DerekInquiry

=How Are Computers Useful?=

My Question:
My inquiry question is "How are computers useful?" This also includes the question "Why are computers useful?", which I will also need to research about. I will also need to think about what parts of a computer are most used, and about why they are used.

My Smaller Questions:

 * 1) How many hours on average is a computer used per day by an average individual?
 * 2) How many computers are there in the world?
 * 3) Why are computers useful?
 * 4) Why are some parts useful and others not?
 * 5) How does a computer benefit learning?
 * 6) How does a computer make one's life easier?
 * 7) How many websites are there in the world?
 * 8) About how many computers exist in the world?

My Note-Taking:
- I think this is a detailed answer. Might help a lot. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_computers_useful_in_daily_life) - This might be too general to help much. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer) - This is more of an amateur answer, but it kinda helps because it tells from the point of view of a regular person. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_computer_useful_to_human_beings) - This is great for telling a child's point of view. (http://www.childcareaware.org/en/subscriptions/areyouaware/article.php?id=29) - This might be an essay written by a student, so I don't know about its accuracy, but it does give a lot of info. (http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/15881.html) - This was just what I was looking for! But I would like it better if it was more detailed. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/uses-of-computer.html) - Very specific! Just what I was looking for. (http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/101computeruses.html) - Yes! Direct answer to one of my questions! (http://www.science-portal.org/in/71)
 * Research Notes:**

- We use computers almost everyday at home, school, and work. - Students can use computers at school to increase productivity and reduce the time needed to complete a project. - Computers offer the power of the Internet, which gives many, many times more information than all of the books in the world combined. - Teachers can use computers to make their own worksheets and find teacher resources quickly. - Teachers can use computers to show students short videos explaining a topic that the teacher is teaching. - We use computers a lot of the time to send e-mails and instant messages. - There are over 1 billion computers in the world today. - There are about 62,400,000 active websites in the world (2008). - Adults spend 6-8 hours per day using a computer. - Students use computers to quickly gather and organize their information to successfully and quickly complete school projects. - At work, computers are commonly used to calculate data and organize information by using spreadsheet programs. - Computers are used at work to communicate to co-workers by using e-mail, instant messaging, and video conferencing services. - Many household appliances and other common machines, such as traffic lights and microwaves, are operated by a central CPU, which is a computer. - Governments all around the world keep top secret information inside servers with strong encryption. - Supercomputers are used to make simulations, and are also used to predict weather events and natural disasters. - There is not one second in the world when the Internet is not being used by an individual.
 * Information Notes:**

- Home - Work - Education - Entertainment - Government
 * Categories:**

My Research Journal:
April 1st - My research is going great so far, but I'm having a few doubts about the accuracy of the websites I'm finding. A lot of the websites look like they were written by regular people. Websites like eHow and WikiHow were edited by anyone who wanted to, much like Wikipedia, so some information could be biased.

April 2nd - Yes! I finally found the website I was looking for! I was trying to find a website that listed all the uses of computers, and that one did exactly that! However, it only listed the uses, and didn't give much information about the uses. That will be what I will look for next.

April 4th - It's becoming harder and harder to find detailed, reliable information. I think this is because I used up all the good links on Google. Also, I think I should ask a few more small questions to prove my point - I will be adding them now. This is becoming a pretty interesting research topic for me as I see more and more information.

April 5th - I've almost answered all my questions! If I need more information, I will add more questions to answer. Anyway, I'm confident that I can finish my research by Friday. However, I am finding it hard to verify my sources.

April 6th - I just looked over my questions, and I found a few to be unnecessary. The answers to them were also very difficult to find. I decided to delete them, because it would just take a lot of time, and that time would be wasted. I am also trying to improve my answers to my questions by looking for even more information.

April 8th - My research is just about done. I've found all of the information I need, so I should start my Glog and written report. I think I can have them done by Monday.

My Sources:
Please cite your sources using PROPER bibliographical format. What does that mean, you say?

"Title of Article." //Title of Website//. Date written. Date accessed. .

Example: Anelli, Melissa. "Vault Entry #4: Spoiler Stories." //Harry, A History//. October 14, 2008. March 29, 2010. <[]>.

If you can't find the author, date, or article title, just leave that part out.

Final Written Report and Glog:

 * Draft of Written Report:**

=Introduction= Computers are one of the most important technological advances that mankind as ever invented. Today, they serve more purposes than anyone can imagine. Computers are everywhere – in your microwave or dishwasher, and also in the traffic lights that you might drive past every day. Most people cannot live properly without a computer, and let’s take a closer look why. =Home= Whether it’s for work, entertainment, or even looking up some recipes, you’ve always found yourself doing these things on your computer, right? These things are done with something called a Personal Computer, better known as a PC. They are used almost every day, even just at home. You might need to do some work on your work laptop, or maybe you want to chill out and listen to some music. Playing games on computers is a much better choice than playing games on a special game console, because computers have better hardware, and they also have a wider selection of games. Computers are also readily available to you, because you probably already have bought one for other purposes. Many people even often use their laptops to watch movies because of its convenience and high quality. Computers are almost necessities at home - they are used to pass the time, work, and learn. =Work= At any office, a computer is something that you would always expect to see. Why is that? Why are computers so useful for work? As soon as PC’s became cheap and affordable, businesses started purchasing large numbers of them for offices. With computers, businesses can spend less money on paper, as all the information a worker needs is simply stored on the office computer’s hard drive. Also, with computers, any mistakes made will not go in the trash can – they can simply be deleted. Writing a report is also more easily done on the computer because of word processing software. This software allows workers to easily organize and format their writing. Some word processing software also includes spelling and grammar checkers, which are very convenient for workers who need to work fast. Spreadsheet software also helps people make charts and calculations. All this makes computers very useful for a work environment. =Education= Just like at workplaces, computers are also commonly found in schools. You may first just think of the computer lab, but computers do not only exist in the computer lab at schools. Almost all the classrooms might have computers, and so will the library. Classroom computers are used by teachers to check their e-mail, do some online research, and create worksheets and report cards. If a computer was not present in the classroom, all those things would be very inconvenient to do. Teachers need to do things quickly and easily, and this is why a computer is so useful in the classroom. The same word processing software that is used in so many offices is also very useful in schools for the same reason. Sometimes, laptops are also brought into the classroom so the teacher can show the students some educational videos and movies. These videos help the children’s learning, because they enhance the student’s understanding of the subject. All these reasons make the computer a vital machine in an educational environment. =Government= Governments rely on computers to make advanced calculations that no human could do. Governments also use computers to do things such as make weather forecasts, and run simulations of natural disasters. The computers that do these tasks are called supercomputers for their remarkably fast CPU. Governments often rely on supercomputers to predict upcoming events, so that secret government operations can be completed smoothly and without error. Supercomputers are also remarkably good at tracking and predicting a person’s movements, which is very useful for law enforcement agencies that need to hunt down criminals. =Conclusion= There is almost no doubt that computers are one of the most important machines in the world today. Just think about it – there are more than 62 million active websites in the world, and over 1 billion PC’s, not including internet servers and supercomputers. That number will keep on growing, as people become more and more dependent on computers. That signifies why a computer is such a useful thing in the world.


 * Glog Link:** http://ss6a7p2.edu.glogster.com/computer-project-glog/