COMPUTER APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
ELABORATION OF TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTS
[2nd EDITION – June 2022]
PER THE CONTENT IN THE CAT CAPS
AND
AS PER THE 2021 EXAMINATION GUIDELINES FOR CAT
NOTE:
The depth of knowledge required for the existing concepts and terminology should
include:
Definition – what it is
Purpose/Function – what it does, why it is needed
Advantages/Disadvantages
Benefits/Limitations
Applications in an ICT environment
The yellow highlighted concepts are additions to the previous Examination
Guidelines.
YouTube videos for most of these concepts can be accessed at:
With thanks to:
CAT Officials:
Ellen Labuschagne (DBE IM), Estelle Llewellyn (DBE IM/KZN), Fotiene Avrakotos (Gauteng),
Vani Pather (KZN), Shani Nunkumar (KZN), Yvette Lourens (Northern Cape), Sibongile Masondo (KZN)
CAT and IT teachers and lecturers:
Anton van Kampen (Nico Malan High – Eastern Cape), Sharon Oelofsen (Ladysmith High, KZN),
Reginald Govender (UKZN), Kooraysha Moula (Maritzburg College) Edward Gentle (Limpopo), Claire Smuts (Gauteng)
,Table of Contents
1 SOLID‐STATE DRIVE (SSD) ............................................................................................................................. 3
2 MEMORY CARD READER .............................................................................................................................. 4
3 MULTI‐TOUCH SCREEN ................................................................................................................................. 5
4 HDMI (HIGH‐DEFINITION MULTIMEDIA INTERFACE) ..................................................................................... 6
5 3D PRINTING/PRINTERS ............................................................................................................................... 7
6 802.11 A/B/G/N........................................................................................................................................... 8
7 LTE (LONG TERM EVOLUTION)...................................................................................................................... 9
8 NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION (NFC) ......................................................................................................... 10
9 VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS......................................................................................................................... 11
10 URL SHORTENER ........................................................................................................................................ 12
11 INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) ........................................................................................................................ 13
12 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES........................................................................................................................... 14
13 DRONE TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 15
14 WEARABLE DEVICES AND WEARABLE TECHNOLOGIES ................................................................................ 17
15 SHAPING (NETWORK TUNING) ................................................................................................................... 19
16 THROTTLING (POLICING) ............................................................................................................................ 20
17 GEOTAGGING ............................................................................................................................................ 21
18 CLICK‐JACKING ........................................................................................................................................... 22
19 RANSOMWARE .......................................................................................................................................... 23
20 SCREEN LOCK PATTERN .............................................................................................................................. 25
21 AUTHENTICATION ...................................................................................................................................... 26
22 CROWD FUNDING ...................................................................................................................................... 27
23 BYOD: (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE) ............................................................................................................ 28
24 BIG DATA ................................................................................................................................................... 29
25 CRYPTOCURRENCIES .................................................................................................................................. 30
26 E‐LEARNING AND M‐LEARNING .................................................................................................................. 31
27 VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) ................................................................................................................................ 34
28 AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) ........................................................................................................................ 35
29 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) .................................................................................................................... 36
30 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (4IR) ............................................................................................................ 38
31 5TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (5IR) ............................................................................................................ 40
32 BLOCKCHAIN.............................................................................................................................................. 42
ACTION VERBS USED IN EXAMINATION PAPERS ................................................................................................. 45
, STORAGE DEVICES AND MEDIA
EXAMPLES OF GENERIC/COMMON STORAGE DEVICES AND MEDIA (CAPS p. 22)
1 Solid-State Drive (SSD)
Definition/Description A solid state drive is a storage device that
what it is has no moving parts making it silent and
more robust than an HDD. Solid state drives
operate much faster than traditional hard
drives as they store data electronically and
not magnetically as with a traditional hard drive. A solid state drive
Purpose and function ● Gives faster access to stored files when compared to an HDD.
what it does ● Used as secondary storage to store data, program files and operating
why it is needed system files.
● Improves the general performance of a computer and is often used in
combination with a hard drive. The SSD provides very fast access to the
most important files, improving performance while the cheaper HDD
provides storage to large files such as media, where performance loss is
not crucial.
Simple explanation of how ● SSD uses microchips – it contains no moving parts like an HDD.
it works ● SSD uses 'flash‐memory' which is similar to RAM but non‐volatile. Data is
not lost when the power goes off.
● SSD uses a grid of electrical cells to quickly send and receive data.
● The essential SSD components includes a host interface meaning there is
an interface provided that allows the SSD to communicate with the driver
(uses a standard SATA connection)
Advantages/Benefits ● Read/write speed (data access) of SSD is very fast, which leads to a
shorter boot time and better performance than an HDD.
● SSD is less likely to get damaged because of no moving parts.
● SSD is silent due to no moving parts which becomes factor in a data
centre with many hard drives.
● SSD uses 'flash memory' to store data and is not affected by magnetic
interference.
● SSD has low power consumption.
Disadvantage ● SSDs are more expensive than HDDs per GB of storage space, but in
recent times this price gap is becoming smaller.
● Almost impossible to do a data recovery from an SSD.
Limitation ● SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. The SSD can wear out after
using it for a long time as data can be written to or erased from the same
place in flash memory for a limited number of times.
● Limited in availability – not readily available in stores, may have to be
ordered in advance
Application in an ICT ● Are found in tablets and PCs, laptops, computer games, etc.
environment / ● Standard for ultra‐thin and high‐performance laptops/ultra‐books.
(Examples of the ● Would be preferable for workloads that require higher performance,
technology in practice) quick read/write speeds, for example, database applications.
