Glossary – LiteracyCNY

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4G LTE: 4G Is the 4^th generation of cellular mobile networks. LTE stands for “Long Term Evolution” which is the technology behind 4G cellular networks. There are two major mobile network types that are in use right now: 4G LTE and 5G. The G here stands for “generation.” Before 5G rolled out, 4G LTE was the fastest mobile network technology.

5G: 5G Is the 5^th generation of cellular mobile networks. There are two major mobile network types that are in use right now: 4G LTE and 5G. The G here stands for “generation.” The 3G network is the oldest still in regular use, and the 5G is the newest. 5G is currently the fastest cellular internet speed available.

Access Point: Is a device that creates a wireless local network. It connects to a wired router, switch, or hub via an Ethernet cable, and projects a Wi-Fi signal to a designated area.

Account: An account is an arrangement by which a user is given personalized access to a computer, website, or application, typically by entering a username and password.

Ad: An ad is a type of digital marketing that utilizes social networks such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Algorithm: A set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function.

Antivirus: Antivirus is a kind of software used to prevent, scan, detect and delete viruses from a computer. Once installed, most antivirus software runs automatically in the background to provide real-time protection against virus attacks. Typically, most programs will use three different detection devices: specific detection, which identifies known malware; generic detection, which looks for known parts or types of malware or patterns that are related by a common codebase; and heuristic detection, which scans for unknown viruses by identifying known suspicious file structures. When the program finds a file that contains a virus, it will usually quarantine it and/or mark it for deletion, making it inaccessible and removing the risk to your device.

App: A mobile application, most commonly referred to as an app, is a type of application software designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. Mobile applications frequently serve to provide users with similar services to those accessed on PCs. Apps are generally small, individual software units with limited function.

App Store: The App Store gives people around the world a safe and trusted place to discover apps that meet our high standards for privacy, security, and content.

Asterisk: A symbol (*) used to mark printed or written text.

Attachment: An attachment is simply an additional file sent with an email message. An attachment can be an image file, a Word document, or one of many other supported file types. Attachments are usually represented by a paperclip symbol.

Audience: The term audience refers to groups of people with an interest in your company or product. In the case of websites, the audience consists of all visitors to a website.

Authentication: The process of identifying yourself and the verification that you are who you say you are. Computers where restricted information is stored may ask you to enter your username and password to gain access.

Avatar: An avatar is an image that represents a person online, most often within forums and social networks.

BYOD: Bring Your Own Device or “BYOD” is a business and technology policy that allows employees to bring in personal mobile devices and use these devices to access company data, email, etc.

Back Up: The process of creating a copy of the data on your system that you use for recovery in case your original data is lost or corrupted. You can also use backup to recover copies of older files if you have deleted them from your system.

Bandwidth: A measurement of the amount of data that can be transmitted over a network at any given time. The higher the network’s bandwidth, the greater the volume of data that can be transmitted. Network bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps); modern networks typically have speeds measured in millions of bits per second (megabits per second, or Mbps) or billions of bits per second (gigabits per second, or Gbps).

Bio: A bio on social media refers to a short bit of explainer text that explains who the user is.

Blog: Blog is a word that was created from two words: “web log.” Blogs are usually maintained by an individual or a business with regular entries of content on a specific topic, descriptions of events, or other resources such as graphics or video. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Bluetooth: Bluetooth is a wireless technology that uses a radio frequency to share data over a short-range wireless communication between two devices, eliminating the need for wires.

Bookmark/Bookmarking: Create a bookmark, or bookmarking online follows the same idea of placing a bookmark in a physical publication- you’re simply marking a website you found important, enjoyed, or want to continue reading later.

Bot: Bot is short for robot and called an internet bot – It is a computer program that operates as an agent for a user or other program or to simulate a human activity. Bots are normally used to automate certain tasks, meaning they can run without specific instructions from humans.

Browser: A computer program with a graphical user interface for displaying and navigating between web pages

Browsing History: Browsing history refers to the list of web pages a user has visited, as well as associated metadata such as page title and time of visit.

CAPTCHA: A test to prevent spamming software from accessing a website by requiring visitors to the site to solve a simple puzzle (typically by reading and transcribing a series of numbers or letters from a distorted image) in order to gain access to the site.

