Internet.

5 Social networks

1. What is the Internet? 6. Examples of document repositories

2. How information travels on the Internet 7. Collaboration tools: online office suites
and applications
3. The online world
8. Examples of online office suites and
4. Collaboration tools: document repositories applications

5. Social networks 9. Examples of social networks

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1. What is the Internet?

The Internet is a decentralised global network of computers that allows lots of computers to
connect to one another through a series of communication protocols, using copper wires, fibre
optic cables, wireless connections and other means.

This global computer network provides a wide range of services:

•• Web browsing (WWW, World Wide Web), a system of linked documents or files that are
displayed in a browser. As you know, this is one of the most popular services. Web pages of-
ten contain hyperlinks that the user can click on to reach other pages, open videos, photos,
audio files, documents, etc.

•• E-mail, which allows users to send messages to each other. There are two types of e-mail:

ƒƒ Asynchronous (POP mail). The received messages are stored on the server until we log
on; once we have logged on, we can download them to our computers and do not need
to be constantly connected to view them. Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird are
two of the most common programs used to manage this type of e-mail.

ƒƒ Synchronous (webmail). For this type of e-mail, we use a browser to open a web page
where we can read our mail online (i.e. so long as we are connected to the Internet) with-
out having to download it to our computers. The most common types of synchronous
webmail are Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, Terra and Mixmail.

•• Newsgroups, forums, instant messaging (chats), etc., which are spaces for discussion
and sharing experiences. In forums, users can share information, have discussions and
send messages to each other about a topic suggested by a moderator or coordinator. Ex-
amples include: www.forocoches.com, www.losviajeros.com, documentalium.foroactivo.com,
forosdelweb.com, www.foroswebgratis.com, etc. A chat is a type of instant messaging that
is used to send and receive messages, have voice conversations and do videoconferencing,
all in real time.

•• Quick file transfer using FTP (file transfer protocol) and file sharing on P2P (peer to peer)
networks. In recent years, numerous programs have appeared for transferring large files,
some of which are based on the FTP protocol. The most common ones are: WeTransfer,
MediaFire, File Dropper, MyGigaMail, GigaSize, eSnips, etc. Examples of P2P file sharing ap-
plications include: eMule, Ares, BitTorrent, Kazaa, Pando, Dropbox, etc.

•• Voice communications (voice over IP, VoIP) or videoconferencing. This technology con-
verts voice into data packets under the IP Internet Protocol so that it can be transmitted
over a public or private data network (like the Internet). With the convergence of voice and
data, users can make free phone calls and hold videoconferences between computers or
mobile devices using programs such as Skype, WhatsApp, Line, etc., and make calls from
a computer to a landline or between landlines using applications like FreeCall, VoipBuster
and X-Lite.

•• Online radio, television and press.

•• Others: shopping for a wide range of items and services, access to bank accounts, distance
learning, job hunting, college and university enrolment, etc.

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2. How information travels on the Internet

Browser A user types a web address

1
(domain) in their browser.

The HTTP communication protocol is

the hypertext protocol used in every
World Wide Web transaction. The router sends the request to the
ISP (Internet service provider).

2
Router
www.bde.com

The client sends a header indicating the action

it wants the specified resource to perform.

The server sends a response code indicating

that the transaction can be performed or an
error occurs.

HTTP protocol

Browser HTML

www.bde.com
7
The user’s web browser receives the
information and processes the HTML in
order to display it as a visual web page.

HTML is the language used to develop web

pages. It is composed of a series of tags. The
browser interprets these tags and gives them
their form on the screen.

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The request is routed to another machine, the

domain name system (DNS) server. DNS server

ISP: Internet service provider

3
The ISP is the company that provides
Internet access (Movistar, Orange,
Vodafone, Jazztel, etc.). The client The DNS
asks for the server
IP address responds that
of the server its address is
www.bde.es. 77.73.203.21.

www.bde.es 77.73.203.21

4
10010111

5
11100111
TCP/IP protocol The domain name servers translate
(resolve) domain names (such as
The TCP/IP protocol sends the 10101010 www.bde.es) and obtain their associated
information packets to the destination binary identifiers (IP addresses) in order
server hosting the website. to locate and address these devices (in our
example, 77.73.203.21).
The TCP (transmission control protocol) divides 11001100
the message into packets, indicating an order
and the address of the destination computer
(IP) in them. When they reach their destination, 11000011
the TCP receives the packets, puts them
back in order and checks that no errors have
occurred along the way. This means that it is not
necessary for all the information to travel

6
along the same path; instead, it can be Server
divided and sent along different paths.

The host server then executes the

request and returns the HTML code
on the client PC.

IP address: 77.73.203.21 (Internet protocol)

Every computer on the Internet is identified
A set of rules called protocols were created so by a unique IP address. The IP protocol
that the information travelling over the Internet manages this information across the network.
could be sent and received by any computer
anywhere in the world. The TCP/IP protocol is a
set of protocols.

