CALL Glossary

Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be sent from one computer to another through a particular connection in a certain amount of time, e.g. via a computer to the Internet and vice versa. The more bandwidth available, the faster you are able to access information. Bandwidth is usually measured in kilobits per second (Kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps). You can check your bandwidth connection speed at sites like speedtest.net and  auditmypc.com

Blog

A blog is an online journal with entries that appear in reverse chronological order. They typically contain comments by other readers, links to other sites and an RSS feed that readers can subscribe to. More info

Browser

A software package installed on the hard disk of your computer that enables you to access and to navigate the World Wide Web - to "surf the Web" in colloquial terms. Popular browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Flock, Microsoft Internet Explorer, & Safari.

Bytes / KB / MB / GB / TB

Units of computer storage 1 byte = 8 bits 1 KB (kilobyte) = 1024 bytes (one floppy disk hold 1440 KB ) 1 MB (megabyte) = 1024 KB (a CD hold about 700MB) 1 GB (gigabyte) = 1024 MB (common hard drives these days hold 200-1000GB)

clipboard

An unseen, temporary storage space used when you copy or cut information (such as text, graphics or files).

Copy

Copy is a command that sends a duplicate of selected data to the Clipboard for use in another location. Usually available from Edit/Copy , Right Click /Copy, and ctrl-c.

css

A cascading style sheet is a document containing style information that can be referenced by multiple web pages. More info here

Cut

Cut is a command that removes selected data and places it on the Clipboard for use in another location. Usually available at Edit/Cut , Right click / Cut , ctrl-x

default

The setting or value that an application, program, or device has before any changes are made by the user.

Desktop

The screen background on which windows, icons, and dialog boxes appear. The desktop is what is seen when programs are all closed or minimized.

Download

The transfer of data from a website or server to a local computer.

Feed

an XML file used to deliver text and/or media enclosures using RSS.

File

Unit for storing information (text, image, audio, etc.) that can be stored on a hard drive or other storage device. A file is identified by a name, followed by a dot and then its extension (indicating the type of file). For example, filename.txt - see file extensions

File Extension

In filenames, the group of letters after the period is called the file extension. It indicates the type of file and/or the program which was used to create it. For more info, see a list of CALL related list of extensions< orWikipedia's complete list of extensions

Folder

Files are stored in a folder (or directory) which can also contain subfolders, thus creating a hierarchy of files.

HTML

The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. The "hyper" in Hypertext comes from the fact that in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or an image, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a "Web Browser

Maximize

The Maximize command enlarges a window to fill the entire Desktop

Menu Bar

In the top left part of most programs and applications, there is a menu of things you can do and options you can configure. Common menu categories are File, Edit, View, Tools, & Help.

Minimize

The Minimize command reduces a window to a button on the Taskbar

Open Source

A non-proprietary type of software which grants the end user the privilege of copying, distribution and/or modification. More info

Paste

Paste is a command that inserts data from the Clipboard into a document. Usually available by clicking Edit/Paste, Right click / paste, or ctrl-v

Podcast

Podcasts is a media file (usually audio but sometimes video) made available for download to a portable device or personal computer. Podcasts use feeds that let you subscribe to them, so that when a new audio clip is published online, it arrives on your digital doorstep right away. (For more details, see Wikipedia)

Quicklaunch

Quick Launch Toolbar is a row of icons at the bottom left of your Windows desktop that can be used to launch programs with one click.

Refresh

refresh (or reload) a webpage in order to see any updates made to that page.

Remix

To remix content is to take elements of two or more media files and mash them together to create a new piece of media. Often, these are called mash-ups.

Resolution

Resolution is a measure of graphics that's used to describe what a printer can print, a scanner can scan, and a monitor can display. In printers and scanners, resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi)--the number of pixels a device can fit in an inch of space. A monitor's resolution refers to the number of pixels in the whole image. Common resolutions include 800 by 600, 1,024 by 768, and 1,280 by 1,024.

Root Directory

The top of a directory hierarchy. On Windows machines, this usually c:\ All other directories (or folders) are contained within the root directory or its sub-directories.

RSS

Really Simple Syndication - a format that lets readers stay current with blogs and news content using a feedreader, or aggregator. Blogs, podcasts and videoblogs contain an RSS feed, which lets users subscribe to content automatically and read or listen to the material on a computer or a portable device. (For more details, see What is RSS?)

screensaver

An application that displays images (usually moving in some way) on the screen of the user when the computer is not in use. Can be configured in Windows by going to Control Panel/Display / Screen Saver

System Configuration Utility

In Windows, this allows users to determine which applications run during computer startup. This can be accessed by clicking Start/Run/ and typing 'msconfig'. Screencast here

Tabs

One or more tabs can be displayed across the top of the browser window, each of which can display a different web page.

Tags

Tags are keywords adding to a blog post, photo or video to help users find related topics or media. For more details, see our Learning Center: What are tags?

Taskbar

The Taskbar is a panel that appears on the Windows Desktop (usually at the bottom) which contains the Start button, the Quick Launch tray, the icons of any programs that are running in the background, the icons of programs that start automatically, and the time. See image here

Toolbar

a type of Menu Bar, normally located at the top of a computer screen, that contains icons for the most commonly-used commands in an application, e.g. in a word-processor or Browser. Typically, a toolbarappears under the Main Menu Bar, which normally consists of set of names of drop-down menus.

Upload

The transfer of data from a local computer to a website or server

URL

An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator - The unique address of any online document or page. For example,

Protocol	Domain name	Path or directory	Name of file
http://	learningcall.net/	tools/internet/	glossary.htm

Web2.0

Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the Web, which enables people with no specialized technical knowledge to create their own websites to self-publish, create and upload audio and video files, share photos and information and complete a variety of other tasks. In this new world, the Internet becomes a platform for self-expression, education and advocacy that "regular people" can use on their own without having to go to an expert to do it for them. Some of the best-known Web 2.0 websites include Wikipedia, MySpace, Digg, Flickr and YouTube. (For more details, see Wikipedia<, TechSoup's What Is Web 2.0 Anyway?<, and Tim O'Reilly's What is Web 2.0)

Wiki

A wiki is a collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Small teams often find that they can accomplish a task easier by creating a collaborative online workspace using wiki software such aspbwiki<, Socialtext<, mediawiki< or phpBB<. (For more details, see Wikipedia.)

WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG is an acronym for 'What You See Is What You Get', meaning that how something looks on the screen when editing is how it will look when editing is finished.