Cable: A Cable is an insulated wire or wires having a protective casing and used for transmitting electricity or telecommunication signals.

Cellular Data: Cellular data is the provides access to the Internet when not within a Wi-Fi network. Hotspots take precedence over cellular transmission. If cellular data is turned off, users that are not in Wi-Fi range cannot access the internet. Prior to 4G LTE, cellular data could not be accessed while making a phone call on the same device.

Check boxes: Check boxes are a small box on a form into which a check or other mark is entered as the response to a question.

Click: Is an action which is performed on a website that has been consulted by an Internet user with a simple click of a mouse.

Click and hold: The action of clicking your computer’s mouse on an object and holding the mouse button down, but not releasing it. Depending on what you click upon, this may bring up an additional menu or list of selections you can make by pulling the mouse down and releasing the button.

Cloud: The “cloud,” refers to software and services that run on the Internet instead of your computer. Apple iCloud, Dropbox, Netflix, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, Microsoft Office 365, Yahoo Mail are all cloud-based services.

Cloud Printing: Cloud printing can be described as a service that allows users to print from any device on the network. Cloud printing connects digital devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, and workstations with printer stations.

Comment: A comment is a response that is often provided as an answer or reaction to a blog post or message on a social network.

Computer: A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program, software, or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed.

Content: Anything that someone has posted or shared with others.

Cookie: A small text file sent to your computer by a web site you have visited. These can be very useful in that they can allow the web site to recognize who you are when you return. Cookies cannot store viruses or other threats, although they can be used to track your activity across different web sites in order to provide, for example, “targeted” advertisements.

Copy: To duplicate a file, document, folder, or selected text in another location.

Cyber Attack: A deliberate assault against a computer system, mobile device, or network. The goal of a cyberattack may be to deny service from a website, penetrate a computer or a network to steal sensitive data, or just plain vandalism.

Cyber Security: Cyber security is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. It’s also known as information technology security or electronic information security.

Data: Technically, data are raw facts and figures, such as orders and payments, which are processed into information, such as balance due and quantity on hand. In common usage, however, the terms “data” and “information” are used synonymously.

Database: A collection of information organized so that a computer application can quickly access selected information; it can be thought of as an electronic filing system. Traditional databases are organized by fields, records (a complete set of fields), and files (a collection of records). Alternatively, in a Hypertext database, any object (e.g., text, a picture, or a film) can be linked to any other object.

Default: The pre-set value or action taken by software. Application programs have many defaults, including margin settings, font style, the printer that should be used and the folder name for saving files. Although pre-determined by the vendor, a default setting can be changed by the user (see settings).

Digital Divide: The economic, educational, and social inequalities between those who have computers and online access and those who do not.

Digital Equity: A condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy. Digital equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.

Digital Footprint: The history of a person’s usage of digital devices, which includes, among others, TV movies and programs watched, Web pages downloaded, websites logged into, text, chat and social media messages sent, links clicked, and Facebook pages liked. Also called a “digital fingerprint,” this information is widely used to target ads to consumers. In addition, credit card transactions and cellphone call also create a digital footprint that can be used to track a person’s whereabouts.

Digital Literacy: The ability to find, create, and share information using a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Direct Message/DM: To send someone a private message on social media, especially Twitter.

Download: Downloading is the process of getting web pages, images and files from a web server.

Ebook: An ebook is an electronic version of a book.

Emoji: Emojis are small cartoonish images that can be sent along with text in social media and private messages.

External Link: An external link is often described as any link that goes to a different domain.

FaceTime: FaceTime is an application used to make video calls to other people using a Mac computer, iPhone, iPad, or iPod. Originally, FaceTime could only be used with Apple products (not Windows or Android devices), but has since been updated to allow users from other platforms to join via web links.

File: A file is an object on a computer that stores data, information, settings, or commands used with a computer program.

Flash Drive: This is a small portable hard drive that plugs into a USB port and allows you to transport files between different computers. Also called a thumb drive.

Follower: In a social media setting, a follower refers to a person who subscribes to your account in order to receive your updates.

Friends: Friends is the term used on Facebook to represent the connections you make and the people you follow. These are individuals you consider to be friendly enough with you to see your Facebook profile and engage with you.