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3. The online world

The Internet gives us access to countless resources and allows us to do things that previously took up a lot of time and required
long trips. Nowadays, it is perfectly normal to do many of the following activities online, as we will now see (later on, we will
do some practical exercises with them):

Online shopping. The buying and selling of pro- eGovernment. Some government authorities,
ducts or services through an information system. such as the tax agency, government departments,
Payment can be made in cash on delivery, by or the Official State Gazette (BOE), provide online
transfer, with a credit card or through PayPal. Se- services to users. Many of these require an elec-
cure payment systems should be used, including tronic certificate or identity card.
confirmation by mobile phone.

Distance learning. This can cover the formal cur- Job hunting. There are many websites and social
ricula of the autonomous regions as well as infor- networks set up to connect users with companies:
mal studies. Examples: formacion.intef.es, educared. infojobs.net, laboris.net, linkedin.com, etc.
net, www.uned.es, etc.

Communicating. Through videoconferencing as Social networks. For socialising: Facebook, Twit-

well as chats and forums: Skype, FreeCall, Voip- ter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Flickr, Instagram,
Buster, Google, WhatsApp, Line, Telegram, Viber, YouTube, WeChat, Snapchat, etc.
etc.

Downloading and sharing information. We can

Multimedia services. We can listen to live radio share and download information using programs
(on online radio stations such as cadena100.es, such as eMule, Ares, BitTorrent, Kazaa, etc. We can
los40.com, etc.), watch TV programs (on rtve.es, also send files by FTP or use programs like We-
antena3.com, etc.), and read newspapers (on Transfer, Dropbox, Firefox Send, Drive and Media
elpais.com, elmundo.es, etc.) among other activi- Fire.
ties.

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4. Collaboration tools: document repositories

Document repositories (or file repositories) are websites for storing and sharing virtually any
type of files and digital information.
There are also online office suites and applications that we can use to access this working
information and process these files, regardless of whether we are on the computer at home, at
work or in an Internet café, because we can use them without installing them on our computers.

It is clear that we are heading towards a reality where computers will no longer need huge hard
drives; instead, documents will be uploaded to repositories and virtual hard drives on the Inter-
net, where they can be shared for collaborative work.
There are many advantages to this way of working: we avoid the errors caused by having mul-
tiple versions of the same document (we always work on the most recent one), every member
of the team works on the same version at the same time, it is easier to distribute and publish
documents, etc.

5. Social networks
A social network is a structure that allows different types of exchange (financial, between
friends, on specialist topics, etc.) between individuals and is based on the relationships be-
tween the members of the network. We could say that, in order to be a social network, it must
include a network of contacts, allow users to have a profile and provide social features for inter-
acting with content (creating, sharing and participating).
Social networks can be classed as two types:
•• Horizontal or general networks: networks with a general purpose, such as YouTube,
WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
•• Vertical or specialised networks: networks that connect people for a specific purpose:
ƒƒ Professional profiles: for example, LinkedIn and Xing.
ƒƒ Education: for example, Ning and Internet en el Aula.
ƒƒ For children: for example, Mi Cueva.
Social bookmarking
A tag is a keyword that is associated with an element (photo, video, website, song, etc.) to de-
scribe it and make it easier for other users to find the information.
Social bookmarking is a method of tagging, storing, sharing and searching for links on pages
about a topic. We can use it to manage websites, resources or content that we find interesting
on any computer, and even share them with groups of people.

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6. Examples of document repositories

There are two particularly good sites that keep an updated list of the hundreds of programs that are constantly appearing:
www.softonic.com and www.softpedia.com.

Images
Instagram is a social network for Google Photos allows users
uploading photos and videos. We to inventory, classify and sort
can apply effects to our photos all the graphic files on their
and share them on other social computers and mobile devices.
networks. It also includes editing and
retouching tools. When it is
installed on a mobile device, we
can synchronise the photos we
take on it.

Snapchat is a messaging app Pinterest is an image-sharing

for smart phones that can take platform that organises images
pictures and record video, add on themed boards. It is designed
texts and drawings to them and to connect the boards created
send them to a list of contacts. by different users. It is the most
They are accessible for a limited popular photo-sharing app.
time selected by the user; after
this time, they are deleted.

Flickr can be used to store Ipernity is a non-commercial

photos, share them with others, photo-sharing community.
join groups on a certain topic,
make contacts and friends, write
comments on photos, etc. It has
some technical tools for online
photo editing and also supports
videos.
Others: TikTok, ImgBB, Freepik, Photobucket, Imgur, etc.

Vídeo
Founded in 2005, YouTube Vimeo is an online community
is a hugely popular site for for sharing multimedia files with
discovering, playing, uploading people and organisations around
and sharing videos. It also the world. It allows videos to be
has a forum where users can shared in high definition, which
communicate with each other. It has made Vimeo YouTube’s
is the most popular social network biggest competitor. Its users can
worldwide. also create interest groups and
it has an active community of
followers.
Others: SchoolTube, TeacherTube, Mediateca de EducaMadrid, YouTube Kids, etc.

