the result is a logical
value,
which is either TRUE or FALSE. Table 2.3: Mathematical comparison operators
Comparison operator Meaning Example
= Equal to A1=B1
> Greater than A1>B1
< Less than A1<B1
>= Greater than or equal to A1>=B1
<= Less than or equal to A1<=B1
<> Not equal to A1<>B1
Formulas and functions Formulas
One of the most powerful features in MS Excel is the ability to manipulate numerical data
using formulas. An MS Excel formula is an expression for performing mathematical
calculations on data worksheets. Among other things, MS Excel can help you add, subtract,
multiply, and divide numerical data. A formula in MS Excel performs numeric calculations such
as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It comprises an expression to the right an
equal sign. The expression in a formula can have a combination of variables, constants, and
operators.
Elements of MS Excel formula
All formulas in MS Excel begin with an equal sign and contain various components such as
arguments and operators. The result of MS Excel formula is stored in a cell where the formula is
entered. When the data of the arguments in MS Excel formula changes, the formula
automatically recalculates the result. MS Excel formula can contain one or more elements,
described in Table 2.4.
Table 2.4: Elements of MS Excel formula

Formula Element Description

References Addresses of cells or ranges of cells on a worksheet that
refer to the location of the values or data upon which you
need to apply a formula

Operators Symbols that specify the kind of calculation you need to

perform on the components of a formula

Constants Numbers or text that do not change in a formula

Functions Predefined formulas in MS Excel

There are three ways you can use the MS Excel program for calculation:
Use numerical data and arithmetic operations;
Create a formula using cell address; and
Apply built-in formulas or functions.
Using numerical data and arithmetic operations
MS Excel program can perform calculations like a normal calculator. For example, if you want to
perform arithmetic “2 +3 =5”, the expression in a worksheet will appear as = 2+3 typed in a cell.
The cell will display number 5, while the formula bar will maintain the expression =2+3. This is
also applicable to other arithmetic operations like subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Steps for writing a simple mathematical expression are as follows:
Click on a cell into which you want to write a fomula,
Type the equal sign,
Type the expression,
Press the Enter key.
 Activity 2.9: Performing arithmetic operations on numerical data
Perform the following arithmetic operations using MS Excel:
= 65 + 35
= 99 – 33
= 64/8
= 12*8
Using cell address to create a formula
You can create a formula using a cell name followed by an arithmetic operator and then a
second cell name. For example, A1 + B1 will add the numbers in the cells A1 and B1 as shown
in Figure 2.50.

Figure 2.50: Creating a formula using cell reference

The complete expressions in Figure 2.50 are:
C1 = A1 + B1
C2 = A2 - B2
C3 = A3 / B3
C4 = A4 * B4
One advantage of using cell address to create a formula is the ability to provide reference to the
given formula in another column or row. This is possible when the expression is of similar
operations and this feature is known as cell referencing.

Cell references
Cell referencing is the imitation of a formula relative to other cells of similar expression.
Most of the calculations done in MS Excel by applying formulas and functions use cell addresses
such as A1, D12, and E20. There are three types of cell references namely relative, absolute and
mixed cell references.
Relative references
Relative references is when you copy a formula across multiple cells, and then the cells change
based on the relative position of columns and rows. For example, if you copy the formula =A2+B2
from row 2 to row 3, the formula will become
=A3+B3 (see Figure 2.51).
 Figure 2.51: Relative references
Absolute references
An absolute cell reference always points to the same place, even if the position of a cell is
changed. For example, if you have cell D2 with a formula that adds the content of cell B2
and cell E2 (which is absolutely referenced as $E$2), the resulting formula is =(B2+$E$2)
as shown in Figure 2.52(a). When the formula is copied to another cell like cell D5, the
referencing of cell E2 will not change, while that of B2 will change to B5 i.e =B5+$E$2,
as shown in Figure 2.52(b). This shows that, regardless of the change in position of the
formula, the cell which is absolutely referenced will not change.
NOTE: In the absolute cell reference, a dollar sign ($) is added before a letter and before a number
to fix the reference. For example, $A$5 and $D$20 are
absolute cell references.

Figure 2.52(a): Absolute references before dragging a formula

Figure 2.52(b): Absolute references after dragging a formula

Mixed cell references

Mixed cell reference occurs when a dollar sign is typed in front of either the letter or the
number of the cell references, e.g., $A5 and B$3. When a formula containing the mixed cell
reference $A5 is copied to a new location, it will always refer to Column A, but the row number
will change to the row number of a new location. When a formula that contains the mixed cell
reference B$3 is copied to a new location, it will always refer to row 3, but the column letter will
change to the column letter of a new location as shown in Figure 2.53

Figure 2.53: Mixed referencing

Steps for creating a formula using cell address
Select a cell into which you want to place the formula,
To begin the formula, you must start by typing an equal sign (=),
Enter a number or cell reference, or select a cell, e.g., A4.
Enter the operator, e.g., +.
Enter another number or cell reference, e.g., B4.
If necessary, enter arguments and operators to complete the formula,
Press Enter to applythe formula and populate the cell with the calculated value. Examples of
formulas are, =2+4, =A4+D5, =G10-E20, etc.
 Exercise
1. The formula = $B2 + B$3 is entered in cell B5 and then copied to cell
D10. Write down the formula as it appears in the destination cell.
2. The formula =A2 + B3 is entered in cell C3 and then copied to cell C5.
Write down the formular as it will appear in the destination cell.

3. The formula = $C5 + D5 is entered in cell E5 and then copied to cell E8.
Write down the formula as it appears in the destination cell.

4. The formula =D$6+E6 is entered in cell F6 and then copied to cell F10.
Write down the formula as it appears in the destination cell.

Applying built-in formulas or functions

A function is a predefined formula that helps you perform common mathematical computations.
Functions save users from writing lengthy formulas. A spreadsheet provides a wide range of built-
in functions that can be included in your formulas to save you from specifying lengthy steps of
detailed calculations. Each function is referred to by a specific name, which acts as a quick
reference for the underlying calculation. Because a function is used as a formula, you will still
need to start it with an equal sign to show that a calculation is required. The commonly used
functions include:
SUM( ): to calculate the total of a set of numbers in different cells or in a range of cells.
AVERAGE( ): to calculate the average of a set of numbers in different
cells or in a range of cells.
MAX( ): to calculate the maximum value for a set of numbers in different cells or in a range
of cells.
MIN( ): to calculate the minimum value for a set of numbers in different cells or in a range
of cells.
ROUND( ): to round a value to a specified number of decimal places.
IF( ): to compute results based on one or more conditions.
RANK( ): to rank a set of values.
A function makes use of values or cell references just like a simple formula does. The
numbers or cell references that are involved in a calculation are placed in brackets after the
name of the function. Each function has specific rules, called syntax, which must be strictly
followed for the function to work correctly.
Syntax order
All functions begin with the equal sign (=).
After the equal sign, specify the function name (e.g., sum).
Enclose in parentheses one or more arguments like numbers, text, or cell references. If there is
more than one argument, separate them by a comma.
An example of a function with one argument that adds numbers in a range of cells, A5
through C5, is shown in Figure 2.54(a):
Figure 2.54(a): Function that adds up numbers

An example of a function with more than one argument that calculates the average of numbers in a
range of cells, A6 through A9, and C6 through C9, is shown in Figure 2.54(b):

Figure 2.54(b): Function to find average\

Literally, MS Excel has hundreds of different functions to assist the manipulation of data.
Building formulas can be difficult and time consuming. MS Excel’s functions can save you a
lot of time. A function like IF function takes an expression
= IF(logical test, [Value_if_True], [Value_if_False]) to help you compute the logical test. The
IF function can be nested by having an IF statement inside another IF statement. For
example, given a set of student marks, the IF function can be nested to display the grade, position
and remarks. Another useful function is RANK, which returns the position of a numerical
value when compared to other numerical values. The syntax for RANK function is
=RANK(number, ref, [order]). For example, Figure 2.55 shows how to compute the rank of
numbers from D1 to D6.

Figure 2.55: Computing rank

Categories of functions
All functions can be categorised in different groups as shown in Table 2.5.
Table 2.5: Types of functions

No Type Function Example

1 Mathematical SUM() A4, B4, and C4 contain 10,20,15
functions respectively, =SUM(A4:C4) returns 45
ROUND() =ROUND(49.769,0) returns 50
PRODUCT() =PRODUCT(40,3,3) returns 360
ABS() ABS(-8) returns 8 and ABS(8) returns 8
2 Statistical AVERAGE() A3, B3, and C3 contains 20, 30, 40
functions respectively, =AVERAGE(A3:C3) returns
30
COUNT() A3, B3, and C3 contains 20, 30, 40
respectively, = COUNT(A3:C3) returns 3
MAX() A3, B3, C3 and D3 contains 20, 10, 80 and 90
respectively, =MAX(A3:D3) returns 90
MIN() A3, B3, C3 and D3 contains 20, 10, 80 and 90
respectivelay, =MIN(A3:D3) returns 10
RANK() A3, B3, C3 and D3 contains 20, 10, 80 and
90 respectively, =RANK(A3, $A$3:$D$3, 1)
returns the position of A3 which is 2 because
the list was sorted in ascending order
3 Logical IF() Suppose the pass score is above 70.
functions =IF(A1>70, “Pass”, “Fail’) returns “Pass”
if A1 data is greater than 70, otherwise, it
returns “Fail”
AND() Returns true if all arguments are true, else
returns false if any argument is false. Example
=AND(5+1=6, 4<5) returns true
OR() Returns true if any of its arguments is true,
and false if all arguments are false
NOT() Negates the unary operand,
=NOT(3+2=5) returns false
COUNTIF() A3, B3, C3, and D3 contains 20, 10, 80, and
90 respectively, =COUNTIF(A3:D3, “>60”)
returns 2
SUMIF() =SUMIF(A3:A10, “>=100”) returns the val-
ue if and only if the value is greater than or
equal to 100
 No Type Function Example
4 Date and time TODAY() Returns today’s date. For example, if
functions today
is 25th Feb, 2021, then =TODAY()
NOW() Returns the current date and time. For
example, if today is 25th Feb, 2021, and
the time is 11:30PM, then = NOW()
returns
DATE() 25/02/2021
=DATE(Year,23 30
Month, Days) converts
a
specified year, month and day. For
example
Steps for using a built-in function
Click on the cell in which you want to use the function,
On the Fomula ribbon, click Insert Function,
Select a function AVERAGE as shown in Figure 2.56,
Click OK,
Type numbers or range of cells in Number 1 and Number 2,
Click OK.

