12/04/2021
Topic: Computer keyboard
Keyboard as input device
Input devices: are made up of those devices through which information/data to be processed are presented to the computer. It can also be described as a way by which data is sent into the computer. In other term; input device is any hardware device that sends data to computer, allowing you to interact with and control the computer.
Keyboard is an input device which may be defined as mechanical or electromechanical device that contain set of instructions or data, like that of a typewriter keyboard, use to input data or messages into the computer.
Types of keyboard
Standard keyboard
Enhance keyboard
Features of standard keyboard
It has 10 function keys (F1-F10)
It has four (4) arrow keys
It has 84-89 keys
Features of enhance keyboard
The typewriter-like keypad has numeric and alphanumeric area (alphabets and numbers)
It has 12 function keys (F1-F12)
It has 8 arrow keys
Parts of the keyboard
A keyboard is divided into four sections, namely;
Function keys: these keys are labeled F1, F2 to F12, each of these keys performs a special function, depending on the software in use.
Alphabetic keys: these type of keys help the computer user to type alphabetic characters and symbols in upper case or lower case.
Numeric keys: are also known as arithmetic keys. They are located at the top row above the alphabetic keys. The labels on the keys are used for performing addition(+), substraction(-), multiplication(X), division(/) etc. Numeric keys are used for performing mathematical operations.
Special keys: these are keys such as escape (Esc) key, control key (CTRL), alternate key (ALT), Tab key (TAB), capital case key (Caps), number lock, (Num), delete key (Delete), page down (Pg down), page up (Pg-up), home (Home), enter key (Enter), numeric keypad etc.
Escape key (Esc): This key is located at the upper left of the keyboard. It is used for escaping from unwanted operation.
Control key (CTRL): Is located by the left of the letter A, to achieve any effect, it must be pressed at the same time with any other key e.g CTRL + Shift + < keys to reduce text size in Ms- word.
Numeric keypad: this is located on the right side of the keyboard, it is used for entering numbers.
Alternate key (ALT): this is just like the control key, to achieve any effect, it has to combine with other keys.
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