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Presentations
Prezi lets users create online SlideShare is a space
presentations in a similar way where users can upload
to PowerPoint and Impress; presentations, infographics,
we can store up to 100 MB PDF files and even audio and
(500 MB for students and video files. We can either share
teachers). them or insert them on a blog
or wiki.

Canva is used to make With SlideOnline, we

presentations with design can upload, share and
templates, fonts and hundreds view PowerPoint and PDF
of resources. presentations online.

Keynote is one of the most PowToon offers a very simple

powerful tools for creating way of creating videos and
presentations. It lets us add animated presentations.
effects and drawings and share
our presentations. It is only
available for Apple devices.

Others: Knovio, Emaze, Google Slides, Haiku Deck, Slidebean, etc.

Documents
Scribd allows users to upload Issuu allows documents to be
and display documents in uploaded for free in formats
different formats (DOC, XLS, such as PDF, DOC, PPT, ODT,
PDF, PPT, etc.) for sharing. etc., and to convert them into
an interactive magazine in
Flash, with optional zoom and
page-turning effects.

Others: Calaméo, etc.

Music
Spotify is a popular Shazam is a mobile app with
application for listening to a service that lets us identify
songs via streaming (with music, view song lyrics and
an Internet connection, share our playlists.
without downloading the
songs). Users can also create
distribution lists.

Podomatic is a free service for Rockola FM is a website for

creating podcasts (audio files), listening to music and the
recording them, storing them radio online. It is a community
online and sharing them on where users can create their
websites, blogs, etc. own station and share it with
their network of friends.

Others: Jamendo, SoundCloud, Last.fm, Pandora, etc.

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7. Collaboration tools: online office suites and applications

There are lots of free online tools (that do not require installation) that can replace many of the programs we install on our
computers. We can use these tools for storing our work online, sharing it with other users and distributing it.
They include applications for retouching images, creating presentations, recording video or audio, and even converting and
distributing different documents.
There is also a wide range of office applications, like the ones we will see below, for the online creation and sharing of text files,
spreadsheets, presentations, calendars, etc.

8. Examples of online office suites and applications

Google Docs is one of the most popular ways of creating and sharing documents online.
It can be used to create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms,
calendars, etc.
The files are associated with a Gmail account and uploaded to the Internet so that they can
be accessed anywhere.
Users also have the option of sharing them and adding collaborators for group work.

Zoho is an alternative office application to Google Docs. Besides a word processor, spread-
sheet, database manager and presentation creator, it includes a tool called Meeting, which
lets users hold online meetings, share their desktop, use a planner, etc.
Documents are stored on the Internet and users have the option of working collaboratively.

Evernote is an application for organising personal information by filing notes, photos,

documents, audio and web pages. Its advantage is that it is synchronised across all the
user’s platforms.

ZCubes is a web platform with a web browser, image processor, text editor and web page
editor, drawing program, video player, etc.
It allows users to integrate all the tools and interact between different documents simply
by dragging and dropping.

WPS Office is a complete office suite specially designed to work on mobile devices. It lets
us work with text documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and to scan documents
and manage everything in the cloud.

EyeOS is a virtual web desktop that can be accessed from a browser. It includes an office
suite and several collaborative applications. It is free to use, open source, and requires no
installation.

Others: BrOffice.org, Buzzword, etc.

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9. Examples of social networks

General
Facebook is a hugely popular WhatsApp is an instant
social network that lets us messaging application for
add friends in order to send mobiles and computers that
them messages, share links, can be used to create groups
photos and videos, chat, etc. and share images, videos and
It describes itself as “a tool for audio messages.
sharing your life”.
MySpace is a social network Twitter is not so much a
of groups of friends, blogs, social network as a microblog
photos, videos, music, etc., that allows users to post
that is very popular in the messages of up to 280
United States. characters.
Hi5, is a social network set up Periscope is a tool owned by
in 2003 and very popular in Twitter designed for video
Latin America. streaming. It allows its users
to send live video to other
users of the application.

Others: Telegram, WeChat, QQ, Reddit, etc.

Professional profiles
LinkedIn is a social network Xing is a professional
designed for business, job social network designed
hunting, social relations in for managing contacts
the workplace and mutual and making connections
support for experts. between professionals in any
sector.

Educational
Ning is a platform for creating LibraryThing is a
specific social networks (e.g. community of more than
on education). a million people who are
passionate about books.

Internet en el Aula (INTEF),

the social network of the
Department of Education,
through the Instituto Nacional Others: EducaRed, SocialGO, HigherEdSpace, Teachers Network,
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE de Tecnologías Educativas y etc.
TECNOLOGÍAS EDUCATIVAS Y DE
FORMACIÓN DEL PROFESORADO
de Formación del Profesorado
(INTEF), offers lots of open
courses and documentation.