Figure 2.56: Computing average

Exercise 2.6
Exercisehas decided to shift from manual computation of examination results.
The school management
You have been asked to assist the school to manipulate students’ marks to provide a report.
Open a new workbook and design the following table:

MTAMBO SECONDARY SCHOOL

S U M M A
SUBJECTS R Y RESULTS

TOTAL
TOTAL
TOTAL
TERM I TERM II

REMA
TERM
TERM
TERM
BIOS

BIOS
MAT

MAT
ENG

ENG
CHE

CHE
NAM
KIS

KIS
ICS

ICS
W

W
M

M
E

H
TEW 88 80 95 90 85 80 80 80 90 90 75 80
KOD 90 90 98 90 85 85 75 90 95 96 100 80
BAG 95 85 98 85 80 75 75 80 100 80 88 80
KOL 100 88 75 80 90 95 96 90 75 80 93 90
GAB 75 90 92 90 95 90 80 85 90 94 96 95
MIN
MAX
Find the total marks obtained by each student in term I and term II.
Find the average marks obtained by each student in term I and term II.
Find the minimum and maximum marks for every subject and summary results.
If the average marks obtained in term I and II is more than 90, the remarks should be “Distinction”;
otherwise, the remarks should be “Excellent”.
Create the following table using MS Excel.

TANZANIA INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

JANUARY 2021 SALARY PAYMENT FOR VOROUNTIER WORKERS

TAK
RE
NA NAME HOURS PAYMENT HOUSE PERCE
WORKED PER HOUR GROSS ALLOWAN NTAGE
1 KODE 156 500
2 KOLE 157 500
3 NICE JOEL145 500
4 AISHA 157 500
5 LIZAFI 147 500
6 MDUGILE 160 500
MINIMUM TOTAL
MAXI
AVERAGE
BONUS 0.3 TAX 0.09

From the table, calculate gross payment, tax, house allowance, take home, total take home, and
percentage take home, given that:
Gross Payment = Hours worked * Payment per hour
Bonus = Bonus factor*Gross payment
Tax = Tax factor* Gross payment
House allowance = 3/5*Bonus
Take home = Gross payment + Bonus – Tax + House allowance
Percentage take home =Take home/ Gross payment *100 [give answer in 2 decimal places]
Find average and minimum values of Gross payment.
Find the maximum value of house allowance.
Format take home in Tsh. i.e., “Tsh” #,###.00.
If average hours are greater than 148, then remarks is “KEEP IT UP”;
otherwise, the remarks is “BE CAREFUL”.
Correct the word vorountier to volunteer.
Edit the word “TAKEHOME” to be two separate words i.e., “TAKE HOME”.
Save your work by file name “Salaries”.
Function and formula are different in some contexts and similar in others:
Write down three differences between a formula and a function.
Write down two similarities between a formula and a function.
 Data sorting and filtering
Sorting of data
Sorting is the process of arranging data into meaningful order so that you can analyse them easily.
You can sort data either in Ascending or in Descending order. If data are text as shown in
Figure 2.57(a) and are sorted in ascending order, they are displayed in alphabetical order from
A to Z as shown in Figure 2.57(b); while the descending order sorts the data from Z to A.
Similarly, if you have numerical data as shown in Figure 2.58(a), ascending order sorts numbers
from the smallest to the highest; while descending order sorts numbers from the largest to the
smallest, as shown in Figures 2.58(b).
Textual data

Figure 2.57(a): Text data before sorting Figure 2.57(b): Text data after sorting
 Numerical data

Figure 2.58(a): Numerical data before sorting Figure 2.58(b): Numerical data after sorting

Filtering
If your worksheet contains a lot of contents, it can be difficult to find information quickly.
Filters help to narrow down the data in a worksheet, allowing you to view only the information
you need.
NOTE: For filtering to work correctly, your worksheet should include a Header row which is
used to identify the name of each column. For example, on Figure 2.59, the worksheet is
organised into different columns identified by the header cells in row 2: SN, STUDENT NAME,
MARK.
 Figure 2.59: Unfiltered data

Steps to filter data:

Select the Data tab, then click the Filter command,
A drop-down arrow will appear in the header cell for each column as shown in Figure 2.60,
Figure 2.60: Filter command
Click the drop-down arrow for the column you want to filter. In the example shown in Figure 2.60,
you will filter column D to view only students with grade A.
The Filter menu will appear as shown in Figure 2.61, after unchecking the box next to Select All
to quickly deselect all,
Figure 2.61: Filter menu

Check the boxes next to the data you want to filter, then click OK. In this example, you will
check Grade A as shown in Figure 2.62.
Figure 2.62: Selection of grade A
The data will be filtered, temporarily hiding any content that does not match the selected
criteria. Only students with grade A will be filtered as shown in Figure 2.63.
Figure 2.63: Filtered students with “A” grade

Activity 2.10: Sorting and filtering

(a) Create an MS Excel sheet with the following data

(b) Sort the data alphabetically using institution names in:

(i) Ascending order
(ii) Descending order
(c) From the table, filter the institutions with:
(i) SILVER TROPHY
(ii) GOLD TROPHY
(iii) DIAMOND TROPHY
Charts
A chart is a graphical representation of data. The data in charts is represented by bars in a bar
chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart. A chart can represent tabular numerical data,
functions, or qualitative data, and provides different information. Charts are often used to
facilitate understanding of large quantities of data and the relationships between parts of the data.
They can usually be read more quickly than the raw data that produce them.

Types of charts
There are different types of charts that can be used to produce a visual presentation of data. Choosing
a type of chart depends on the kind of data you have and what you want to express.
Table 2.6 describes some charts in MS Excel.
Table 2.6: Types of charts in MS Excel

Type Description
Column Used to show the changes in data over a period of time or
illustrate comparisons among items
Line Mainly used to plot changes in data over time
Bar Emphasises the comparison between items at a fixed period of
time
Pie Emphasises a significant element in the data. It represents data
in the form of a pie
Scatter Useful for showing the correlation among data points; that
correlation may not be easy to see from data alone
Area Displays the magnitude of change over time

Creating charts
Good charts should both explain the data and evoke curiosity. A chart summarises thousands of
data points into a single picture. The arrangement of a chart should explain the underlying data,
and enable the reader to isolate trouble spots worthy of further analysis. MS Excel enables you to
create a chart with only a few mouse clicks. For example, to create a column chart, use the
following steps:
 Open the MS Excel program,
 Create a table that contains the data to be plotted,
 Use the mouse to select the cells which contain the data you want, including column and
row headers,
 Click on the Insert tab,
 On the Insert ribbon, click on Recommended Charts tab,
 Click on the chart type of your choice as shown in Figure 2.64.
Figure 2.64: Column chart

NOTE:
To select non-contiguous data in a worksheet, hold down Ctrl button and use the mouse to select
the cells.
MS Excel remembers the order in which you select data. As a rule of thumb, when entering data,
leave the top-left cell blank.
Chart tools
When a chart is selected, the Chart Tools appear. The design and format tabs are located under
MS Excel’s Chart Tools as shown in Figure 2.65.

Figure 2.65: Chart tools

Design Tab: Contains buttons to change the chart type and style, add chart element, etc.
Format Tab: Contains buttons to format data, insert shapes, add
WordArt, resize charts, etc.
Changing a Chart Type
Click on the Design tab,
Click on Change Chart Type button similar to Figure 2.66,

Figure 2.66: Type of chart

Select the Column chart from the Chart Type dialog box as it appears in Figure 2.67 and click OK.

Figure 2.67: Chart types

Adding chart elements

There are various chart elements that may be added to a chart in MS Excel 2016. To decide which element
on a chart, you can select one of MS Excel’s predefined chart layouts located in the Design tab. You can al
individual chart elements in the options located in the Layout tab as shown in Figure 2.68.
Figure 2.68: Adding chart elements

To add chart elements:

Click on the Design tab and locate the Chart Layouts,
Click on the down arrow for the Add Chart Element button,
Click on the arrow for the Axis Titles button and select a vertical axis for the chart,
Click on the arrow for the Legend button and select None,
Click on the arrow for the Data Labels button and select Inside End,
Click on the arrow for the Data Table button and select With Legend Keys.
Formatting Titles
Click on the Chart Title and use the mouse to select the text,
Type the desired chart title,
Use the Mini toolbar to change Font colour, size, and type,
Right click on the title,
Type “Marks” on the vertical axis title and “Students” on the horizontal axis title as shown in
Figure 2.69.
 Figure 2.69: Formatting of chart title
Printing a worksheet
By default, MS Excel 2016 prints all the data of the active worksheet. If your worksheet covers
several pages, it is worth making sure that the printed copy will be easily readable. Therefore,
you need to prepare your worksheet before printing it. Preparing the worksheet for printing
involves setting print options, page layout, setting page orientation, and print preview.
Setting print options
Setting print options involves specifying the margins of the data range to be printed. The page
margins define the part of the worksheet to be printed. By default, the top and bottom margins
are set at 1 inch in MS Excel 2016, while the left and right margins are set at 0.75 inches. Margin
settings can be changed to different sizes as desired.
Setting margins Steps:
Click Page Layout tab,
Click Margins,
Click at Normal margin template as shown in Figure 2.70.

Figure 2.70: Setting margins

Page orientation
Page orientation enables you to display a rectangular page either holizontally or vertically. There
are two types of page orientations, Portrait and Landscape, as shown in Figure 2.71.

Figure 2.71: Types of page orientations

To change page orientation, do the following:

Click Page Layout tab,
Click Orientation arrow,
Click orientation style, e.g., Landscape as shown in Figure 2.72.
Figure 2.72: Changing page orientation

Print preview
Print preview is an action of viewing your worksheet before printing. This action switches from
Normal view to Preview. The preview displays the pages to be printed. You can adjust the page
areas to suit your choice.
Steps for print preview:
Click on Page Layout,
Under Sheet Options group, click an arrow for the dialog box launcher: the Page Setup dialog
box opens as shown in Figure 2.73(a).

Figure 2.73(a): Print preview page setup

Click Print Preview: the preview window will be displayed as in Figure 2.73(b).