GIF: GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. In social media, GIFs serve as small-scale animations and film clips.

Gmail: A free web-based email service that provides users with 15 GB of free storage for messages and the ability to search for specific messages. Gmail, otherwise known as Google Mail, can be accessed from a personal computer, tablet or any Android or iOS device.

Google Calendar: A time-management and scheduling calendar service developed by Google.

Google Chrome: Google Chrome is a free web browser produced by Google that fully integrates with its online search system as well as its other applications.

Google Docs: Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, Google Docs is a free alternative to Microsoft Word by Windows.

Google Drive: Google Drive is a cloud-based file storage service from Google. It also offers a free software suite that includes a word processor, and many others for spreadsheets, presentations, drawing, and several others.

Google Forms: Google Forms is a survey administration software included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google.

Google Meet: A video communication service developed by Google. Anyone with a Google Account can create a video meeting with up to 100 participants and meet for up to 60 minutes per meeting for free. Meetings beyond 60 minutes and/or 100 participants are available by subscription.

Google Sheets: Google Sheets is a spreadsheet program included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. Google Sheets is a free alternative to Microsoft Excel by Windows.

Google Slides: Google Slides is a presentation program included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. Google Slides is a free alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint by Windows.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a programming language for web pages.

Handle: Handle is the term used to describe someone’s @username on Twitter. For example, LiteracyCNY’s Twitter handle is @LiteracyCNY.

Hashtag: A hashtag is a tag used on a variety of social networks as a way to annotate a message. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#” (ex: #DigitalLiteracy). Social networks use hashtags to categorize information and make it easily searchable for users.

Internet: The internet is a global network of billions of computers that allows digital information to travel around the world. The information is translated into code, then sent through a network of cables, servers, data centers, satellites and cell towers to another computer or connected device.

iOS: iOS is a mobile operating system for Apple-manufactured devices. iOS runs on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV.

Left-Click: Refers to the standard action of selecting a link, button, etc. with the left button of a standard computer mouse.

Like: A Like is an action that can be made by a Facebook or Instagram user. Instead of writing a comment or sharing a post, a user can click the Like button as a quick way to show approval.

Live Stream: Live streaming is the act of delivering content over the internet in real-time.

Malware: A software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Examples include viruses, spyware, and trojan horses.

Mbps: Mbps (Megabites per second) refers to how fast a file is downloaded to your device, and how fast one can be uploaded to the internet.

Meme: A meme on the internet is used to describe a thought, idea, joke, or concept that’s widely shared online. It is typically an image with text above and below it, but can also come in video and link form.

Monitor: Similar to a television screen, the monitor allows you to see the data on your computer.

Newsfeed: A news feed is literally a feed full of news. On Facebook, the News Feed is the homepage of users’ accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their friends. The news feed on Twitter is called Timeline.

OS: Operating System (OS) refers to the powerful program that controls and coordinates a computer’s hardware devices and runs software and applications. Examples include Windows, Android, and Linux.

Phishing: The fraudulent practice of attempting to acquire sensitive data or personal information including passwords, credit card numbers, etc. While phishing commonly occurs through email, phishing attempts are also made by phone, through text messages, and direct messages (aka DM’s) on social media. Sometimes, the phishing attempt appears to be from someone you know or from a company you’re doing business with.

Port: In computer hardware, a port is the jack or receptacle for a device to plug into. These are standardized for each purpose. Some common ports are USB ports, USB-C ports, and Ethernet ports.

Processor Speed: Measured in gigahertz (GHz) the higher the rating, the higher the performance of the computer’s processor.

Processor/Central Processing Unit (CPU): Provides the instructions and processing power the computer needs to do its work. The more powerful and updated your processor, the faster your computer can complete tasks.

Profile Picture: A profile pic is a photo that appears in your online accounts, regardless of whether it’s a social media or professional site. Each social media site has its own unique way of displaying profile pictures.

Random Access Memory (RAM): Measured in size by gigabytes (GB), RAM stores short-term data that a PC requires to properly operate. The more RAM a device has, the better it will perform.

Reboot: To switch a computer off and on again, allowing its operating system and programs to be reloaded.