Bookmarks
Delicious is a service that lets
its users add and categorise
bookmarks previously stored Others: Mister Wong, Diigo, BlinkList, RawSugar, etc.
in browsers.

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 Internet. Social networks
5 Step-by-step practical

Practical 1. E-mail

„ Exercise
„ 1. Setting up an e-mail account
We are going to set up a Yahoo! account in order to use the different ser-
vices on its website, although we could use other ones like Gmail or Hot-
mail for this practical.
Minors should always seek and obtain permission from their parents, le-
gal guardian or representative before setting up an e-mail account and
accessing the services on these sites.
1. Go to www.yahoo.es. Click on the flag in the top right-hand corner
and select the language US (eng) in the dropdown menu. Now select
the Mail option in the menu on the left. Follow the instructions to
set up a new account. Complete the form, checking that the e-mail
address you have chosen is available (the ID must be unique). Try to
make your password “very strong”; this is easier if you use numbers,
letters and special characters.
2. Once you have set up your account, go to the Inbox tab to view your
received messages. A menu will appear in the sidebar on the left
showing the various locations of your messages: Inbox, Drafts, Sent,
Archive, Spam (junk mail) and Trash (deleted messages).

„ Exercise
„ 2. Sending messages to multiple recipients
When we send a message to different recipients, we should use the BCC
(blind carbon copy) option so that the e-mail address of all the recipients
is hidden; this way, we avoid putting all these addresses on the Internet
and becoming victims of mass spam mailings.
To send an e-mail to more than one recipient, we can use the CC and BCC
options. The CC field is used to send a copy of the message to other peo-
ple, as we saw in the last exercise; with this option, all the recipients of the
message will see who it has been sent to because all the e-mail addresses
are displayed.
1. In Mail, click on Compose.
2. Click on the CC/BCC option; a new line will appear with the field BCC.
Type the address of several classmates in this line.
3. Lastly, in Subject, type “Test e-mail with multiple recipients” and
send the message.

„ Exercise
„ 3. Attaching documents
1. In Mail, click on Compose.
2. Click on the Attach File icon. Then, in Explorer, select a file from your
Mis Documentos folder (if there are none in there, go to Unit 5 of the
virtual CD and select P1_E3_Image.jpg).
3. You will notice that the file has been attached and that you can add
more files (with Yahoo! accounts, we can send and receive messages
of up to 25 MB).
4. Send the message to a classmate and check that it arrives with the
attachment.

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Practical 2. Sending or sharing large files

With e-mail, we can send files up to a certain limit. The maximum size is
determined by the company that offers the e-mail service; for example,
with Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! accounts, we can send and receive mes-
sages of up to 25 MB; however, other commercial e-mail accounts gener-
ally do not support messages over 10 MB.
Therefore, when we send an e-mail, we need to consider the capacity of
our own e-mail account and the account of the recipient.
There are better options than e-mail for sending large files. These include
Dropbox and WeTransfer.

„ Exercise
„ 1. Sharing a file or folder with Dropbox
With websites like Dropbox and Fiabee, we can store, synchronise and
share files and folders that we have stored on the Internet.
1. Go to www.dropbox.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen
and select the language English (United Kingdom). Scroll back to
the top of the page, complete the form with your details and click on
Sign up for free to set up your account.
2. Create a new folder with the New folder option in the Files tab.
3. To upload a file in the Files tab, go to a folder. Click on the Upload
button and select a file from your My Documents folder (if there are
none in there, go to Unit 5 of the virtual CD and select P2_E1_Image.
jpg).
4. To share the folder, click on Share a folder and type the e-mail ad-
dress of one or more classmates. From this point on, all the people
you choose can accept your invitation to share the folder, access the
files in it (download them, edit them, etc.) and upload other files.

„ Exercise
„ 2. Sending a file with WeTransfer
WeTransfer is an online cloud storage platform that lets users send large
files.
1. Go to www.wetransfer.com.
2. Click on the + sign and select a file (if you don’t have any, select the
P2_E2_Image.jpg file from Unit 5 of the virtual CD).
3. Enter the e-mail addresses of several classmates (up to a maximum
of 20 recipients). Add your teacher’s e-mail address if he or she asks
you to.
4. Enter your e-mail address as the sender and then type the message
that you want your classmates to receive (optional) underneath.
5. Click on the Transfer button. This will upload the files from your per-
sonal computer to the WeTransfer servers.
6. When each recipient downloads the files, you will receive an e-mail
telling you that the files were delivered successfully.

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5 Step-by-step practical

Practical 3. Internet and the media

Press
We can find a wide variety of newspapers in print, but the number of pub-
lications available on the Internet is virtually unlimited.
1. Go to www.elpais.com or www.elmundo.es. Go to the “Technology”
section.
2. Select a story on a topic that you find interesting, read the article
carefully and write a brief summary in your word processor (maxi-
mum five lines).
3. Save the document with the name P3_E1_namesurname.
4. Now repeat the exercise with an article from www.nytimes.com or
www.thetimes.co.uk.

