The Practice IT books and CD-ROMs are a new and complete IT resource for Years 7-10. They have been written specifically to the CSF II requirements. Practice IT Book 1: For Lower Secondary includes theory and exercises on the required syllabus content. The accompanying Teacher Support CD-ROM, which can be loaded onto the school network, provides more detailed instructions and allows the tasks set out in the book to be completed using a wide variety of software applications. The CD-ROM also contains background notes for the teacher as well as additional classroom material. Practice IT Book 1: For Lower Secondary is suitable for stand-alone IT courses or for use by individual subject teachers across the curriculum. The series is compatible with available hardware in most schools and is suitable for either Macintosh or PC networks.

Table of Contents:
Teachers' notes; Module 1. Computer awareness: Recent history of computer development, How a computer works, Computer hardware: The development of technology, Computer software: Operating systems, The graphical user interface, Storage and memory: ROM - read-only memory, RAM - random-access memory, Permanent storage, Basic units of stored data - bits, bytes, What are files?, What are folders?, Managing files and folders, Computer security: Backup data, Passwords, Computer viruses, Computer crime: Hackers, Malicious damage, Computer theft and fraud, Computers as criminal tools, Communication - internet and email: Internal and external networks, The development of the internet, Who uses the internet?, The future - where do we go now?, Advantages and disadvantages of the internet, Hardware and software requirements, Internet features and services: The world wide web, Email, Mailing lists, Bulletin boards, Internet relay chat, Using an address to open a website, Moving around a website, Using search engines: Searching the internet, Advanced searches, Bookmarks or Favorites, Sending and receiving email: Creating a new message, Message etiquette, Replying to a message, Attachments, Internet project; Module 2. Word Processing: What is word processing?, Keyboard technique: The home keys, The other keys, Special keys, Correct posture, Entering a document, Formatting text, Copying and pasting text, Inserting page breaks and moving text, Tab stops, Page margins and indents: Page margins, Setting page margins, Combining tabs and indents, Further tabs and indents, Bulleted and numbered lists, Page formats, Inserting graphics, Multiple page documents, Word processing projects: Investigating the problem, Designing the solution, Producing the solution, Evaluating the solution, Possible projects; Module 3. Microsoft drawing tools: The drawing tool bar, Using the standard tools, Editing objects, Using ClipArt, The Text Box tool, Aligning objects, Enhancing objects, Using WordArt, WordArt enhancements, AutoShapes, Drawing tools projects; Module 4. Multimedia: What is multimedia?, Creating a new presentation, Entering text, Formatting text, Inserting graphics, Starting from scratch, Slide transitions, Animating slides for a slide show, Building bullets, Multimedia projects; Module 5. Computer graphics: The different types of graphics programs: Bit-mapped or pixel-based programs, Object-oriented or vector-based programs, Creating a painting, Making a more detailed sketch, Copying graphics, Editing graphics, Creating borders, Creating a poster, Computer graphics project; Module 6. Spreadsheets: What is a spreadsheet?, Spreadsheet structure, Data entry, Formulas and calculations, Formatting, Charts: Chart types, Spreadsheet projects, Mathematics and spreadsheets; Module 7. Databases: Data and information: What is data?, What is information?, What is a database?, Database terms: Fields, Records, Files, Creating a database, Editing a database, Creating reports, Calculation fields, Creating different reports, Sorting data, Finding data, Database projects: Investigate the problem, Design the solution, Produce the solution, Evaluate the solution.