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| A keyboard is made up of keys. They arranged into sections; alphabet keys, functions keys, numeric keys, arrow keys and command keys. Most keyboards in the UK are QWERTY keyboards. |
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| A mouse generally has two buttons. The left button allows the user to select things and the right button brings up a menu. Thee is also a roller that allows the user to scroll up and down pages. |
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| Touchpads are most commonly found on laptops. They work by dragging your finger across it, acting as a mouse without wires. |
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| Joysticks were originally used by pilots for an aeroplanes controls. They can also be found today on game consoles and machinery such as cranes. |
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| Touch screens are very similar to touch pads, but are found most commonly on modern phones and allows to click on buttons that link to other pages that appear on the screen itself. |
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| This is similar to the touch screen but you can use a special pen. This has been used in the Nintendo DS and is now becoming more common for modern mobile phones. |
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| A microphone can be used to input sounds. The sound is detected by the microphone and an electrical signal is transmitted to the computer. Special hardware is used to convert this analogue data so it can be stored and manipulated. |
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| Webcams (or web camera) is an input device because it capture a video image of the scene in front of it. It is either built in to the computer (most commonly laptops) or connected through an USB cable. |
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| A flat board that contains a grid of buttons which can be programmed to do whatever you want. An example or a concept keyboard's use would be the checkout tills at fast food restaurants to make ordering faster. |
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| Can convert images or text on paper into a digital format that can be used by the computer. The two types of scanners are the flatbeds and the handheld scanners. |
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| Can convert images or text on paper into a digital format that can be used by the computer. The two types of scanners are the flatbeds and the handheld scanners. |
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| A barcode is a series of vertical bars varying in widths that give information about: the country of manufacturer, the name of the manufacturer and the product code. The barcode reader 'reads' the print using lasers that reflect back at it and interprets it with a computer to identify the product and its price. |
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| Optical Mark Reader (OMR) |
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| These detect the presence of pencil or pen marks by reflecting light on it. Less light is reflected where a mark has been made. It then interprets the patterns of marks and sends it to the computer for storage, analysis and reporting. |
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| Fingerprints and Retinal scanners are examples of biometric devices. They can also be found in passports which use microchips which are unique to that person. |
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| Sensors are used to detect physical quantities outside a computer such as light, temperature and pressure. |
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