Radio
More and more stations that broadcast over the radio waves are now do-
ing so online. In fact, one of the big advantages of the Internet is that
we can listen to stations that only broadcast online as well as the major
broadcasters from around the world.
1. In your word processor, create a table with the main national radio
stations in Spain. In the first column, type the name of the station; in
the second, indicate whether we can listen to it on the Internet, on
the radio only, or on both, and in the third column, type the address
of the website. Include at least these stations: Cadena SER, Cadena
COPE, Radio Nacional, Onda Cero, M80, Los 40 Principales and Cade-
na 100.
2. Go to any of these stations and see how they work.
3. Create a second table with the same columns, but this time include
seven radio stations that broadcast in English or French.
4. Save the document with the name P3_E2_namesurname.

Television
On the Internet, we can watch documentaries and TV series as well as a
broad range of programmes on various television networks. We can also
watch channels from anywhere in the world, films, etc.
1. Open the file P3_E3_Television.doc in Unit 5 of the virtual CD.
2. The first column of the table contains the names of several television
networks. Complete it so that there are ten channels, including re-
gional ones. Do an online search for information to complete the rest
of the columns.
3. Save the document with the name P3_E3_namesurname.

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5

Practical 4. eGovernment services. Distance learning

„ Exercise
„ 1. eGovernment services
Governments are providing more and more services to allow citizens to
complete formalities online whereas previously they had to take long
trips and wait for days or sometimes weeks.
Now, with electronic ID cards and digital signatures we can perform very
simple tasks like filing income tax returns (Tax Agency), making job ap-
plications (INEM), arranging doctor’s appointments, checking the data on
our homes, etc.
We are going to take a quick look at the world of eGovernment to give you
a basic idea of where to start.
1. Go to www.dnielectronico.es and enter the Servicios disponibles
section.
2. Open the file P4_E1_eGovernment.doc in Unit 5 of the virtual CD.
3. Complete the columns by answering exactly what you are asked (you
can use the first row as an example). Include information on:
•• Five general government authorities
•• Three services offered in the autonomous regions
•• A local authority service
•• A private sector service
(You can also consult the www.060.es website.)
4. Save the file with the name P4_E1_namesurname.

„ Exercise
„ 2. Distance learning
Almost every university now has a virtual campus offering teaching mate-
rials to students. Some authorities allow users to complete certain formal On the Internet, we can find distance learning courses
education courses online and to obtain official certificates (obviously, the organised by private institutions and formal education
courses offered by public institutions like universities
final exams are done in a classroom). and the education departments of the autonomous
To create these virtual classes, a platform such as Moodle, Dokeos or regions.
ATutor is required to develop the content.
1. Open a new blank document in your word processor and write short
answers to the following questions (less than five lines):
a) What are Moodle and Dokeos?
b) Do an online search for information on the formal education cour-
ses that you can take at formacion.intef.es and www.cidead.es
(describe at least three).
c) Do a search in your autonomous region for at least two formal
education courses that you can take remotely.
2. Save the file with the name P4_E2_namesurname.doc.

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5 Step-by-step practical

Practical 5. Sharing photos

„ Exercise
„ 1. Sharing images with Google Photos
You need a Gmail account for this exercise.
1. In your Gmail account, click on Aplicaciones de Google (in the top-
right menu) and then, in the pop-up menu that appears, select Fotos
(if you cannot see it in the icons displayed, click on Más / Aún más
until it appears).
2. Click on Fotos in the menu on the left.
3. Click on the cloud icon (Subir fotos) at the top of the screen. Select
the images P5_Country.jpg, P5_City.jpg, P5_Desert.jpg, P5_
Mountain. jpg and P5_Beach.jpg in Unit 5 of the virtual CD and
upload them. Use the Añadir fotos option to upload more images
if you like.
4. The first time, you will be asked what quality you want to save the
photos in. Choose Alta calidad (almacenamiento gratuito ilimita-
do).
5. All the images should now be uploaded.
6. Let’s create a collage now. Click on Asistente in the menu on the left
and choose Collage. Select the five photos and click on Create.
7. Return to the main menu and select Asistente / Álbum. Select the
five photos again and give the album the title “Holidays”. Click on
Compartir.
8. In the pop-up window, you will see the option to share the album on
a social network (Google, Facebook or Twitter) or to create a link. Click
on Copiar and then Listo.
9. Go to the e-mail message, paste the link and send it to two of your
classmates so that they can see the photos.

„ Exercise
„ 2. Sharing images with Flickr
Flickr is a website that allows its users to store, organise, search, sell and
share photos and videos online.
1. Go to www.flickr.com and sign up.
2. Once you have registered, click on the cloud icon (Upload) at the top
of the screen and select the pictures you used in the last exercise.
3. A preview of the photos that you are going to upload will appear.
4. Once you have selected all the photos, use the menu on the left to
enable the Only visible to you option. Be very careful with this op-
tion: by default, your photos are visible to everyone (you will see the
colour change to red).
5. Click on Upload photos and then on Upload.
6. Go to Camera Roll. All the photos that you have uploaded should
now appear. Select one and click on Share at the bottom of the
screen.
7. Copy the link and e-mail it to a classmate. You will find that only the
classmates who have the link can see your photos.

