Connecting and Communicating Online

Module 2: Connecting and Communicating Online - The Internet, Website, and Media

The Internet

• The Internet is a global network connecting millions of businesses, government bodies, educational institutions, and individuals.
• ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet, emerged in September 1969 with aims to enable information sharing among scientists at different locations and ensure network functionality even with disruptions.
• In 1984, ARPANET grew to include over 1,000 individual computers linked as hosts.
• Today, millions of hosts are connected through the Internet

Connecting to the Internet

• Wired connections involve physical attachment of a computer or device to a communications device via cable, while wireless connections use modems for connectivity.
• Methods for wired connections include cable internet service, DSL, and FTTP.
• Wireless connection methods are Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, fixed wireless, and satellite Internet service.
• A hotspot refers to a wireless network facilitating Internet connections for mobile devices.
• An Internet Service Provider is a company that offers both individuals and organizations access to the Internet.
• Bandwidth refers to the capacity of a network to transmit and receive data, measured in megabytes and gigabytes.
• An IP address is a unique sequence of numbers identifying the location of devices connected to the Internet.
• A domain name, which is text-based, corresponds to the IP address of a server.
• A DNS server translates a domain name to its associated IP address.

Popular TLDs and their Intended Purposes

• .biz: Businesses
• .com: Commercial organizations, businesses, & companies
• .edu: Educational institutions
• .gov: Government agencies
• .mil: Military organizations
• .museum: Museums & museum professionals
• .name: Individuals
• .net: Network providers & commercial companies
• .org: Nonprofit organizations
• .pro: Licensed professionals
• .technology: Technology information
• .travel: Entities in the travel industry

The World Wide Web (WWW)

• The World Wide Web (WWW) is a collection of electronic documents called webpages.
• A website consists of a collection of related webpages and associated items.
• A web server delivers requested webpages to computers or mobile devices.
• HTML is a set of symbols developers use to specify elements on a webpage
• A browser is software enabling users to access and view webpages via an Internet connection.
• Internet-capable mobile devices utilize mobile browsers.
• A home page refers to the first page a website displays.
• Modern browsers support tabbed browsing.
• A webpage has a unique web address, also called a URL.
• A web app is an application stored on a web server, accessed through a browser.
  • Web apps usually store user data.

Types of Websites

• Web search engines are software that finds websites, webpages, images, videos, news, maps and other related information.
• A subject directory classifies webpages in an organized set of categories.
• Types of websites include search engines, social networks, and informational resources.
• There are also media-sharing, and bookmarking sites.
• Sites dedicated to news, education, business, blogs, wikis, health, science, entertainment, banking, travel, mapping, and retail
• Other types include sites for careers, e-commerce, portals, content aggregation, and website creation.
• Web publishing involves the creation and maintenance of websites.

Types of Websites - Search Engine Operators

• Space or +: Display results that include specific words.
  • Example: art + music art music.
• OR: Display search results that include only one word from a list.
  • Example: dog OR puppy.
• ( ): Combines search results including specific words with those including only one word from a list.
  • Example: Kalamazoo Michigan (pizza OR subs).
• -: Excludes a word from search results.
  • Example: automobile -convertible
• " ": Searches for an exact phrase in a certain order.
  • Example: "19th century literature"
• *: Substitutes characters in place of the asterisk.
  • Example: writer*

Digital Media on the Web

• Multimedia refers to any application that combines text with media such as graphics, animation, audio, video, and virtual reality.
• A graphic is a visual representation of nontext information
  • Graphic formats include BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
• An infographic is a visual representation of data and information, designed to communicate quickly, simplify complex concepts, or present patterns or trends.
• Animation is the appearance of motion created by displaying a series of still images in sequence.
• Audio includes music, speech, or any other sound that is compressed to reduce file size.
• Video is comprised of images displayed in motion.
• Virtual reality is the use of computers to simulate a real or imagined three-dimensional space.
• A plug-in (or add-on) is a program enhancing a browser's capabilities.

Other Internet Services

• Email is the transmission of messages and files via a computer network.
  • An email program allows users to create, send, receive, forward, store, print, and delete email messages.
• An email list is a group of email addresses employed for mass distribution of messages.
• Internet messaging services are communication services that notify users of a contact's online presence, enabling message or file exchange or private chatroom access.
• A chat is a real-time typed conversation among many online users.
  • A chat room is a website or application that permits users to chat with others who are online at the same time.
• An online discussion is a forum for users to engage in written discussions about a topic.
• VoIP enables users to speak to other users via their Internet connection.
• FTP is an Internet standard protocol that allows users to upload and download files.
• An FTP server is a computer that allows users to upload and/or download files using FTP.

Netiquette

• Netiquette is the code of acceptable Internet behavior users should follow while on the Internet.