Figure 2.73(b): MS Excel print preview window

Printing
After previewing your work and ascertaining that it is ready for printing, you can now go for
the printing option. The computer printing utilities give you two options to choose when you want
to print, which are normal printing or customised option, and the quick print. Normal printing
gives a chance to select a printer, number of copies, and other printing options. The quick print
sends the workbook direct to the default printer without allowing you to specify your preferences.
Figure 2.74 and Figure 2.75 give you steps of previewing a worksheet. Finally, click the Print button
to print out the worksheet.
Steps for printing in MS Excel:
Click File tab,
Choose Print from the backstage view,
Specify the number of copies,
Choose settings: active sheet, entire workbook, or the selection,
Specify the type of orientation, paper size, margins, and scaling,
Click the Print button.
Figure 2.74: Printing menu
Steps for normal printing:
Click on File tab,
Click Print on the backstage view,
Change the number of copies, if necessary,
Select printer name,
Change settings,
Click Print button as shown in Figure 2.75.

Figure 2.75: Normal printing

Help facility
MS Excel 2016 gives help options that offer tips, and provide help to users. The Office Help tool as
when there is a problem or a need for more information about a particular task.
Accessing the Help facility in MS Excel 2016:
Open a blank MS Excel workbook,
Press function F1 key: A help window will be opened,
Type what you want to search.
Alternatively, from the Title Bar on the right top corner of the workbook, click the Help tab: the
help window will be opened. Figure 2.76 shows an example of a help window.

Figure 2.76: MS Excel Help window

Exercise 2.7

Review questions
Do you think that spreadsheet programs are useful in day-to-day activities? Give evidence
to support your answer.
Define the following spreadsheet terminologies:
Cell
Label
Column
Row
Differentiate between column headings and row headings.
What is the difference between a worksheet and a workbook?
Distinguish between MS Excel and a Spreadsheet.
MS Excel can be used for several purposes. Mention five of them.
The following table displays examination results of Form Two students at ABC Secondary School.
Prepare a spreadsheet of the results showing individual marks in the subjects, total, average, grade,
and position.

S/N NAME CHE BIOL PHY BAMGS Total AV GR POS

M
1 Haji Jimanne 80 80 64 72 68
2 Akramu 80 80 80 68 40
3 K fi
Francis 80 80 80 66 92
4 K b i
Maria Mondo 76 80 72 80 40
5 Adamu 76 72 60 40 52
6 D
LinadiNdase 80 80 36 76 72
7 Ajuaye 76 72 60 32 76
J h
Key:
AV = Average
GR = Grade (80 -100(A), 60-79(B), 40-59(C), 20-39(D) and
0-19 (F))
POS = Position
The following table represents a simple payroll.

A B C D E F G H I

S/ Name Hours No Hourly Basic Gross Tax NSSF Allowance Net Pay
Worked Rate Pay Pay Deduction Contribution
per s s
(Tsh)

Month
1 Kode 18 4000
2 Kobi 20 4500

3 Kajole 32 3000
4 Kole 40 2860

Kajeje 36 2200
Kajiji 45 4680
7 Kange 25 1500
8 Kama 39 2800
Complete all fields in the payroll table, given that:

(i) Basic pay = Hours worked x Hourly rate.

(ii) Allowances are allocated at 10% of the Basic pay. Gross pay =
(iii) Basic pay + Allowances.
(iv) Tax deduction is calculated at 20% of the Gross pay. Net pay =
(v) Gross pay – Tax deductions.
9. (a) List four types of data that can be entered into a spreadsheet cell.
(b) For each of the following, state the type of cell reference:
(i) A5
(ii) $F$5 H$21
(iii) $D7
(iv)

10. (a) A formula to add the contents of B5 and C4 was entered in cell F5
as =B5 + C4. What will it become when it is copied to cell H8?
(b) Explain the reason for your answer in 10(a).

11. (a) Write the formular =F10 + G20 as absolute referencing.

(b) The formula =A$1+C2 was initially typed in cell D1. What will it
be when copied to cell E1?
What are the roles of the following functions as used in MS Excel 2016?
PRODUCT
SQRT
AVERAGE
MAX
IF
COUNTIF
SUMIF
A worksheet contains the data shown in the following table:

Cell A1 A2 A3 C1 C2 C3 G1
Entry 5 7 10 10 15 15 =SUMIF (C1:C3, “<> 10”,

State the value displayed in G1.

Explain why a value such as 611233444555 may be displayed as ######### when typed on a
spreadsheet.
Assuming that the formula = A5 * $B2 is in cell C10 of a spreadsheet. Show how it will appear
after copying it to cell H12.
A worksheet contains the data shown in the following table:

A B C D E F G
1 5 10
2 7 15
3 10 17
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

If the formula =COUNTIF (C1:C3, “> 10”) is entered at G1, write down the value that is
displayed.
Write down the formula that would be entered at cell B7 to sum the values in column A whose
values are greater than or equal to 5.
The formula = $C2 + C$3 is entered in cell C5 and then copied to D10. Write down the formula as it
appears in the destination cell.
(a) Give two examples of MS Excel charts that you know.
(b) Outline the steps to create a simple chart in MS Excel.
Kujengwa, Mbigiri, Dotto and Tuntufye had tea, sausages, and bananas for breakfast. They
took one sausage, two sausages, three sausages, and one sausage respectively. In addition, they
each took a cup of tea and two bananas. Tea, sausages and bananas cost Tsh. 10, 15, and 5
respectively.
Construct a worksheet showing that information.
State the expression you would use to obtain:
Total expenditure by Dotto.
Total number of sausages taken.
The total cost of the cheapest item.
The following table is a Microsoft Excel worksheet containing the scores of Form 1 students of
Guta Secondary School.

A B C D E F G

1 STUDENT ENG KISW MATH SCI

NAME
2 Sanjudi 75 65 80 78

3 Kobelo 80 78 58 72

4 Majimoto 75 78 64 80

5 Mzurikwao 65 84 78 81

6 Vumilia 90 81 57 74

7 Nyanchere 73 65 85 78

Write MS Excel formula to find:

Total score for each student.
Highest score per subject.
Mean score per subject.
The total score of the overall best student.
Study the given worksheet and answer the questions that follow:

No A B C D
1 Nduwanga
2 Ndumbwi
3 Ndubilio
4 Ndunduma
5 Ndungandi

The formula =IF (A1:A5 = “Nduwanga”, 1, 0) is entered in cell B1.

Write down the value that will be displayed in B1
If the formula in B1 is copied and pasted to cells B2, B3, B4 and B5, state what will be displayed
in each cell.
List any three types of charts that can be ceated in a spreadsheet application.
Consider the entries made in the cells of the following table:

Cell B2 B3 C10 C11 C13

Entry 200 100 =B2 =B3 =C10 + C11

State the value displayed in cell C13.

A student prepared the budget using a worksheet as follows.

A B C D
1 Item Amount
2 Fare 200
3 Stationery 50
4 Bread 300
5 Miscellaneous 150
6 Total

The student intends to have spent half the amount of money in the budget by mid-term.
Given that the value 0.5 is typed in cell D1, write the shortest formula that would be typed in cell
C2 and then copied down the column to obtain half the values in column B.
Write two different formulas that can be typed to obtain the total in cell B6 and then copied to
cell
The following information shows the income and expenditure for “Bebayote” Daladala for five days.
The income from Monday to Friday was Tshs. 4,000, 9,000, 10,000, 15,000, and 12,000
respectively, while the expenditure for the same period was Tshs. 2,000, 3,000, 7,000, 5,000, and
6,000 respectively.
Create a spreadsheet that will contain the given information.
Find the average expenditure per day.
Find the average income per day.
Find the total income per week.
Find the total expenditure per week.
Find the net profit.
Use the following information to complete the table that follows:
Basic pay = Hours worked x pay per hour
Allowances are allocated at 10% of basic pay
Gross pay = Basic pay + allowances
Tax deductions are calculated at 20% of gross pay
Net pay = Gross pay – tax deductions

A B C D E F G H
Name Hours Pay per Basic Allowances Gross Tax Net pay
1
worked hour pay pay deductions
2 Katembo 12 1500
3 Fusi 28 650
4 Ngonyani 26 450
5 Mapunda 30 900
6 Mbawala 18 350
7 Shimba 22.5 500
8 Wanyama 24.5 250
9 Nanyumbu 17 180
10 Ndungulu 33 700
Total
Based on the table in question 25, write the fomulae using cell references for the following
cells:
(a) D2 (b) E4 (c) F10 (d) G7
Jane and Juma have invested in a small agriculture business. Farming production and sales
for the year 2020 for various crops in tons are as follows:
 Quantity (Tons)

Productio

Productio
Average
Crop Unit

Total
May
Mar

Sept
Productio Price

Aug
Apr

Nov
Jun
Feb

Dec
Jan

Oct
Jul
n (Tshs)
Rice 1,100,00 0 0 5 40 50 50 20 5 5 2 3 7
Maize 700,000 5 5 2 3 7 70 70 7 15 17 15 17
Groundnu 2,500,000 2 2 7 20 30 20 30 40 60 13 14 5
Cassava 1,000,000 40 40 40 40 40 30 30 30 40 40 40 40
Beans 1,600,000 7 7 70 70 7 15 17 22 29 11 10 20
Sweet 900,000 6 15 20 30 35 20 10 8 70 3 3 4
Potatoes
Coffee 8,000,000 8 7 3 3 4 20 60 15 17 22 29 7
Millet 900,000 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 5
Yams 800,000 13 14 5 7 15 17 22 29 7 7 15 17

Calculate the total production for each crop.

Calculate the average production for each crop.
Add a column for total sales; calculate the total sales for each crop and write down a formula that
calculates it.
Add a column which shows the average sales for each crop.
Add a row for sunflower and enter the following monthly data: 23, 43,
80, 45, 0, 9, 23, 46, 60, 20, 30, 0.
Fill green and blue colour for the Unit Price column and Sunflower,
row respectively.
 CHAPTER THREE
Computer networks and communication

Introduction
Introduction
In the past, information was shared amongst people through traditional means. Today, due to
technology advancement, information is shared through a variety of ways, including the use of
connected computers. In this chapter, you will learn about the importance and uses of
computer networks. You will also learn about the types of computer networks, network
topologies, as well as equipment and accessories used in computer networking. The
competencies developed in this chapter will enable you to create and use simple
communication networks.