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Practical 6. Twitter
You must have permission from your parents or legal guardians to do this
practical. Remember also to read all the terms of the service carefully.
Twitter is a social network. A tweet is message up to 140 characters long.
Let’s imagine a starting situation where the whole class keeps a work dia-
ry (as a record of how they are doing in Information Technology) and have
to inform the teacher quickly about the tasks they complete.
1. To create a Twitter account, go to twitter.com, type your name, e-mail
and a password in the fields provided and click on Regístrate en Twit-
ter.
2. If all the details are correct, click on Crear mi cuenta.
3. Follow the next steps until you reach Añadir carácter. Click on Subir
imagen and select an image that you like or that represents you in
some way. Click on Listo once it is uploaded.
4. Confirm the account you just created by following the confirmation
link that Twitter has sent to your mailbox. Once you confirm your ac-
count, you can start tweeting.
5. Imagine that you are starting a new topic in Information Technology
class. Type your first tweet in the Publicar un nuevo tweet box, de-
scribing what you did on the first day in the workshop. Remember that
it must be 280 characters or less. Now click on Twittear to see how it
looks on your page. You can delete it if you do not like the result. You
can configure your tweets to be public or private. If they are private,
they can only be read by the people that you give permission to.
6. Now share your Twitter user with two classmates so that you can fol-
low each other and have followers. To do this, click on Buscar amigos
and then, in the Busca personas en Twitter box, type the user and
click on Buscar en Twitter. This way, you can check how the construc-
tion process of your classmates is going.
7. Go to one of the tweets that you are following and click on Retwit-
tear. This will send the tweet to your followers.
8. Can you see a name like @user in the tweets that you follow? This
means that the user is mentioned in a tweet. If you click on it, the Twit-
ter of that user will appear.
9. Can you see a word like #hashtag in the tweets that you follow? This is
a tag used to identify common topics; if you click on it, you will receive
tweets from any user who has added the same hashtag. Add a hashtag
like #ITclass.
10. Now log out and access your user but instead of signing up, type the
Twitter address and your username in the address bar, separated by a
slash: twitter.com/username. Although you cannot add tweets, you can
still see them. This way, a student can follow a project in Twitter and
the other members of the group can view it without having to register.
11. If your teacher wants to check your work, press the Impr pant key
on your keyboard to take a screenshot of your tweets. Then paste the
screenshot into a text document and save this document to your local
folder with the name P6_namesurname.

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Practical 7. Pinterest
You must have permission from your parents or legal guardians to do this
practical. Remember also to read all the terms of the service carefully.
Pinterest is a social network for sharing, creating and managing images.
Each user creates boards where they can add images that they like.

Create an account
1. Go to pinterest.com. You can enter directly with a Facebook account
or create a Pinterest account (to create one, simply type in an e-mail
address and password and follow the instructions).
2. Choose five of the topics displayed in the starting panel. These will be
your first topics; you can modify your selection later.
3. Say yes to the option of installing the Pinterest button in your brows-
er. This will make it easier for you to select the images you like and
display them on your Pinterest boards.
4. Look at your home feed; you will see that it contains a selection of
images related to the five topics that you chose.

Pin images and create boards

1. To pin something means to put a pin on an image that you like and
want to save. Pinterest images are saved to boards created by the us-
ers. Select one of the images from the home feed and click on Pin it.
2. A form will appear for you to create your first board. Type “Information
Technology” in Name and click on Create.
3. In the search bar of the application, type “Social networks” and look
at the images that appear. Click on Pin it for any image. You can now
save the image to your board or create a new board. Create a new one
and call it Social networks. In Secret, select Yes so that only you can
see it. Now click on Create.

Like and share pins

In Pinterest, you can also bookmark interesting images without pinning
them to a board. To do this, click on the icon on the right of the search bar
and select the Photography category. Go to the first image and click on
the heart. Try to share the image by e-mailing it to a classmate. You can
do this by clicking on Send.

Follow other boards

1. Type “Pets” in the application search box. Select the Boards option.
Choose the first board shown and click on Follow.
2. Click on the drawing pin next to your name to go to your profile.
Check to see how many boards you have, how many people are fol-
lowing you and how many users you are following.
3. Take a screenshot and paste it in a text document. Save the file with
the name P7_namesurname.

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Extension 1. Sharing files bigger than 25 MB in Drive

1. Start your word processor and create a new blank document.
2. Find out how you can upload files bigger than 25 MB using your
Drive account. Use the image on the right to help you. Remember:
we saw how to use Drive in previous topics and how to upload large
files with Dropbox in Practical 2.
3. In your text document, list the steps required to upload these files
to Drive.
4. Save the file with the name X1_namesurname.

