Key Skills

ICAA Key Skills Test – Friday 6 th May 2011

Superscript

To make a character smaller than the rest of the text and it appears above the normal

line of text e.g. 90o

1. Highlight text

2. Format Font

3. Select superscript

Subscript

To make a character smaller than the rest of the text and it appears below the normal

line of text e.g. H2o

1. Highlight text

2. Format Font

3. Select subscript

Italic

Text that slopes to the right. Used to emphasise text e.g. Italic

• Highlight text

• Select

Bold

Make text stand out by making it thicker and darker e.g. Bold

• Highlight text

• Select

Underline

• Text used for headings and title e.g. Title

• Highlight text

• Select

Alignment

To position text to the left, right or centre of the page

• Highlight text

• Select your choice of left, right or centre alignment

Justify

Text is made to fit between two margins making the margins on both sides straight e.g

• Highlight text

• Select Justify

Line spacing

To alter the space between lines of text to be close together or further apart.

• Highlight text• Select Format then Paragraph• Select line spacing needed

Margins

This is the space at the top, bottom and sides of the space. They are to place the

text away from the edges of the page.

• Go to File, Page Setup

• Adjust margins as needed

Tabulation (Tabs)

Used to line up text or items on a page

• Use the tab button on the keyboard to line up text or items

• You can control how far the cursor moves when you press the tab button

• Select Format, Tabs

Tabs cont…..

• In the Tab Stop Position type in the number of cms indent that you need e.g 3cm

• Select Set and OK

Tabs cont…

• See on the ruler of your document L shapes that indicate that your indent has been set (L for left indent)

• Use you tab key to move items to be in line with these L shapes

Header and footer

Header is space at the top of the page. Footer is the space at the bottom of the page. They are used to place text, images or page numbers to be shown on every page.

• View, Header and Footer

• Insert information (e.g. name, form)

• The tool bar can be used to insert page numbers and date)

Page Orientation

Can be either Portrait

Or Landscape

• Select File, Page Setup

• Select Portrait or Landscape

• Click OK

Bullet Points

Shows where a point in a list of information begins e.g.

• Highlight text• Select• Points can also be numbered • You can also press this before you type the list

Spreadsheets – Columns and Rows

Rows go across the page and are numbered

Columns go across and have letters

Row

Column

Cells are each box in a spreadsheet

cell

Cell Reference

Where a row and column meet is the ‘name’ or reference of a cell. They are used in

formulas.

Cell A1

Formulae

Sums written to carry out calculations on data held on cells. We use cell references

NOT the actual data in the cell.

=A1+ B2

Functions

Are formulas that are built into the software

• Insert

• Function

• Select a function from the list

Numeric Data

Data entered into a spreadsheet is often numeric. It can be currency, integer, real,

date/time

• Format

• Cells

• Select type of number from list

Operators

Used in formulas to carry out calculations

• + add• - subtract• * multiply• / divide• = equals• <less than• > greater than

Absolute

A formula set up with absolute cell references does not change when moved. E.g. if =B2+B5 is moved from B6 to B7 it

stays as B2+B5.

• Dollar sign is used in an absolute cell reference e.g ????

Graphs and charts

Used to give a graphical display of data. Can be bar, pie, line or scatter graphs.

• Chart Wizard is used to create graphs

Sorting

Data can be sorted using selected row or columns. It can be sorted either

alphabetically or numerically in ascending or descending order.

• Ascending – 1,2,3,4,5, A,B,C,D,E

• Descending – 5,4,3,2,1, E,D,C,B,A

=SUM

A function that adds together the values in a range of cells

=SUM(B2:B7)

This adds together the values in cells B2, B3,B4,B5,B6 and B7. This button can be used

LOOKUPS

Are functions that LOOKUP values in a pre-named table. They can be HLOOKUP

(Horizontal Table) or VLOOKUP (Vertical Table)

=HLOOKUP(C2,Marks,2)

Look up in a horizontal table

Cell C2 In a table named marks

Look at row 2 of the marks table

MAX/MIN

Function that return the maximum or minimum value in a given range.

=MAX (C2:C7) would give the higher number from C2:C7

=AVERAGE

Function that returns the average of a range of cells

=AVERAGE (C2:C7) returns the average from cells C2:C7.

Databases - Relational

Contains tables that are related and linked together. Saves time and memory when

searching and sorting

DVD Table Members table

Databases – Flat file

Contains only one table which hold all the information. Can be slow to process

searches.

All DVD and members details

Fields

These are the categories that make up a table in a database

Surname is a field

Records

A table is made up of records – each person/item kept in the database is a

record

This is Clare’s record. There are 4 records in this table

Data Types

When entering field into a database you need to tell the database the TYPE of data

that will be entered for that fieldData types are:

•Text

•Number

•Currency

•Date/Time

•Alphanumeric

•Multiple choice

Key Field (Primary Key)

Uniquely identifies a record

No other record will have the same entry

e.g NHS number

Data collection

How data is collected before it is entered into a database. Often paper based – questionnaires or membership forms

It is can be manually entered into computer or through software called OMR (Optical

Mark Reader)

Validation

Checks that the data entered in REALISTIC

List check – data must come from a given list (Miss, Mr, Mrs)

Range check – Data must be within a given range (0-18)

Type check – Data must be a certain data type – number, character, etc

Check digit – an extra digit is added to the end of a number so I can be verified using a calculation

Validation

A manual check that the data entered is the same as the original

By visual check or double entry

Passwords

A code set in place to restrict access to data

A strong password must include letters and number and be change regularly

Encryption

Encryption software scrambles data so that it cannot be read.

An encryption key must be used to unscramble the data so it can be read

Firewall

Software that is used to stop access from computers with unknown IP addresses

Images - Bitmap

Images made up of pixels. Each pixel has a colour. Groups of pixels form shapes that

are visible.

Bitmap images cannot be stretched or re-sized as they become blurry

Vector image

Images that consist of lines and curves that are defined by vectors.

They can be stretched and re-sized without losing quality