Concept of computer networking

Meaning of computer networking
A computer network is a connection of two or more computers for the purpose of sharing
resources. It can also be defined as a collection of computers hardware and other devices
interconnected by communication media that allow sharing of resources. The shared resources
include printers, scanners, storage devices, and files. Thus, a computer network refers to two or
more devices, such as a desktop computer, printers and/or server linked together for the purpose of
sharing resources. Figure 3.1 shows two individuals working on computers in a simple
networked environment.

Figure 3.1: Simple networked computer environment

Classification of computer networks
Network connections between computers are typically created using cables (wires). They
can also be made using radio signals (wireless/Wi-Fi) and, for very long distances, via
satellite or fibre optic links to form different classes of networks. Therefore, computer networks
can be classified based on the structure and relationship between network components, size of
network (geographical coverage), as well as mode of connectivity.
Network structure and relationship
Based on structure and relationship between network components, computer networks can be
either peer-to-peer network or client-server network. Peer-to-peer network is one in which two or
more computers share files and access devices such as printers without requiring a separate server
computer or a server software. In a peer-to-peer network, there is equal sharing of resources as
shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Peer-to-peer computer networking

The client-server network is the network with a central computer that hosts or controls the
shared resources; this central computer is called a server. The server is any computer dedicated
to provide services to other computers. The other computers that receive services from the
server are known as clients. Figure 3.3 shows the structure of a client-server computer network.

Figure 3.3: Client-server computer network

Network size or geographical coverage
Computer networks can be classified by considering a geographical area they cover. Networked
computers in a room cover a small area and are classified differently from networked computers
covering the whole organisation, city, country, and beyond. This type of classification involves
Personal Area Network (PAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and
Wide Area Network
(WAN).
Personal Area Network
Personal Area Network (PAN) is a type of computer network that connects personal devices such as
smartphone, tablet, and laptop. It connects an individual premise or private area, and its purpose is
to enable an individual to share resources among personal devices. PAN can covers about 10
meters. Figure 3.4 shows a simple setup of PAN.

Figure 3.4: A simple structure of PAN

Local Area Network
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network that covers a small area such as a room,
home, school, or office building. It is useful for sharing resources like files, printers, scanners,
games, and other applications. Its speed depends on
the media used. Figure 3.5 shows a simple structure of a LAN.

Figure 3.5: A simple structure of LAN

Metropolitan Area Network
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is a computer network that covers the whole town,
city, or a region. For example, a computer network covering the city of Dar es Salaam can be
regarded as MAN. MAN is mainly used for data communication, especially within a specific
area. An example of MAN is cable TV in a city like what is illustrated in Figure 3.6.

MAN

Figure 3.6: A simple structure of MAN

Wide Area Network
Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that is not restricted to a specific
geographical area like a school compus or a city. It covers a large area such as a whole country,
a continent, and beyond. For example, the Internet is a public WAN that covers the whole
globe. Figure 3.7 shows a simple setup of WAN.

Figure 3.7: A simple structure of WAN

Advantages and disadvantages of networks covering different geographical areas
Advantages of PAN
Data sharing: Enables easy and quick sharing of data between personal devices.
Inexpensive: It has low installation cost.
Security: It is more secure compared to other types of computer networks as it covers a
personal area.
Disadvantages of PAN
Coverage: It is restricted to a personal premise, usually about 10 meters range.
Data sharing limitation: It is not fit for sharing data in longer
distances.
Technologies: Uses short-range communication technologies such as Bluetooth and USB cable.
Thus, a user device cannot connect to a remote site.
Advantages of LAN
Increased productivity: Sharing resources such as hard drives, DVD drives, and printers can
easily increase productivity.
Cost reduction: Sharing of resouces such as software and hardware reduce running costs.
Improved security: Data stored in a local server have higher chances of being secure and can
easily be accessed by all the LAN users.
Disadvantage of LAN
It covers a limited area: LAN is restricted in size. It covers a small
area like a single office, a building, or a group of nearby buildings.
Its maintenance is demanding: It requires a LAN administrator and technicians to always
maintain or troubleshoot a network, software installation, program faults, and/or hardware
failures.
High setup cost: The initial installation costs can be high.
Advantages of MAN
Less expensive: It is less expensive to attach a MAN to a WAN than attaching a LAN to a
WAN.
Speed: It has higher speed than WAN.
Connection: It is easy to connect related LANs to form a MAN.
Security: It is more secure than WAN.
Sending local email: It sends local email faster than WAN.

Disadvantages of MAN
Difficult to manage: As a network grows bigger, it becomes difficult
to manage.
Maintenance: Technical people are required to set up and maintain it.
More wires and other connectivity media are required: Additional cables or other media are
required to connect two or more LANs to form a MAN.
Advantages of WAN
Area of coverage: It covers a geographical area of large proportion.
File and data updates: Users can get file updates and data from servers in a wider area.
Companies can update files on the servers and all the devices connected to the severs can receive
them. For example, a software installed in a server computer can be used by users across the
organisation, saving time for maintaining the software in different computers across the
organisation.
Centralised data: Sharing of data across the respective networks cover a wider area.
Disadvantages of WAN
Security: Since WAN has a variety of technologies, it faces more security issues compared to
LAN and MAN. This can open the security gap which paves the way to malicious attacks and
theft.
Troubleshooting:Troubleshooting issues such as pinpointing the cause of problem are
difficult to handle in a WAN due to its broad geographical coverage.
Installation cost: It is very complex and expensive to install a WAN since it requires many
resources such as routers, switches and security solutions.
Mode of connectivity
Based on the modes of connectivity, a computer network can be wired or wireless. Wired networks
use cables as network media for data transmission, while wireless networks transmit signals without
any physical wire. Figure 3.8(a) shows a sample wired network and Figure 3.8(b) shows a sample
wireless network.
Figure 3.8(a): Wired network Figure 3.8(b): Wireless network
Network devices and accessories
LAN devices and accessories
Basically, a computer network consists of many components. Each component has a specific
function. The common network devices are presented in subsequent sections.
Network Interface Card
A Network Interface Card (NIC) is an electronic card that enables a computer to connect to a
network. NIC is sometimes called Ethernet card or network adapter. It can be built-in or an
expansion card. An example of NIC is shown in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9: Expansion Network Interface Card (NIC)

Network switch
A network switch is a hardware device that filters and forwards network traffic. A switch connects
devices together on a computer network; it forwards data only to one or multiple devices that need
to receive data. The switch ports into which other network devices such as NIC can be connected
are shown in Figure 3.10.
 Figure 3.10: A network switch
Network router
A network router is an electronic device that connects at least two networks and forwards
communication traffic between them. Routers are fundamental to the operation of the Internet
and complex networks. A router is connected to two or more data lines from different networks.
When data come in one of the lines, the router reads the address of the information in the data to
determine their destinations. A router can be wired, wireless, or both. Figure 3.11 shows a wireless
router. A wireless router is a device that performs the functions of a router but also includes the
functions of a wireless access point. It is commonly used to provide access to the Internet or
computer network. It does not require a wired link, as the connection is made virtually via radio waves.

Figure 3.11: A wireless router

Network cables
Network cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network
devices. For example, network cables connect two or more computers to a printer, a scanner,
and other network devices. Different types of network cables like coaxial cables, optical fibre
cables, and twisted pair cables are used depending on the network’s topology, protocol, and size.
These devices can be separated by a few metres or nearly unlimited distances.
Twisted pair cables
Twisted pair cables, also known as ethernet cables, are insulated cables twisted together.
These cables are used in telephone lines and LANs. There are two types of twisted pair cables:
Unshielded Twisted Pairs (UTP) cable is a cable comprised of only wires and insulated cables
as shown by lebel 1 in Figure 3.12.
Shielded Twisted Pairs (STP) cable is a cable braided with wire mesh that encases each pair of
insulated wires as shown by label 2 in Figure
3.12. STP cables are less affected by Electromagnet Induction (EMI) compared to UTP cables.

Figure 3.12: Twisted pair cables (1 and 2) and their heads (3)
Key:
1 = Unshielded Twisted Pairs cable
2 = Shielded Twisted Pairs cable
3 = Cable heads or connectors
Advantages of twisted pair cables
i. They are easy to use and maintain.
ii. They are cheap.
Disadvantages of twisted pair cables
i. They are affected by Electromagnetic Induction, which cause interference.
ii. They are suitable for use only in short distances.

Fibre Optic Cables

Fibre Optic Cables are made up of very thin strands/threads of glass or plastic used to transmits data
as light. One cable may contain two strands or several hundreds of strands (see Figure 3.13).

Figure 3.13: Fibre optic cables

Advantages of fibre optic cable
i. It is the faster transmission media.
ii. It supports higher bandwidth.
iii. It is not affected by attenuation and electromagnetic interference.
iv. It is used in transmitting signals in longer distances.
Disadvantages of fibre optic cable
i. It is most expensive because it requires expensive equipment.
ii. It is very difficult to install.
Coaxial cables
Coaxial cables are commonly used by cable TV, telephone companies, and computer
networks for transmitting data. Figure 3.14 shows open, closed, and a head of a coaxial cable.

Figure 3.14: Coaxial cables

Advantages of coaxial cable
• It is not easily affected by attenuation and electromagnetic interference.
• It can be used to transmit data in longer distances than twisted pair cable.
• It supports transfer of high bandwidth signal compared to twisted pair cable.
• It is faster than twisted pair cable.
Disadvantages of coaxial cable
• It is more expensive than twisted pair cable.
• It is not so safe because it can be taped by breaking the cable and inserting the T-joint
in between.

Describing computer network devices

Use Internet and other resources to describe basic computer network devices
and their functions.
Software for communication and computer networking
Apart from network hardware, which enable physical connections of network devices, network
software is an integral part of a network. These are set of programs that perform logical networking
by
specifying protocols for sharing data. Without these software, the network can not transfer
information.
Importance of computer networks
There are many functions of computer networks, which can be generalised as communication
and
sharing of resources. Some of the areas where you can find notable functions of computer
networks
are such as communication, entertainment, business, health, and education.
Communication
The use of e-mail, teleconferences, video conferences, newsgroups, and social media are
commonly
facilitated by the presence of computer networks.
Computer networks enable easy and smooth resource sharing. Example of resource sharing
include
the use of network printers, chatting, and access to audio, video, and textual information
from
different networked computers.
Entertainment
Webcasting enables information such as radio and TV programme from one computer to be
accessed by many other computers at once.
Video and audio contents can be easily accessed from a particular station or server.
Business
Computer networks enable digital financial transactions. For example, the use of ATM cards to
withdraw money from any Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) (see Figure 3.15) anywhere, and
the use of mobile services such as T-Pesa, M-Pesa, TigoPesa, Airtel Money, and EasyPesa, are
facilitated by computer networks.
International trade: Commodities can be advertised and ordered online; transactions are made
through computer networks without a buyer going physically to sellers.