Right-Click: Refers to clicking and displaying the additional or special options that apply to your selection with the right button of a standard computer mouse. Right-click often makes a menu appear with choices that apply to a current selection or program.

SIM Card: Short for Subscriber Identity Module, a SIM card is an integrated circuit used in cell phones, and other mobile devices, to store subscriber information.

Search Engine: A search engine is software accessed on the Internet that searches a database of information according to the user’s query. The engine provides a list of results that best match what the user is trying to find. Examples include Yahoo, Google, and Bing.

Social Media: Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Examples include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Software: These are the programs (applications) that allow the computer to operate or do certain tasks.

Spam: Unsolicited emails sent to many recipients.

Spyware: Spyware is a type of malware that attaches itself and hides on a computer’s operating system without your permission to make unwanted changes to your user experience.

Storage Capacity: Measured in gigabytes (GB), this refers to the capacity of the storage on a device, i.e. how many photos, videos, documents, etc. your device will store.

Stream/Streaming: Streaming refers to any media content – live or recorded – delivered to computers and mobile devices via the internet and played back in real time. Podcasts, webcasts, movies, TV shows and music videos are common forms of streaming content.

Tab: In computer software (e.g., Internet browser), a tab is a clickable area at the top of a window that shows another page or area. When a tab is clicked, the tab’s contents are shown, and any other open tab is hidden.

Tag: Tagging is a social media functionality commonly used on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to create a link back to the profile of the person shown in the picture or targeted by the update.

Thumb Drive: This is a small portable hard drive that plugs into a USB port and allows you to transport files between different computers. Also called a flash drive.

Undo: A feature of a computer program that allows a user to cancel or reverse the last one or more commands executed. This featured is represented by an arrow pointing toward the left in most programs.

Unfollow: Unfollowing someone means you will no longer see their content in your feed. If they have a public account, then you may still be able to see what they post by visiting their profile directly.

Unfriend: To remove (someone) from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking website.

Uninstall: Uninstall is to remove (software) from a computer system especially by using a specially designed program.

Unsubscribe: In email marketing, to unsubscribe means to remove your email address from a company’s mailing list so as not to receive any further emails or communications.

Upload: Uploading is the process of putting web pages, images and files onto a web server or device.

Username: A name used in conjunction with a password to gain access to a computer system or a network service.

VPN: Using a VPN or “virtual private network” creates an encrypted connection with the internet to improve your data security and privacy. VPNs help keep communications and data safe, even when transferred over public networks, by isolating and protecting it.

Viral: Viral is a term used to describe an instance in which a piece of content — YouTube video, blog article, photo, etc. — achieves noteworthy awareness. Viral distribution relies heavily on word of mouth and the frequent sharing of one particular piece of content all over the internet.

Virus: A type of malicious software, or malware, that spreads between computers and causes damage to data and software. Computer viruses aim to disrupt systems, cause major operational issues, and result in data loss and leakage. A key thing to know about computer viruses is that they are designed to spread across programs and systems

Vishing (Voice Phishing): Voice phishing, or vishing, is the use of phonecalls to conduct phishing attacks. Landline telephone services have traditionally been trustworthy; terminated in physical locations known to the telephone company and associated with a bill-payer.

VoLTE: VoLTE or “Voice Over LTE” refers to calls made over the 4G LTE network. They have superior audio quality to regular phone calls made over the standard voice network. VoLTE lets you talk and use 4G LTE cellular data simultaneously while on a phone call.

Web Address/URL: A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a web address of a specific web page or file on the Internet. An example is https://www.literacy.org.

Web Browser: A computer program with a graphical user interface for displaying and navigating between web page.

Wi-Fi: A wireless technology used to connect computer, tablets, smartphones, and other devices to the internet.

Window: On a graphical user interface system, a rectangular area on a display screen. Windows is particularly useful for multitasking systems which allow you to perform several different tasks simultaneously. Each task has its own window which you can click on to make it the current process. Contrast to a “dialog box” which is used to respond to prompts for input from an application.

Windows: A casual way of referring to the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Word Processor: A word processor is a software program capable of creating, storing, and printing typed documents.

Zoom in/out: To make the image of something or someone appear much larger and nearer, or much smaller and further away.