Extension 2. Job hunting

There are many pages to help us find employment online. Some are
official, such as the National Employment Institute (www.inem.es), and
others are websites that act as intermediaries between companies and
workers.
1. Open file X2_Jobsearch.doc in Unit 5 of the virtual CD.
2. Complete the columns by answering exactly what you are asked. To
do this, you will need to visit each website and collect the required
information without registering.
3. Save the document with the name X2_namesurname.

Extension 3. Promoting your school or college on Facebook

Facebook is a general social network that is also used by lots of compa-
nies to promote themselves.
1. Go to www.facebook.com and sign up.
2. Edit your profile to hide your contact information.
3. Create a post describing your school or college and add a photo.
4. Search for a friend and add them.
5. Take a screenshot of the main screen and paste it into a text docu-
ment. Save the document with the name X3_namesurname.

Extension 4. Creating boards in Pinterest

1. Following the steps in Practical 7, create a Board called “Security
and social networks”.
2. Using the search engine, add five pins of your choice to your board.
3. Now create another board on a theme that you have a special in-
terest in and add at least five pins. All these pins must have been
repinned at least twenty times (you can see the number in the top
right of each one).
4. Take a screenshot showing both boards and paste it into a text do-
cument. Save the document with the name X4_namesurname.

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UNIT SUMMARY

 What is the Internet?

 The Internet is a decentralised global network of computers that allows lots of computers to connect to one another
through a series of communication protocols, using copper wires, fibre optic cables, wireless connections and other
means. The main services provided by the Internet are:
•• Web browsing (WWW, World Wide Web)
•• E-mail
•• Social networks
•• News groups, forums, instant messaging (chats), etc.
•• File transfer and sharing (FTP, P2P networks)
•• Voice communications or videoconferencing
•• Online radio, television and press
•• Others: online shopping, distance learning, job hunting, etc.

 How information travels on the Internet

1. A user types a web address (domain) in their browser.
2. The router sends the request to the ISP (Internet service provider).
3. The request is routed to another machine, the domain name system (DNS) server.
4. The domain name servers translate (resolve) domain names and obtain their associated binary identifiers (IP addresses)
in order to locate and address these devices.
5. The TCP/IP protocol sends the information packets to the destination server hosting the website.
6. The host server then executes the request and returns the HTML code on the client PC.
7. The user’s web browser receives the information and processes the HTML in order to display it as a visual web page.

 The online world

 Activities routinely done on the Internet include: online shopping (buying and selling products or services through a
computer system), eGovernment (tax agencies, government departments, Official State Gazette, etc.), distance learning,
job hunting, communications (e-mail, voice over IP, videoconferencing, etc.), social networks, multimedia services and
downloading and sharing information.

 Collaboration tools: document repositories

 Document repositories (or file repositories) are websites for storing and sharing virtually any type of files and digital
information.

 Social networks
 A social network is a structure that allows different types of exchange (financial, between friends, on specialist topics,
etc.) between individuals and is based on the relationships between the members of the network.

 Examples of repositories, online office suites, applications and social networks

 Images: Instagram, Google Photos, Snapchat, Pinterest, Flickr, Ipernity
 Video: YouTube, Vimeo
 Presentations: Prezi, Slideshare, Canva, SlideOnline, Keynote, PowToon
 Documents: Scribd, Issuu
 Music: Spotify, Shazam, Podomatic, Rockola FM
 Online office suites and applications: Google Docs, Zoho, Evernote, ZCubes, WPS Office, EyeOS
 General social networks: Facebook, WhatsApp, MySpace, Twitter, Hi5, Periscope
 Professional social networks: LinkedIn, Xing
 Educational social networks: Ning, LibraryThing, Internet en el Aula (INTEF)
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COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES

When you have completed the topic, do the following exercises. You can complete them online by going to the relevant
unit on the publisher’s website (www.editorialdonostiarra.com) and hand them in as PDFs.

 What is the Internet?

1.  What is the Internet?
2.  What is the WWW service?
3.  Write down the two types of e-mail and explain the differences between them.
4.  What is the difference between a forum and a chat?
5.  What is the most popular protocol for exchanging large files quickly?
6.  What is voice over IP? What videoconferencing programs do you know?

 How information travels on the Internet

1.  Explain what happens from the moment that we type a URL (address of a web page) in our browser to when the
page is displayed on our computer screen.
2.  What is the TCP/IP protocol? How does it work?
3.  What is the HTTP protocol? How does it operate between the client and the server?
4.  What is the ISP?
5.  Describe the relationship between DNS and IP addresses.
6.  What is the role of domain name servers?
7.  What is the most widely used protocol for sending and receiving information over the Internet?
8.  What is HTML?

 The online world

1.  Explain what eGovernment is and what it requires from the user.
2.  Write down six types of services that can routinely be done on the Internet.
3.  In relation to Practical 1, explain the difference between typing a recipient’s address in the For field, the CC field and
the BCC field when we send an e-mail.
4.  In relation to Practical 2, indicate the maximum size of files that we can usually send by e-mail and explain what
option we have for sending larger files.