Figure 3.15: Automatic Teller Machine

Health and education
In research, computer networks help much in sharing resources like online journals and publications.
In health, computer networks are used for supporting health management systems, telemedicine,
and online care provision. Also, they are used to search for causes and treatments of diseases from
various medical resources available on the Internet.
E-learning uses computer networks for online classes, enabling classrooms without walls.
E-learning enables people to learn anytime and anywhere.

Exercise 3.1

1. What are the advantages of computer networks?

2. With examples, explain the differences between MAN and LAN.

3. What type of network will you use in each of the following situations?
(a) Connecting computers in a bank with several branches in different
regions of Tanzania.
(b) Connecting computers in a bank with several branches worldwide.
(c) Connecting computers for exchanging notes within a school compound.
4. Explain how networking facilities are used in buying and selling com-
modities in a supermarket.
Computer network topologies
When you design and build a computer network, there are several ways in which computer and
other network devices are connected to create a computer network. This gives rise to a concept of
network topology. A topology is a layout or design of the connected devices. Network topology
may be physical or logical.
Physical topology refers to the visible design of the network including devices, while logical
topology refers to how data are actually transferred in a network. This textbook will only discuss the
physical topology. There are six common physical network topologies namely Bus topology,
Star topology, Ring topology, Mesh topology, Tree topology, and Hybrid topology.
Bus topology
Bus topology consists of a single cable known as a trunk or backbone or segment that connects all
the computers and other devices in the network. Each system is directly attached to a common
communication channel. Signals transmitted over the channel make up the messages. Figure 3.16
shows a structure of a bus topology.

Figure 3.16: A Bus topology

Advantages of Bus topology

i. It is easy to connect a computer and other peripheral devices to a linear bus.
ii. It is cheaper compared to other physical topologies.
iii. It uses less amount of cables compared to other physical topologies.
iv. It does not need a central device such as a hub, switch, or router.
Disadvantages of Bus topology
i. A break in the main cable shuts down the entire network.
ii. It requires terminators at both ends of the cable; thus, it increases implementation and
maintanance cost.
iii. It is difficult to identify the problem if the entire network shuts down.
Star topology
Star topology consists of all nodes (computers, printers, and other shared peripheral devices) connected
to the central hub or switch. Nodes communicate across the network by passing data through the
hub or switch as shown in Figure 3.17.

Figure 3.17: A Star topology

Advantages of Star topology
• Adding or removing a node does not affect the network
• It is easy to detect faults and to remove parts.
• It is easy to design and install.
Disadvantages of Star topology
• The failure of the hub or concentrator affects the entire network.
• It needs a lot of cables, hence it becomes more expensive than linear bus topologies.
 Ring topology

In a ring topology, each node is connected to form a single, closed data path. Data from one node are
passed along to the next node at which they are examined, and if that node is not the
destination, then they are transmitted to the next node until the destination is reached. Figure 3.18
shows a ring topology. Rings can be unidirectional or bidirectional. In a unidirectional ring, all
traffic travel in one direction or the other, i.e., clockwise or anticlockwise around the ring. In a
bidirectional ring, traffic travel in both directions, i.e., go and return.

Figure 3.18: Ring topology

Advantages of Ring topology

• Each node gets to send the data when it receives an empty token. This helps to reduce chances of
collision.When the load on the network increases, its performance is better than that of a bus
topology.
• Additional components do not affect the performance of a network.
Disadvantages of Ring topology
• Each data must pass through all the computers between a source and a destination. This makes it
slower than a star topology.
• The entire network will be affected if one computer shuts down.
• It is expensive compared to star and bus topologies because it involves the installation of
Multi-station Access Unit (MAU) and network cards which are expensive as compared to
Ethernet cards and hubs
Mesh topology
Mesh topology involves the concept of routes. Unlike other topologies, messages sent on a mesh
network can take any of several possible paths from a source to a destination. Recall that, even
in a ring topology, although two cable paths exist, messages travel only in one direction. Some
WANs, most notably the Internet, employ mesh routing. Mesh topology is shown in Figure 3.19.

Figure 3.19: Mesh topology

Advantages of Mesh topology
• It provides redundant paths between devices.
• The network can be expanded without disruption to existing users.
Disadvantages of Mesh topology
• It requires more cables than other LAN topologies.
• It is difficult to install and maintain because it involves many nodes
and cables.
Tree topology
Tree topology or extended star topology integrates multiple star topologies together onto a bus.
In its simplest form, only a switch or a hub connects directly to the tree bus and each hub functions
as the “root” of a tree of devices. A tree topology is shown in Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.20: Tree topology

Advantages of Tree topology
• It makes point-to-point wiring for individual segments possible.
• It is supported by several hardware and software vendors.
Disadvantages of Tree topology
• Overall length of each segment is limited by the type of cabling used.
• If the backbone line breaks, the entire segment goes down.
• It is more difficult to configure and wire than other topologies.
Hybrid topology
Hybrid topology is the combination of more than one topology, mainly star and bus topologies.
This bus or star hybrid approach supports future expandability of the network much better than
a bus (limited in number of devices due to the broadcast traffic it generates) or a star (limited by
number of switch connection points) alone. Figure 3.21 shows a configuration of hybrid
topology.

Figure 3.21: Hybrid topology

Topologies are an important part of network design theory. You can probably build a computer
network at home, school or small business without understanding the difference between a
bus design and a star design, but becoming familiar with the standard topologies gives you a
better understanding of other important networking concepts like broadcasts, switches, bridges,
and routers.

Creating a network topology

(a) Using different sources, write a summary on how a smartphone can create
a star topology network.
(b) Use a smartphone to create a simple network, and connect two laptops to
it.
(c) Use the network you have created in Activity 3.2(b) to share any file
between two laptops.
Exercise 3.2
Review questions. A: Short answers
What is a computer network?
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a star topology.
What is the Network Interface Card?
How does the hybrid network topology differ from the bus topology?
Is it possible to have a computer network without hardware, network software, and communication
Channels? Explain.
When is it more appropriate to use client-server network or peer-to-peer network?
Explain the functions of computer networks in education.
How can computer networks be used to facilitate school management?
Explain three advantages and three disadvantages of computer networking.
(a) Describe the major characteristics of LAN, MAN, PAN, and WAN.
(b) Briefly explain four benefits of using Local Area Networks
in any government institution of your choice.
(c) List three differences between Wide Area Network and Local Area Network.
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of each of the following network transmission media:
Twisted pair cables
Coaxial cables
Fibre optic cables
Wireless
Explain the functions of the Network Interface Card.
Define the term network topology.
State and briefly describe any five types of physical network topologies.
State three advantages and two disadvantages of a mesh network topology.

B. Multiple choice Questions

Choose the letter of the most correct answer and write it in the provided box
Computers in Local Area Network are mainly connected by:
A. String
B. Cables
C. Telephone lines
A special computer that stores network programs and data is called
A. Router
B. Server
C. Hub
A network that is confined to one building or room is called a
A. LAN
B. MAN
C. WAN
Computer networks without a server are called
A. Peer to peer
B. Network server
C. Client – server
WANs differ from LANs in the following aspects:
A. They have more users, faster access times, and are cheaper
B. They cover larger areas and may require modems and communication links
C. They need more powerful servers and can connect to the Internet
Advantages of computer networks are:
A. Improved communications, and sharing of data, software and some peripheral devices
B. Increased production, improved communication and hacking
C. Lower cost per user, fewer security risks and greater privacy.
ICSCHAPTER FOUR
The Internet
Introduction
We are living in a connected world. People around the globe can exchange
information in a fraction of a second. This has been possible because of the Internet.
In this chapter, you will learn about the concept of Internet, search engine, Internet
applications, and the negative effects of the Internet. The competencies developed
will enable you to use Internet facilities in a more productive way.

Concept of Internet
The Internet is a worldwide system of computer networks. It is a huge network that links together
millions of smaller networks. Telephone lines and cables connect networks all over the world to form
the Internet. Users of computers connected to the Internet on one side can get information from
computers connected to it on the other side, and can sometimes talk directly to each other. The use
of Internet has revolutionised communications worldwide. This means that it is possible to send a
message from Tanzania to other countries such as Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Ghana, United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), China, and Japan through the
Internet.
The Internet is a globally leading information dissemination tool, and a medium for
collaboration and interaction between individuals regardless of their geographical locations.
Actually, there are thousands of networks, tens of thousands of computers, and billions of users
of the Internet, with the numbers expanding daily.
The history of Internet originates from the invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and
computer. These technologies set the stage for this invention and an environment whereby the
connection may be in a wired or wireless medium. A computer connected to the Internet is said
to be online.
Generally; Internet: is the Public network.
An Intranet: is the Private network contained within an enterprise that is used to securely share
company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used
for working in groups and teleconferences. Intranets encourage communication within an
organization.
An Extranet: is an Intranet which is partially accessible to authorized outsiders.
The WWW: is the graphical component of the Internet which includes web sites.

Internet terminologies
Internet Protocol (IP) address
This is a unique string of characters that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to
communicate over a network. OR
Internet Protocol (IP) address is an address used to uniquely identify a computer and other devices
on a network. An IP address is a numerical label assigned to each device (for example, computer, router,
modem, and printer) in a computer network. It is normally a number that has four parts in the form
W.X.Y.Z. Examples of IP addresses are 1.1.1.1, 10.50.100.254, 172.128.10.1, 10.0.0.20, and
192.168.5.250. The highest number in each part of an IP address is 255. An example of the IP
address is shown in Figure 4.1.
MAC address
Computers communicate with each other through the Network Interface Card (NIC). Just like
names, every computer in the world must have a unique name which is used to easily identify it
in a network. This unique name is called Media Access Control (MAC) address. The MAC address
is a unique combination of numbers and letters which is given to a network adapter. Every NIC in
the world has a unique MAC address. A MAC address is given to a network adapter when it is
manufactured. It is coded onto the NIC of your computer. When communicating, the IP addresses and
MAC addresses work together. Thus, a hardware and software work together to make data from the
sender to arrive to the receiver. The MAC address is a string of six sets of two digits or characters,
separated by colons e.g., 01:10:11:02:36:84 (see Figure 4.1). MAC addresses follow a particular
standard to avoid conflict in communication.