3
ELABORATION OF TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTS
[2nd EDITION – June 2022]
PER THE CONTENT IN THE CAT CAPS
AND
AS PER THE 2021 EXAMINATION GUIDELINES FOR CAT
NOTE:
The depth of knowledge required for the existing concepts and terminology should
include:
Definition – what it is
Purpose/Function – what it does, why it is needed
Advantages/Disadvantages
Benefits/Limitations
Applications in an ICT environment
The yellow highlighted concepts are additions to the previous Examination
Guidelines.
YouTube videos for most of these concepts can be accessed at:
With thanks to:
CAT Officials:
Ellen Labuschagne (DBE IM), Estelle Llewellyn (DBE IM/KZN), Fotiene Avrakotos (Gauteng),
Vani Pather (KZN), Shani Nunkumar (KZN), Yvette Lourens (Northern Cape), Sibongile Masondo (KZN)
CAT and IT teachers and lecturers:
Anton van Kampen (Nico Malan High – Eastern Cape), Sharon Oelofsen (Ladysmith High, KZN),
Reginald Govender (UKZN), Kooraysha Moula (Maritzburg College) Edward Gentle (Limpopo), Claire Smuts (Gauteng)
,Table of Contents
1 SOLID‐STATE DRIVE (SSD) ............................................................................................................................. 3
2 MEMORY CARD READER .............................................................................................................................. 4
3 MULTI‐TOUCH SCREEN ................................................................................................................................. 5
4 HDMI (HIGH‐DEFINITION MULTIMEDIA INTERFACE) ..................................................................................... 6
5 3D PRINTING/PRINTERS ............................................................................................................................... 7
6 802.11 A/B/G/N........................................................................................................................................... 8
7 LTE (LONG TERM EVOLUTION)...................................................................................................................... 9
8 NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION (NFC) ......................................................................................................... 10
9 VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS......................................................................................................................... 11
10 URL SHORTENER ........................................................................................................................................ 12
11 INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) ........................................................................................................................ 13
12 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES........................................................................................................................... 14
13 DRONE TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 15
14 WEARABLE DEVICES AND WEARABLE TECHNOLOGIES ................................................................................ 17
15 SHAPING (NETWORK TUNING) ................................................................................................................... 19
16 THROTTLING (POLICING) ............................................................................................................................ 20
17 GEOTAGGING ............................................................................................................................................ 21
18 CLICK‐JACKING ........................................................................................................................................... 22
19 RANSOMWARE .......................................................................................................................................... 23
20 SCREEN LOCK PATTERN .............................................................................................................................. 25
21 AUTHENTICATION ...................................................................................................................................... 26
22 CROWD FUNDING ...................................................................................................................................... 27
23 BYOD: (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE) ............................................................................................................ 28
24 BIG DATA ................................................................................................................................................... 29
25 CRYPTOCURRENCIES .................................................................................................................................. 30
26 E‐LEARNING AND M‐LEARNING .................................................................................................................. 31
27 VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) ................................................................................................................................ 34
28 AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) ........................................................................................................................ 35
29 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) .................................................................................................................... 36
30 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (4IR) ............................................................................................................ 38
31 5TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (5IR) ............................................................................................................ 40
32 BLOCKCHAIN.............................................................................................................................................. 42
ACTION VERBS USED IN EXAMINATION PAPERS ................................................................................................. 45
, STORAGE DEVICES AND MEDIA
EXAMPLES OF GENERIC/COMMON STORAGE DEVICES AND MEDIA (CAPS p. 22)
1 Solid-State Drive (SSD)
Definition/Description A solid state drive is a storage device that
what it is has no moving parts making it silent and
more robust than an HDD. Solid state drives
operate much faster than traditional hard
drives as they store data electronically and
not magnetically as with a traditional hard drive. A solid state drive
Purpose and function ● Gives faster access to stored files when compared to an HDD.
what it does ● Used as secondary storage to store data, program files and operating
why it is needed system files.
● Improves the general performance of a computer and is often used in
combination with a hard drive. The SSD provides very fast access to the
most important files, improving performance while the cheaper HDD
provides storage to large files such as media, where performance loss is
not crucial.
Simple explanation of how ● SSD uses microchips – it contains no moving parts like an HDD.
it works ● SSD uses 'flash‐memory' which is similar to RAM but non‐volatile. Data is
not lost when the power goes off.
● SSD uses a grid of electrical cells to quickly send and receive data.
● The essential SSD components includes a host interface meaning there is
an interface provided that allows the SSD to communicate with the driver
(uses a standard SATA connection)
Advantages/Benefits ● Read/write speed (data access) of SSD is very fast, which leads to a
shorter boot time and better performance than an HDD.
● SSD is less likely to get damaged because of no moving parts.
● SSD is silent due to no moving parts which becomes factor in a data
centre with many hard drives.
● SSD uses 'flash memory' to store data and is not affected by magnetic
interference.
● SSD has low power consumption.
Disadvantage ● SSDs are more expensive than HDDs per GB of storage space, but in
recent times this price gap is becoming smaller.
● Almost impossible to do a data recovery from an SSD.
Limitation ● SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. The SSD can wear out after
using it for a long time as data can be written to or erased from the same
place in flash memory for a limited number of times.
● Limited in availability – not readily available in stores, may have to be
ordered in advance
Application in an ICT ● Are found in tablets and PCs, laptops, computer games, etc.
environment / ● Standard for ultra‐thin and high‐performance laptops/ultra‐books.
(Examples of the ● Would be preferable for workloads that require higher performance,
technology in practice) quick read/write speeds, for example, database applications.
3
