JSS 1 First Term

Lesson objectives

By the end of the week, learners should be able to:

1. Define input and output devices and state the direction in which data flows for each.
2. Classify at least fifteen devices as input, output or both, with a reason.
3. Distinguish impact from non-impact printers and give one example of each.
4. Explain the difference between soft copy and hard copy.
5. Match specialised devices to their real-world setting, such as OMR in examinations and a barcode scanner in a shop.

Key vocabulary

• Input device: sends data or instructions into the computer, such as a keyboard or scanner.
• Output device: presents processed information to the user, such as a monitor or printer.
• Soft copy: output shown on a screen or stored as a file.
• Hard copy: output printed on paper.
• Impact printer: strikes the paper through an inked ribbon, such as a dot-matrix printer.
• Non-impact printer: prints without striking the paper, such as an inkjet or laser printer.
• OMR: optical mark reader, which detects shaded marks such as examination answer sheets.
• OCR: optical character reader, which converts a scanned image of text into editable text.
• Biometric input: identifying a person from a fingerprint, face or iris.

Common misconceptions

• "A printer is an input device because I put paper into it." Paper is not data. The printer receives data from the computer and produces output.
• "A touchscreen is only an output device." It is both. It displays information and accepts touch input.
• "All printers print the same way." Impact printers strike the paper, inkjet printers spray ink, and laser printers use toner and heat.

Teacher activities

1. Starter: ask learners to name every device they touched to send a message on a phone, and list them on the board.
2. Define input and output by direction of data flow, and draw the diagram on the board.
3. Demonstrate or show a keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, monitor, speaker and printer, naming each as it is used.
4. Explain impact and non-impact printing with a dot-matrix sample and a laser or inkjet sample if available.
5. Set the classification table in pairs, including the difficult cases: touchscreen, modem and multifunction printer.
6. Close with a setting-matching quiz: OMR, barcode scanner, ATM keypad, projector and plotter.

Student activities

1. List the devices used in the starter and identify the input ones.
2. Copy the direction-of-flow diagram and label the arrows.
3. Handle or view each demonstrated device and write its function in one line.
4. Compare the two printed samples and state two differences between impact and non-impact output.
5. Complete the classification table of fifteen devices as input, output or both, with reasons.
6. Match five specialised devices to the setting where they are used.

Practical / learning evidence

A completed classification table with columns Device | Input/Output/Both | Reason | Where it is used, covering at least fifteen devices, including three that are both. Plus a short written comparison of an impact and a non-impact printer using two named criteria.

Resources and preparation

Keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, webcam, monitor, speaker and printer where available. A dot-matrix printout and a laser or inkjet printout for comparison. Pictures of an OMR sheet, barcode scanner, ATM keypad and plotter. Offline route: picture cards and the printed table. No device is needed. Supervise the scanner and printer so learners do not scan personal documents.

Assessment for learning

Check the reason column as well as the input and output label. A guess can produce a correct label, so require the reason. Ask learners to explain the touchscreen case aloud. Mark the printer comparison for two valid criteria such as speed, noise, cost per page or print quality.

Inclusion and homework

Provide picture cards with the device name printed underneath, and allow oral completion of the reason column. Extend confident learners with a question on which printer a school should buy for 500 examination papers, with a justification. Homework: find three output devices in your home or school and write what each one produces.