Figure 4.1: IP and MAC addresses

Uniform Resource Locator
Another very important address in network communication is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
URL is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network. The
URL takes into account a zone and an organisation to which the site belongs. An example of
URL is https://www.tie.go.tz. Actually, a URL contains four parts: an internet protocol,
domain name, pathname, and file name. A domain name is a text-based representation of an IP
address and, as such, it is easier to memorise. Domain name server facilitates the resolution of
an IP address to a domain name and vice versa. As shown in Figure 4.2, the four-part addresses
scheme of a URL tells the Web browser:
what transfer protocol to use for transporting the file;
the domain name of the computer on which the file resides;
the pathname of the folder or directory on the computer on which the
file resides; and
the name of the file.

Protocol Domain name Pathname File name

https://www.tie.go.tz/publications/ICS.pdf

Figure 4.2: Parts of Uniform Resource Locator

Protocol
A protocol is a set of rules that govern communication between computers on a network.
In order for two or more computers to talk to each other, they must be speaking the same language.
Many different types of network protocols and standards are required to ensure that your computer
can communicate with another computer located on the next desk or far away around the world.
Hypertext Markup Language
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a language used to create web pages. A markup language
facilitates creation of documents in which the structure and contents are clearly distinguishable.

World Wide Web

A World Wide Web (WWW), sometimes called the Web is a system of interlinked hypertext
documents accessed via the Internet. The documents are formatted using a markup language
called HTML that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. The We
individuals, organisations and companies publish information for other people to access. This makes the W
useful tool for finding information on just about any topic.

Web Page
A web page is the hypertext document that can be accessed over the World Wide Web through
web browsers. It is written in a markup language called HTML. It contains text, pictures, audio,
video, and hyperlinks.
Website
A website is a collection of related web pages that have the same theme and are connected
together using hyperlinks. The opening page of either personal, commercial, or an institutional
website is called a Home Page. Every website has a home page. An example of a home page is
shown in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3: Home page of e-Government authority

Web server
A web server is a computer that stores web related files. These computers have high processing
power and storage capacity. The main goal of web servers is to provide access to information
and other resources to users on the Internet. When you use a web browser to request for a paticular
web page, a web server processes your request and gives you the information you requested.

Hyperlink
Hyperlink is a link between two web resources. When clicked, a hyperlink takes you to another
resource on the web. When the mouse pointer passes over a hyperlink, it (mouse pointer)
changes from an arrow to a pointing hand.
Hypertext
Hypertext is a text that contains hyperlinks. The hyperlinks are used as references to other
documents and media in the web server.

Web browser
A web browser is an application software that locates and displays World Wide Web documents.
It retrieves information from a web server and displays it on your computer screen. Examples
of web browsers are Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Google Chrome.

Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge (ME) is a cross-platform web browser developed by Microsoft. It was first
released for Windows 10 in 2015. Microsoft Edge replaced Internet Explorer (IE) which was
used in previous versions of Windows Operating System. The Microsoft Edge browser is
represented by the icon shown in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4: Microsoft Edge web browser icon

Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox was officially launched in February 2004. It was formerly known as Phoenix, then
Firebird, and eventually Firefox. The browser is represented by the world map symbol. Figure 4.5
shows the icon of the Mozilla Firefox browser.

Figure 4.5: Mozilla Firefox web browser icon

Safari
Safari is a web browser for Apple devices such as Mac computer, ipad, and iPhone. Safari
supports all the functions that are available in other web browsers. It is represented by the compass
bearing symbol. Figure 4.6 shows Safari browser icon.

Figure 4.6: Safari web browser icon

Opera
Opera is a web browser developed by Opera Software in 1996. It is a well-known browser that is
mainly used in smartphones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and tablets. It is compatible with
many operating systems such as Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.
It is represented by the “O” symbol. Figure shows an icon of Opera web browser.

Figure 4.7: Opera web browser icon

Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google. Its features include synchronisation
with google services and accounts, and has the ability to translate and check spellings of web
pages. It is represented by the ball icon as shown in
Figure 4.8.

Figure 4.8: Google chrome web browser icon

NOTE: These web browsers work a little bit different from one another, but they all have an
address bar where you can type the address for the website you wish to visit.

Using web browser

Use Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge to open Khan
Academy website (www.khanacademy.org). Compare the visibility of the web
site in different web browsers.

Internet Service Provider

Internet services are usually provided by companies specialised in communication business. These
companies are known as Internet Service Providers (ISPs). An ISP offers Internet access and
other related services to its customers. Examples of ISPs in Tanzania are TTCL, Vodacom, Airtel,
Tigo, Zantel, Simbanet, and Smile.

Modem
A modem is a communication or network device that performs two key processes namely
modulation and demodulation. Through t h e m o d u l a t i o n p r o c e s s , the modem converts
digital signals to analogy signals for transporting over a telephone line. By demodulation, the
modem converts analogy signals from the telephone lines to digital signals. The term modem is
a blended word formed by two words, modulation (Mo) and demodulation (Dem). In a
computer, information is stored in digital form. However, information is transmitted over
telephone lines as analogy waves. The modem, therefore, is an important network device that
allows computers to receive and send information over the telephone lines. See Figure 4.9.

Figure 4.9: Example of a modem

Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a protocol that governs the process of transmitting
information on the Web. Additionally, it gives users a way to interact with web resources such as
HTML pages by transmitting hypertext messages between clients and servers. HTTP
basically publishes and retrieves HTML pages on the World Wide Web. The information that
is transferred using HTTP can be a plain text, an audio, a video, an image, or a hypertext. The
first part of URL contains the HTTP.

A Brief History of the Internet

The Internet was the result of some visionary thinking by people in the early 1960s. These
individuals saw great potential value in allowing computers to share information on research
and development in scientific and military fields. The Advanced Research Project Agency
Network (ARPAnet) is considered the grandfather of the modern Internet. ARPAnet was
designed by the United States Department of Defence during the Cold War II as means to
connect computers between universities. The first two universities to connect their computers
under ARPAnet were University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford
University. The connection allowed universities to exchange top secret military information and
share access to the country’s most powerful computer systems. The following are some of the
major events that took place in the history of the Internet:
1969: ARPANET connected computers at the University of California
Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford University, University of California Santa Barbara (SB), and
University of Utah: 4 nodes were connected.
1971: 15 nodes (23 hosts) on ARPANET.
E-mail invented: a program to send messages across a distributed network.
1973: First international connections to the ARPANET: University College of London
(England) and Royal Radar Establishment (Norway).
1977: E-mail took off; Internet became a reality; number of hosts broke to 100.
1984: Number of hosts broke to 1,000.
1987: Number of hosts broke to 28,000.
1989: Number of hosts broke to 100,000.

The web exploded

1994 – 3.2 million hosts and 3,000 websites
1994 – Yahoo! launched
1995 – 6.4 million hosts and 25,000 websites
1997 – 19.5 million hosts and 1.2 million websites
1997 – The web browser wars
1998 – Google was launched
2001 – 110 million hosts and 30 million websites
2006 – YouTube was launched
2015 – Microsoft Edge was launched
Exercise 4.1
What is the difference between a web page and a website?
Define and provide an example of each of the following terms;
Browser
Home page
Internet Protocol
Using the most used websites in your school or community, briefly explain the parts of a URL.
Explain the meaning of Internet Service Provider (ISP) and provide an example of ISP in your
country.
Write the long form of each of the following abbreviations and indicate its main function:
MAC
HTML
HTTP

Search Engines
Since the creation of the Internet, people have been storing and sending huge amounts of
information online. The challenge for Internet users is to find and retrieve relevant information
as quickly as possible. This requires special software for doing this task, which led to the creation
of search engines.

Meaning of a search engine

A search engine is a software that is used to search for reaources on the Web based on the keywords
that you designate as search terms. It is a software designed to seek information from the World
Wide Web and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers. The search results are generally
presented in a list of results, often referred to as search engine result pages. Some search
engines also extract data available in databases or open directories. Search engines look through
their own databases of information in order to find what it is that you are looking for. The
search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. The information may
consist of web pages, images, and other types of files.

Examples of search engines

Some of the commonly used search engines are:
Google (www.google.com)
Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
Bing (www.bing.com)
Msn (www.msn.com)
Using search engines
A search engine works by sending out a spider or a crawler, which goes through the Internet to
find website addresses and the contents of websites for storage in the search engine database.
Crawlers have the ability to search a wide range of websites at the same time, for both new and
old information, and collect large amounts of information simultaneously and as many files as
possible.
Google
Google is one of the most popular search engines used on the Internet. To use Google Search
Engine for searching information, open any web browser installed in your computer and locate the
address bar, which is at the top of the web browser software as shown in Figure 4.9. Using a
mouse, click the address bar field, and type http://www.google.com.

Figure 4.9: Google address in the address bar

Press the enter key: The homepage for the Google website search engine will be opened. The
page will appear as shown in Figure 4.10.

Figure 4.10: Google search engine homepage

Locate the Google search field as indicated in Figure 4.11

Figure 4.11: Google search field

In the Google Search field, enter a question or a topic to be searched. For example, make your
search topic to be “ICT in Education in Tanzania”, similar to Figure 4.12.
Figure 4.12: Specifying a question or topic to be searched
To use Google search to find answers to your search topic, just click on “Google Search”: the
window similar to Figure 4.13 will appear as the result of the search. Several results that match the
searched topic will be displayed (see Figure 4.13) .

Figure 4.13: Search results window

Clicking on a link of your choice, you will open a web page or a document, depending on the
content found during the search. Documents can be in Portable Document Format (.pdf), word
document format (.doc), PowerPoint format (.ppt), Excel format (.xls), etc.

Other search options

It is possible to search for information about a topic by navigating other Google services such as
images, video, maps, books, and news. For example, we can find the images about the
searched topic by clicking on the images link. Click on Images on the search engine as shown in
Figure 4.14.
Figure 4.14: Searching for images
Many images (pictures) from Google search engine will be displayed as shown in Figure 4.15.

Figure 4.15: Images related to a searched topic

You can save the image by right clicking on the picture and selecting Save Image as option, as
shown in Figure 4.16.