 Collaboration tools and social networks

1.  What is the difference between a document repository and an online office suite?
2.  What are the advantages of working with repositories?
3.  What is a social network?
4.  How can social networks be classified? What are the differences between them?
5.  What is a tag?
6.  What is social bookmarking?
7.  What are online office suites? Which are the most popular ones?
8.  List three general social networks and three specialised ones.
9.  Describe what each of the following applications or websites is used for: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Prezi, Spotify.
10.  In relation to Practical 4, explain what Moodle, Dokeos and ATutor are used for.
11.  In relation to Practical 6, explain what the @ and # characters are used for in Twitter.
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MULTIMEDIA ACTIVITIES

When you have studied the topic, test your knowledge by doing the following online exercises, which you can find in the
relevant unit on the publisher’s website (www.editorialdonostiarra.com). You can hand them in as PDFs.

1. Test on the Internet

Open exercise Unit05 01 Test on the Internet in Unit 5 of the virtual CD and test your
knowledge.
There is only one correct answer to each question.
Once you have finished, you can print the test as a PDF and give it to your teacher with the
mark you obtained.

2. Test on how information travels over the Internet

Open exercise Unit05 02 Test on how information travels over the Internet in Unit 5 of
the virtual CD and test your knowledge.
There is only one correct answer to each question.
Once you have finished, you can print the test as a PDF and give it to your teacher with the
mark you obtained.

3. Test on the online world

Open exercise Unit05 03 Test on the online world in Unit 5 of the virtual CD and test your
knowledge.
There is only one correct answer to each question.
Once you have finished, you can print the test as a PDF and give it to your teacher with the
mark you obtained.

4. Test on collaboration tools and social networks

Open exercise Unit05 04 Test on collaboration tools and social networks in Unit 5 of
the virtual CD and test your knowledge.
There is only one correct answer to each question.
Once you have finished, you can print the test as a PDF and give it to your teacher with the
mark you obtained.

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MOBILE APPS

 WhatsApp, a social network

WhatsApp is one of the most popular social networks in Spain. It is important for you to know this app and how to
use it correctly. This is true of all apps that you use.
1. Create a text document and write your answers to the following questions in it. In some of them, we tell you the
“path” that you need to take to find the correct answer. You can find almost all of them in Configuración / Ayuda.
a) What is the minimum age to use WhatsApp? How can your parents ask for your account to be closed?
b) How can we hide our profile photo? What options are we shown? (Ajustes / Cuenta / Privacidad)
c) Can we disable the option that lets other users know whether we have read their messages and shows the last time that
we were seen if we want to protect our privacy? How do we do this? What options are there? (Ajustes / Cuenta / Priva-
cidad)
d) If we delete a message or photo from our phone, is it also deleted from the phone of the person that we sent it to? Why
might we want to delete photos or messages from our phone?
e) Can we check that our conversations are encrypted? How can we check this with a specific contact?
f) How can we block a WhatsApp contact? What happens when we block someone from our contacts? Can that person find
out that we have blocked them?
g) What is the difference between “blocking” and “blocking and reporting”? When should we use the latter option?
2. Save the document with the name App_namesurname.

ONLINE ACTIVITIES
 Creating and sharing a calendar
1. In Gmail, we can share a calendar among multiple users in order to distri-
bute tasks, find out exam dates, deadlines for handing in work, birthdays,
etc. Click on Calendar in the top of the window.
2. Click on the Mes option to see all the days of the month. In the menu on
the left, under the Otros calendarios option, type the e-mail address of
one of your classmates.
3. Create an event by double-clicking on a day and check that a different co-
lour is assigned to each person’s entries so that the calendar can be shared.
4. Take a screenshot and paste it into a text document. Save the file with the
name Internet1_namesurname.

 Voice and video over IP with Skype

Voice over IP or VoIP technology converts voice or video into data packets under the IP Internet Protocol, so that it can be trans-
mitted over a public or private data network (like the Internet).
For the following practical, you will need a microphone and/or a webcam (only for videoconferencing).
1. Go to www.skype.es. Download Skype and follow the steps to install it on your computer. (If you do not have permissions to
install programs on your computer, use the version of Skype that requires no installation: Skype Portable.)
2. Create a new user account and fill in the fields that the program asks you to.
3. Use the Find this person option in the Contacts tab to add the address of a classmate. Write the addresses of some of your
classmates. A list will appear with the group of people with these characteristics; select the correct one and click on Add Skype
contact.
4. Once added, simply select them in the Contacts tab and click on the green call button. Try it out with your classmates.

ON THE INTERNET: USEFUL ADDRESSES

www.adictosalared.com A site covering the latest trends and applications.
educalab.es/recursos ICT resources page of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas y de Formación del Profesorado (INTEF).
www.wikisaber.es Educational portal based on collaborative teaching and learning.

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