Figure 4.16: Saving the image

Save your picture or image in the location where you want to save it, as shown in Figure 4.17.

Figure 4.17: Saving the image

Searching for videos takes the same procedure as searching for images. Figure
shows the link to view videos related to a searched topic.

Figure 4.18: Viewing videos related ta a searched topic

Using Google search engine
Use Google to search for information on ‘Privatisation in Tanzania’ and write
a summary of the search results.

Application of Internet
The Internet provides several services such as e-mail, e-learning, e-commerce, newsgroups,
online forums, video and teleconferencing, and social media.
Electronic mail
Electronic mail (e-mail) is an electronic communication between different people using computers
or other ICT devices such as mobile phones. Communication through e-mail requires a person
to register (sign up) on an electronic program offered freely or through charged services by a
particular website. In an e-mail account, a person can create, save, and receive information
electronically. An example of e-mail address is director.general@tie.go.tz.
Accessing e-mail services
To access e-mail services, you must have an e-mail account, which is associated with an e-mail
address. There are two types of e-mail addresses: commercial e-mail addresses and
organisational e-mail addresses. Most commercial e-mail addresses are personal e-mails.
Commercial e-mail addresses: These are free e-mail addresses that are created on commercial
websites such as Yahoo, Google and Hotmail. Examples of com- mercial e-mail addresses are:
kode2021@yahoo.com (from Yahoo)
kole_kalikela@gmail.com (from Gmail)
nduwi.kaminula@hotmail.com (from Hotmail)

Organisational e-mail addresses: These are e-mail addresses created by a particular

organisation to facilitate communication by its staff. The following are examples of organisational
e-mail addresses:
kalumekenge@tie.go.tz (from Tanzania Institute of Education - TIE),
kimizi@udom.ac.tz (from the University of Dodoma - UDOM),
mtembei14@dit.ac.tz (from Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology - DIT),
firstname.lastname@out.ac.tz (from the Open University of Tanzania
- OUT), lastname@smartschool.co.tz (from Smart School).

To create a commercial e-mail account, follow these steps:

Launch a browser.
On the webpage address bar, type a web address of an e-mail service provider which offers
free e-mail services. Examples of websites which offer free e-mail services are Yahoo, Google,
and Hotmail. Suppose you want to create a Yahoo-based e-mail address, use www.yahoo.com
as shown in Figure 4.19.
Figure 4.19: Yahoo page
On the Yahoo homepage, click the Mail option: a web page containing an email dialog box will
be displayed.
On email dialog box, click on Create an account button as shown in Figure 4.20.

Figure 4.20: Creating a new account option

Provide personal information on the form as shown in Figure 4.21, then click Continue.
Figure 4.21: Yahoo mail account registration form

Follow these steps to provide the information required for your Yahoo account:
Fill your personal information including:

First name and Surname

Gender
Date of birth
Country code
Phone number
Type the desired e-mail ID. For example, a typical e-mail ID can be
yourname@yahoo.com. If the selected ID belongs to another person, you will be prompted to
select another e-mail ID.

Type a password that you will be using to open your account, then click Continue. You will be
asked to verify your phone number. Yahoo will send you a code. This is challenge-response test
used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by an authentic person.
Type the code as shown in Figure 4.22, then click Verify.
Figure 4.22: Yahoo account verification code
The message to confirm that your Yahoo e-mail has been registered will be
displayed like what is shown in Figure 4.23.

Figure 4.23: Yahoo e-mail confirmation page

Click on Done option. The created e-mail account is ready and you can access the account
information. A web page may display greetings bearing your name as shown in Figure 4.24.

Figure 4.24: Yahoo e-mail greeting page

Click the Mail option in the Inbox folder to open the message.
The home page of the account is displayed similar to the one presented in Figure 4.25.

Figure 4.25: Yahoo mail window

Sending an e-mail
On the e-mail account home page, click on Compose: a web page is displayed for you to fill the
e-mail address of a receiver, subject or message heading, and a message to be sent, as illustrated
in the Figure 4.26

Figure 4.26: Yahoo Message composing page

Fill the required information and click the Send button: the message will be sent to a person
bearing the typed e-mail address. The descriptions of the given fields on the e-mail composition
window are given next.
To Field
To Field is a place to insert an e-mail address of a receiver of a message. If the message is
intended to multiple receivers, then all receivers’ e-mail addresses are typed in the “To” field
separated by comma.
CC Field
CC Field is a place to insert an e-mail address of a receiver whom you want to send a copy of
the e-mail you have sent to another receiver. CC is a short form of Carbon Copy.
For instance, your class teacher can send an e-mail to congratulate you following your outstanding
academic performance. The class teacher may decide to send a copy of that e-mail to the
head of the school, the academic master, and your parents to make them aware of the
congratulations note sent to you. In this case, your e-mail address will be inserted in the “To”
field while the e-mail addresses of the head of school, academic master and your parents will
appear in the “CC” field. Through the CC field, you as a main receiver of the e-mail, will also
be aware of other receivers of your e-mail message.
BCC Field
BCC is also a place to insert the e-mail addresses of the receivers other than the intended
one. BCC is the short form of Blind Carbon Copy. It works in a similar way as “CC” field. Its
difference with CC is that the main receiver of the e-mail in the “To” field becomes unaware on
the receivers in “BCC” field. The “BCC” field is therefore used to confidentially send a copy of
an e-mail to other receivers.
Sign out or log out
Sign out is the process of quitting a signed-in e-mail account. It is important to sign out to
prevent unauthorised users from accessing information in your e-mail when someone else uses the
computer you have used to sign in. To sign out your e-mail account, you need to click a link
labelled Sign Out as shown in Figure 4.27.

Figure 4.27: Yahoo Sign out window

Signing in and accessing e-mail folders

If you want to access your e-mail, you must first sign in. In general, the term sign in means
making record of arrival at a place such as hotel, office, or workstation, done by writing in a
special book. In e-mails, sign in means the process of getting into your e-mail account for the
purpose of sending new messages or reading incoming messages. To read an e-mail, you must be
signed into an e-mail account by launching a web browser and typing the URL
(http://mail.yahoo.com for Yahoo mail, or http://mail.google.com for Gmail account). For
example, in Yahoo mail, once you type that URL, the web page opens. Sign in is done by
filling in the username on the sign in form (see Figure 4.28), and then clicking Next.
Figure 4.28: Specifying username for Yahoo mail sig in

To finish sign in, type a password in a specified place as shown in Figure 4.29.

Figure 4.29: Yahoo mail page for entering password

Click Next to open the account as shown in Figure 4.30. Click on Inbox folder to see the
messages in the account.
Figure 4.30: Accessing Yahoo mail
In the Inbox folder, a list of unread messages is shown in bold. The latest message in Figure 4.30 is
from Yahoo, and its subject is “Welcome to email that gets you Get ready to”.
NOTE: In addition to the Inbox, other folders displayed on left hand side of your web
browser are such as unread, starred, sent, spam, archive, and trash. The descriptions of some of
these folders are given next.
Sent: A folder containing messages that have been sent from your account.
Draft: A folder containing messages that are written but not sent.
Spam: A folder containing messages received from suspicious sources.

Reading an e-mail message

To read an e-mail message, open the inbox folder, then click the subject of the message you
want to read. For example, to read a new message from Yahoo (see Figure 4.30), click on its
subject to open it. If the message contains an attachment as in Figure 4.31, you can download it
and either open or save it.

Figure 4.31: e-mail with attachments

The attached files (Figure 4.31 ) are in word and PDF formats. To download a specific file,
click on it; or you can click on ‘download all’ and a page similar to the one shown in Figure 4.32
will be displayed.
Figure 4.32: Attachment opening dialog box
Click on Save: a page that shows different locations where the file can be saved will be opened.
Select a location such as Desktop then Click Save: the file will be saved on the Desktop.

NOTE: After reading the e-mail message, you can delete the message, print, reply, or forward
it to other recipients. For example, to forward the message, click on be Forward button that
appears above the message and the Compose Message page will appear for you to fill the details
as in the procedure for sending an e-mail.
To reply to the e-mail message, just open that particular e-mail, then click on the Reply
button. The compose e-mail window will appear, but this time the recipient’s address and the
subject will already be there.

Sending an e-mail message with an attachment

Sign in to your e-mail account. Click on Compose message: a window will appear as in Figure
4.33.

Figure 4.33: Compose message

Enter in the To field the e-mail address of the recipient of the e-mail. Write the
heading of your e-mail in the Subject field (see Figure 4.34).
Figure 4.34: Composing an e-mail message with attachment

Click on Attach File icon to attach a file as shown in Figure 4.34: the computer gives
an option to choose the location where you can find the file you want to attach. In this case, the
options are Desktop, Downloads, Recent places, or other locations in your computer. Click on
the Desktop folder: the dialog box
will be opened as in Figure 4.35.

Figure 4.35: Window for selecting files

When you click on Desktop, all folders and files stored in the Desktop folder will appear.
Select the file names, then click the Open button (see Figure 4.36) to attach the file.
Figure 4.36: Confirming email attachments
When a file is successfully attached, it will be seen as in Figure 4.37.

Figure 4.37: Mail window showing attached file

The attached file can be seen in terms of its size, and file extension. For Yahoo mail, the
maximum file size to be attached should not exceed 25MB. Other email applications might have
different maximum file sizes. If you want to attach another file, you may click on the
Attach More button as seen in Figure 4.38. Complete the task by clicking Send. The message
will be sent and the feedback report will be displayed.
Figure 4.38: Button for attaching more files

Advantages of e-mail services

Some of the advantages of e-mail services are as follows:
Easy to use: It is very easy to send e-mails and manage your contacts.
Tool for interaction: You can send e-mail messages instantly to any person in the world.
Cost effective: Though you pay for internet connection, the benefits
beat the cost.
Reliable: It is reliable because you are, often, assured that the e-mail will be delivered to the
recipient address.
Message length: It is easier to send much longer messages with e-mail than with Short
Message Service (SMS).
Attachment: It allows a user to send different attachments such as text, picture, and video.
Easy to reference: It is easy to make reference to the previous e-mail.
Wide access: With the increased availability of Internet on mobile phones, e-mail is becoming
accessible to most parts of the country and the world.
Neatness: Using e-mail allows to format the message based on your own preferences.

Disadvantages of e-mail services

The following are some of disadvantages of using e-mail services:
Lack of personal touch: Some things, like expression of emotion are best left untyped.
Literacy: It needs a user to be computer literate.
Size of attachment:The attachments can only be sent in limited size.
Spam: An e-mail can be abused to send unwanted messages or advertisements. These
messages are called spams. It wastes time to remove spam messages from your e-mail.
Viruses: Viruses are computer programs that can seriously affect your computer system. If you
want to be comfortable using e-mail, you need to know how to deal with these threats.
Hacking: Before an e-mail is delivered to the receiver, it passes through many servers
located on different parts of the world. As such, it might be read by a hacker before reaching
the intended receiver.
Creating an e-mail
Create an e-mail account in Gmail. Follow the steps of sending an e-mail
message, to compose and send an e-mail message to your friend to inform her/
him about your progress in learning ICS subject. Attach any word document
you have prepared as an evidence.

Electronic Learning (e-Learning)

The development of the Internet has led to the creation of several Internet-based products and
services. One area which has taken advantage of the presence of the Internet is the learning
process. Technology has facilitated Internet based learning known as e-learning. E-learning refers
to using electronic technologies to present and access educational materials outside a physical
classroom. Delivering educational contents through a DVD, CD-ROM, mobile phones, online
classes, video tape, radio, or over a television channel is an example of e-Learning.
learning can take a form of distance education, which enables students to learn at their own pace,
time, and convenience using Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle. Distance
education can be facilitated by computers or mobile devices connected to the Internet. The
delivery of contents is consistent and can be easily repeated if needed.
Advantages of e-Learning
The following are some advantages of e-Learning:
• You can have your own learning schedule and your own pace.
• You can learn at your place without going to the physical school or class.
• It saves cost of transport for both learners and education providers.
• It can be used to support blended learning i.e., combining face to face and online learning.

Disadvantages of e-Learning
The following are some disadvantages of e-Learning:
• It minimises social interaction between students and teachers.
• Internet connection may be required to access some resources, and Internet can be expensive.
• It requires self-motivation as unmotivated student may waste time on other entertaining sites.
Electronic Commerce
The development of the Internet has also led to the development of online business
transactions, which is termed as electronic commerce (e-commerce). This has significantly
changed the way we do business. E-commerce is a term used to describe a business or
commercial transaction that involves the transfer of business information across the Internet.
It can be a consumer-based retail site, an auction, a music site, or a business exchange.
-commerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers
of time or distance. When implemented properly, e-commerce is often faster, cheaper and
more convenient than traditional business methods. E-commerce is used in various business
scales such as retail sale, wholesale, and manufacturing. Examples of e-commerce fora in the
world are such as Jumia, Kupatana, Amazon, KiKUU, eBay, BE FORWARD, and Alibaba online
shopping. Some of the common applications of e-commerce are described in subsequent sections.

Online Marketing
In marketing, e-commerce is used to collect data about customer behaviours, preferences, needs,
and buying patterns. This is possible through web and e-commerce software. Web and
e-commerce software help in marketing and purchasing activities such as price fixing,
negotiation, product features enhancement, customer relationship, purchase, and customer
support. E-commerce also includes advertising products through other sites and software such
as Google ads or ads in YouTube videos.

Online Auctions
In some cases, e-commerce is practiced by direct selling of goods and services among customers.
E-commerce also supports bidding in online auction. Bidding is a part of an auction that allows
prospective buyers to offer a price for an item. For example, in eBay, customers are given an
opportunity to quote online the prices for commodities. A person who quotes higher than others
is given an opportunity to pay for the commodity. Then the goods are sent to him/her via a
courier services such as Post Cargo, EMS, or DHL. In some cases, auctions take place online,
but there is an option to physically collect the goods, e.g., the Tanzania Revenue Authority
(TRA) online auction.

Finance
One application of e-commerce in finance is Electronic Banking (e-banking).
Customers can check balances of their savings and loan accounts, transfer money, and pay their bills
through e-banking. Examples of e-banking services are such as CRDB SimBanking, NMB
Mkononi, and NBC Kiganjani. These e-banking services are also complemented by widerspread
mobile money services such as Airtel Money, M-Pesa, Tigo-Pesa, T-Pesa, Halotel Money, and
EasyPesa. Another application of e-commerce is online stock trading. An example of online
stock trading is Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) that also operates electronically.
Manufacturing
commerce is used in the supply chain operations of companies. Some companies form an electronic
exchange by providing both bought and sold goods, trade market information, and run back-
office information such as inventory control. This speeds up the flow of raw material and
finished goods.

Online forums
These are online services where people contribute to written discussion about a particular
subject. To participate in the discussion forum, a person is sometimes required to subscribe using
an e-mail address. Examples of online forums include Google Answers, Quora, and Slide Share.
Online forums can be used for both academic and social purposes.

Video and teleconferencing

Video and teleconferencing enables conversation between people separated by physical
barriers through a web-based system that facilitates things such as family interaction, business
meetings, and learning activities. Examples of video conferencing tools are Zoom, Google Meet,
Cisco WebEx, and Skype.
Social media
These are applications that facilitate instant social sharing of ideas and information. Users engage
with social media through web-based software accessible via devices such as computers,
smartphones, and tablets. Social media allow user- generated contents and personalised
profiles. Examples of social media are Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, and
Twitter.
Advantages of using the Internet
Internet is one of the best inventions for information dissemination and it has brought huge
impact in our lives. It has become the best platform to share and get knowledge about almost
anything across the world. As presented in this chapter
we can summarise some advantages of using the Internet as follows:
Source of information: Internet helps searching different new information for learning, business,
leisure, etc.
Source of entertainment: Among other things, through the use of Internet, you can download
and play online games as well as watch and listen to online music and video.
Online shopping: Internet enables shopping online as there are many online stores and sites in
and outside the country that can be accessed for this purpose.
Communication: The Internet gives you a chance to widen communication and relationship through
e-mails, chat rooms, and messaging tools such as Skype, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook.
Promoting business: The Internet offers best and cheapest way to promote businesses or
products through platforms such as Instagram, individual websites, and organisational websites.
Online learning: The internet has enabled learning from wherever you are due to online
classrooms and via platforms such as Zoom, Google meet and Microsoft teams, a well as
Virtual labs such as iLab and Phet simulations.
Telemedicine: Internet enables medical professionals to care for patients remotely from
wherever they are in the world. This includes offering specialised services such as heart
surgery.
E-services: Internet enables government and private institutions to provide various services
electronically. Such services include payment of utility bills, appliction for business licences,
payment of tuition fees, and purchasing tickets.
Negative effects of the Internet
Although there are positive impacts of using the Internet, the following are some of its negative
impacts:
Internet addiction: Internet can make some people so much addicted to it that they are
online all the time, mainly on social media. This can disturb a person’s way of living,
professional and learning activities, thus reducing their productivity and efficiency.
Cybercrime: Internet is open to everyone. Some people may use it to perform online crimes
(Cybercrimes). This involves illegal practices such as hacking systems, cracking programs,
spreading computer viruses, or even intercepting credit card or bank details for theft purpose.
Cyberbullying
This is an aggressive act that can cause emotional distress, physical health problems, and suicidal
thoughts. It can also make young people feel lonely and insecure, and may lead them to
withdraw from friends and school.
Addiction
Social media addiction can disrupt a person's life, both personally and professionally.
Personal data security
Users may unknowingly share personal data on social media, which can be used for identity
theft, stalking, cyberbullying, and more.
Inappropriate content
The internet can provide easy access to illegal or inappropriate materials that are not age-
suitable.
Misuse
The internet can be misused for spreading hate, terrorism, or other malicious activities.
Cognitive development
Prolonged internet use can damage children's cognitive development, including memory skills,
attention span, and language acquisition.
Harm to social relations
New technology can make friends and family members feel left behind.
Damage to communities
Many offline activities, such as shopping, socializing, and professional interactions, have moved
online, which can damage offline communities.

Measures taken to reduce negative effects of using the Internet

Some measures can be taken to reduce negative effects of the Internet:
Use of antivirus.
Use of strong passwords.
Keeping your software updated.
Managing your social media settings.
Strengthening your home network.
Provide awareness to children about safe use of the Internet.
Keep up-to-date on major security breaches.
Having in place policies and acts to reduce the negative effects of Internet e.g., the Tanzania
Cybercrimes Act 2015.
Studing the effects of the Internet on moral decay
Using online resources from different websites, write a short essay on the effects
of the Internet on moral decay, and how they can be resolved in your society.

Exercise 4.2
Review Questions
Define the term Internet.
Explain common features of web browsers.
How can the Internet enhance and promote learning?
How can you use the Internet to enrich your presentations?
The best user of Internet services is the one who considers it as a time saver rather than a time
waster. Discuss.
Suppose the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) displayed 2020 National
Form Four Examination Results, and you needed to access the information on the Internet. How
would you go about it?
What is the difference between IP address and MAC address?
List any three services provided on the Internet and their importance.
Your head of school wishes to be connected to the Internet. He/she already has a Personal
Computer (PC), a printer, and access to a telephone line.
However, he/she understands that a modem is needed. State why a modem is required to connect
him/her to the Internet.

Suggest any four application areas in which you would expect a supermarket retail manager to
use the Internet.
What is a website? Provide three examples of websites and their usefulness.
(a) What is meant by the term e-learning?
Explain the importance of e-learning.
List three challenges that are likely to be encountered in e-learning.
(a) What is a network protocol?
(b) Explain the importance of network protocols in computer networks.
(a) Explain the meaning of the following concepts as used in Internet:
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Web pages
Web browsers
Hyperlink
(b) Name three examples of Internet Service Providers in Tanzania and their contribution to the
social-economic development of the country.
Briefly describe four advantages of using the Internet to
disseminate information compared to conventional methods.
In the following e-mail address, identify the parts labelled as A, B, C, and D.
iat@africaonline.co.tz
A B C D
A file in a school website can be accessed via the following URL:
http://www.tambaza.ac.tz/results/form_2_results.pdf. Briefly explain the parts of this address.

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Provide an example of institutions whose e-mail addresses end with the following extensions:
.org
.edu
.com
.net
.mil
.gov
.go
.tz
Discuss four advantages and two disadvantages that electronic mails have over postal mails.
(a) What is a search engine?
Explain the importance of a search engine in education.
Give four examples of search engines you know, including one that is commonly used in your
school or community.
State two ways that search engines use to locate web pages.
List two advantages of using hyperlinks when browsing the Internet.
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of information obtained from the Internet.

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